Dropout Rates for Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities have a dropout rate that is twice as high as students without disabilities. The National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (NCSET) has released a study that deals with this issue. It is entitled "Students with Disabilities who Drop Out of School-Implications for Policy and Practice." This report explores the reasons behind this high dropout rate and lists some recommendations for improving the situation. Many students with disabilities have trouble passing standard assessment tests designed to measure students' knowledge. Students with disabilities often need accommodations and other supports in order for their academic knowledge to be assessed in the most accurate way. Several other strategies have been proven to reduce the number of students with disabilities who do not finish school:

• Monitoring risk behaviors such as attendance problems and poor academic performance;
• Developing caring relationships between an adult from the school and the student;
• Participating in school activities; and
• Helping students use problem-solving skills in difficult situations at home and at school.

The authors of the study made several other suggestions for decreasing the dropout rate among students with disabilities:

• Find and distribute researched-based information on dropout prevention and intervention;
• Continue using proven dropout prevention programs; and,
• Explore the impact of assessments on the dropout rate.

The report can be viewed at www.ncset.org/publications/viewdesc.asp?id=425.

National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (NCSET), Institute on Community Integration, University of Minnesota, 6 Pattee Hall, 150 Pillsbury Drive, SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, 612.624.2097 (voice), 612.624.9344 (fax), www.ncset.org (website), ncest@umn.edu (email).