Skip Navigation
Patterns in the Identification of and Outcomes for Children and Youth With Disabilities
NCEE 2010-4005
January 2010

Exhibit ES.8. Trends in national percentage of school-age children identified for services under IDEA, by age group (1997–2005)

Exhibit ES.8. Trends in national percentage of school-age children identified for services under IDEA, by age group (1997–2005)

Exhibit reads: Nationwide, the percentage of 6- through 9-year-olds identified for services under IDEA increased from 11.63 percent in 1997 to 11.85 percent in 2005.

NOTE: The numbers of children identified in the exhibit are aggregated counts of children identified for services under IDEA at a single time point between October 1 and December 1 of each year. These annual counts include both children newly identified in the year represented by the count and children identified in earlier years who continue to receive services under IDEA. Data represent the counts for the 50 states and the District of Columbia, including Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) schools. The school enrollment numbers are aggregated counts of student enrollment in all public schools in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, including BIE schools. To compute the percentages, the number of students with disabilities, including children in BIE schools, for each age year was divided by the enrollment count for the corresponding grade level. The following age groups and grade levels are as follows: 6- through 9-year-olds (grades 1–4); 10- through 13-year-olds (grades 5–8); 14- through 17-year-olds (grades 9–12); and 6- through 17-year-olds (grades 1–12).

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, Data Analysis System (DANS), Part B, Child Count, 1997–2005, retrieved December 7, 2007, from http://www.ideadata.org/PartBChildCount.asp; U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 1997–98 to 2005–06, retrieved December 10, 2007, from http://www.nces.ed.gov/ccd/bat/.