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Outmatched: Special Education Can't Solve Problems Rooted in the Education Delivery System

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Title: Outmatched: Special Education Can't Solve Problems Rooted in the Education Delivery System
Language: English
Authors: Ashley Jochim, Alexander Kurz, Arizona State University (ASU), Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE)
Source: Center on Reinventing Public Education. 2025.
Availability: Center on Reinventing Public Education. Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Arizona State University. H.B. Farmer Education Building, 1050 S Forest Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281. e-mail: crpe@uw.edu; Web site: https://crpe.org/
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 13
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Reports - Evaluative
Descriptors: Special Education, Students with Disabilities, Educational Trends, Disability Identification, Educational Legislation, Federal Legislation, Equal Education, Access to Education, Role of Education, Regular and Special Education Relationship, Delivery Systems
Laws, Policies and Program Identifiers: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
Abstract: In early 2025, the National Center for Education Statistics quietly announced a new record: 7.9 million public school students were identified with a disability under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The new data capped off a decades-long trend towards increasing numbers of children being identified with disabilities and swept up into special education programs under the promise that doing so will provide students access to the support they need. In this essay, we uncover the unexpected roots of these statistics. Using a newly curated dataset that tracks longitudinal trends in special education identification across states, we explore why more children are being identified for special education than in the past. We show that special education has become the stopgap for a public education system never designed to succeed at its core mission: to prepare every young person, regardless of circumstance, for a future of their choosing. While the expansion of special education has undoubtedly provided valuable support to some struggling students, millions of others remain underserved in general education classrooms, even as special education consumes ever larger shares of education budgets. Addressing these challenges, we argue, necessitates rethinking the education delivery itself.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: ED678582
Database: ERIC
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  Data: Center on Reinventing Public Education. Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Arizona State University. H.B. Farmer Education Building, 1050 S Forest Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281. e-mail: crpe@uw.edu; Web site: https://crpe.org/
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  Data: In early 2025, the National Center for Education Statistics quietly announced a new record: 7.9 million public school students were identified with a disability under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The new data capped off a decades-long trend towards increasing numbers of children being identified with disabilities and swept up into special education programs under the promise that doing so will provide students access to the support they need. In this essay, we uncover the unexpected roots of these statistics. Using a newly curated dataset that tracks longitudinal trends in special education identification across states, we explore why more children are being identified for special education than in the past. We show that special education has become the stopgap for a public education system never designed to succeed at its core mission: to prepare every young person, regardless of circumstance, for a future of their choosing. While the expansion of special education has undoubtedly provided valuable support to some struggling students, millions of others remain underserved in general education classrooms, even as special education consumes ever larger shares of education budgets. Addressing these challenges, we argue, necessitates rethinking the education delivery itself.
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      – Text: English
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        PageCount: 13
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      – SubjectFull: Special Education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Students with Disabilities
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      – SubjectFull: Educational Trends
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      – SubjectFull: Disability Identification
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      – SubjectFull: Regular and Special Education Relationship
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      – SubjectFull: Delivery Systems
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      – SubjectFull: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
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      – TitleFull: Outmatched: Special Education Can't Solve Problems Rooted in the Education Delivery System
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