purpose of research in special needs education

Why Special Education Research Is So Important Now

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Joan Mclaughlin, commissioner of the National Center on Special Education Research, has witnessed many changes and worked through some difficult times in her 13 years with the Education Department’s research agency.

Mclaughlin, who is retiring this month, said she has relished broadening the study of “under-researched areas,” such as better growth measures of achievement for students with disabilities; training and coaching for teachers to use data on students with disabilities; and literacy interventions for students who are deaf and hard-of-hearing—a group that prior studies show graduates high school reading only at a 4th-grade level , on average.

In an email interview with Education Week, Mclaughlin looks back on how the federal approach to special education research has changed, particularly during the pandemic. (The interview has been edited for length and clarity.)

Can you talk about how the federal approach to special education research has changed?

Much of what we have accomplished is the result of setting high standards, providing resources to support applicants and grantees, and building the capacity of the field through training early career scholars as well as established researchers.

The What Works Clearinghouse and Standards for Excellence in Education Research provide standards for rigorous research and these standards have continued to evolve based on developments in the field. In my time at IES, we also have evolved in the way we think about furthering the use of research. When I came on board, we relied on the What Works Clearinghouse alone to provide evidence to the field. Now we make sure that our grants have dissemination plans that include user-friendly ways of disseminating the results of research to practitioners.

How have you expanded research capacity and the pipeline for special education researchers?

One of the areas I am proudest of is the work that we have done to expand research capacity. Under former Commissioner Debbie Speece, we started the Early Career Development and Mentoring program. This is for scholars within a few years of their doctoral or postdoctoral training. The research that has resulted from this competition has been awesome, and focused on critical issues of practice such as understanding special education teacher burnout and working conditions, improving reading and STEM instruction for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, reducing challenging behavior, and supporting parents of children with autism.

What do you think are the most urgent priorities for young children with special education needs?

The pandemic has overloaded all of our systems and there are urgent needs to get student identification and service provision back on track. We have heard from the field—through our researchers who partner with schools and teachers every day, from our colleagues across the Department of Education, and from parents and families directly—about the depth and breadth of challenges brought on by the pandemic now facing students, and the families and educators that support them. It is a tremendous challenge, and NCSER is addressing this, in part, by funding research specifically targeting COVID recovery efforts. For example, one study directly addresses the need in one state—Illinois—to reduce the time for toddlers to be assessed for autism spectrum disorders. This kind of research is critical to helping us find creative ways to recover from the pandemic losses.

How are you seeing virtual education evolve for students with special education needs?

There is a lot of work going on in this area. For example, we funded a project that is studying the potential of the virtual environment to address the emotional and behavioral needs of students with or at risk for disabilities as they navigate their transition back to school after COVID school closures.

What are the most urgent research needs in special education now?

The research needs are great and while NCSER has had some amazing success stories, there is much to be done. I recently had the opportunity to give the 2022 Meyen Lecture at the University of Kansas , which I ended with what I called areas of opportunity for early intervention and special education:

• Addressing DEIA (diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility) challenges is part of NCSER’s DNA. We have been thinking about DEIA in terms of broadening the types of institutions that apply for and receive our grants (including minority-serving institutions); increasing the diversity of participants in training grants and individuals on research teams; encouraging greater representation of individuals on research teams that have similar backgrounds to the participants in the study; working with the Office of Science to support their efforts to increase the diversity of peer reviewers [and other goals].
• We need more research on educators and school-based service providers. Areas that are in particular need of research include training for teachers and school-based service providers on how to support the academic, behavioral, and mental health needs of students and strategies to reduce burnout, improve working conditions, and promote retention.
• Postsecondary enrollment rates doubled for students with disabilities between the 1990s and 2000s, yet completion rates for these students are far lower than their peers without disabilities. We need research to help us understand the issues of access, participation, and successful completion of college.
• We need more research on the system itself—to better understand the contexts, structures, and processes that impact instruction and outcomes for students with disabilities.
• We need better and more timely data and information on special education financing. In particular, we need research that explores the services offered through students’ IEPs and 504 plans, their costs, and their impacts on student outcomes, as well as how these things differ by disability category, race and ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.
• We need research to improve assessments and measures for learners with disabilities. Specifically, we need new measures or to adapt and validate existing measures for learners with disabilities for a variety of contexts.

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StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-.

StatPearls [Internet].

Special education.

Anthonella B. Benitez Ojeda ; Paola Carugno .

Affiliations

Last Update: September 18, 2022 .

• Introduction

Special education is the process by which students with special needs receive education by addressing their differences while integrating them as much as possible into the typical educational environment of their peers. Success, measured as self-sufficiency, academic achievement, and future contributions to the community, may not be achieved if students with special needs do not receive this additional help. In the United States and many other countries, children with special educational needs are entitled by law to receive services and accommodations to help them perform to the best of their abilities and reach their academic potential. [1] [2]

Special needs can include learning disabilities, speech and language impairments, autism spectrum disorders, cognitive impairments, emotional and behavioral disorders, physical disabilities like cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophies, sensory impairments like vision or hearing, chronic medical illnesses, and any condition that affects optimal education. Whenever possible, the needs of these students should be met in the same environment where other peers learn. Different classroom placements can be selected for their education only when progress is lacking in this mainstream setting. This new setting may include fewer students in the classroom, more teachers, or a higher level of support. Moving a child from the typical classroom or educational setting to a specially structured one is gradual. Emphasis should focus on finding the balance of meeting the student's academic needs in the least restrictive environment. [3]

Background History

Beginning in 1975, the All Handicapped Children Act (PL 94-142), and later evolving into the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA,1990), No Child Left Behind, and most recently, the IDEA Improvement Act 2004, federal laws in the United States have ruled that public schools must provide free, appropriate public education (FAPE) to students with disabilities. Any person between 3 and 21 years of age suspected of having a disability is entitled to a comprehensive, interprofessional evaluation and, if eligible, to an individualized learning plan and monitoring over time, showing the achievement of adequate progress. Part C of the law includes the educational services provided to children from birth to 3 years in an Early Intervention Program (EIP) program. [4]

Role of the Medical Provider

The medical provider has an indirect but essential role in supporting the education of their patients. This role includes early identification of students who struggle in school, encouraging families to ask the schools for help, keeping them through the process, providing medical documentation when necessary, and becoming involved in advocacy efforts at the individual and community levels.

• Issues of Concern

Standard Terms Used in Special Education

• General education: Standard curriculum without any special arrangements or modifications
• Mainstreaming: The environment in which students typically receive their education is the same as general education. Teachers accommodate the curriculum for group instruction.
• Response to Intervention (RTI):  Initial interventions used by general education teachers in a regular classroom to help struggling students who are falling behind. This process is implemented and monitored to see how much the student benefits from it before more formal evaluations that may lead to an Individual Education Plan (IEP).
• Individualized Education Program (IEP):  A legally binding document by which the public school system, after an interprofessional evaluation, identifies a student's educational needs, the intervention that helps achieve this goal, and the method for monitoring progress.
• Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): Federal law that requires public schools to provide special education services for children ages 3 to 21 who meet specific eligibility criteria.
• Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE):  The educational right of students with disabilities to be educated at public expense and make adequate progress.
• Remediation: Interventions are given to help the student who has fallen behind academically to catch up. The student may or may not have special needs, or their special needs may not have been identified.
• Accommodations:  These include all the adaptations that will improve the student's academic success, like extra time for assignments or exams, the use of technology, or adaptive equipment.
• 504 modifications and accommodations:  These are adaptations or accommodations to the curriculum based on a medical diagnosis. They are usually used when the student doesn't qualify for an IEP. They provide many similar interventions and support.
• Related services: Interventions that are not strictly educational but help the student benefit from the overall academic support they receive. They may include counseling, occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech and language therapy, and transportation.
• Early Intervention Program (EIP): Educational services provided to children from birth to 3 years old who have a significant developmental delay or are at risk for a delay.
• Committee for Preschool Special Education (CPSE): Educational services provided to children 3 to 5 years old with educational needs.
• Committee for Special Education (CSE): Educational services for children 5 to 18 or 21 with academic needs. 

Evaluation Process

The process of providing educational interventions tailored to students' individual needs consists of multiple steps. The process begins with the identification of student's academic needs. Educators must recognize students who struggle and those whose needs are unmet. After identifying a struggling student, the family must consent to the evaluation. These students then receive an RTI. A personalized set of interventions is designed and implemented in this part of the process. The response to these interventions is monitored over a predetermined period. No further evaluation is necessary if the student can catch up with the rest of the class. However, if there is no progress, the school assessment team does an interprofessional evaluation.

As a result of the review, a decision be made if the student has needs that make them eligible for an IEP. The student who meets the criteria to qualify is suitable for the services. The degree of delays or educational needs that make students suitable for services varies by state and local legislation. The student's individual needs, how to address these weaknesses, how to monitor progress, and clear goals for achievement over time are put together into a document called the IEP. This process includes procedural safeguards that ensure the rights of the children and their families and due process if these services are not provided. [5]

After an IEP is implemented and the additional educational support starts, the student's progress is followed over time. Extra help usually begins in the general classroom setting. After a period, if the student does not make adequate progress and further support is necessary, then the student is placed in a more structured educational environment. This educational setting can be in an inclusive or collaborative team classroom, where students with and without IEPs are educated together by a teacher in cooperation with a special education teacher, or smaller classrooms, sometimes called self-contained classes, where all the students have special needs. In some cases, adequate placement may be in a different school outside their home district.

A similar process exists for preschool-age children. Preschool children, 3 to 5 years old, are provided with educational services by the Committee for Preschool Special Education, following an interprofessional evaluation determining their eligibility. Children younger than 3 years old receive services by Early Intervention, part C of the IDEA. Children with their families undergo evaluation by a comprehensive, interprofessional, and family-centered assessment. An Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) then be developed.

Similarly, this plan includes educational goals. And it states how their educational needs be addressed. It also has ways to measure the child's progress and plans to transition the child to preschool services if the continuation of services is needed.

• Clinical Significance

Early identification and proper remediation of developmental delays in young children and learning difficulties in older students have lifelong benefits. Students achieve higher academic levels and financial independence. Many studies have shown that students with unidentified educational needs experience negative labeling like being called lazy or dumb. They experience feelings of frustration and shame and can develop anxiety, poor self-esteem, a higher rate of substance abuse, school dropout, and juvenile delinquency. [6] [7] [8]

Special education programs are put in place for those students who are mentally, physically, socially, and emotionally delayed. This "delay" aspect, categorized broadly as a developmental delay, signifies an aspect of the child's overall development (physical, cognitive, academic skills) that places them behind their peers. Due to these special requirements, students' needs cannot be met within the traditional classroom environment. [9]

• Other Issues

504 Modifications

When a student has a medical diagnosis but is not eligible for special education, schools can make accommodations or adaptations to provide support under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). For example, if academically, they are at grade level but have a medical condition (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) that prevents them from performing to the best of their potential. Under this provision, there cannot be discrimination against people with disabilities, and equal opportunities must be available. For school purposes, this means that "reasonable accommodations" must be made to compensate for the deficits due to the individual's medical condition, including modifications for participation in the classroom, testing, transportation, and childcare.

Gifted Education

Children performing above the expected and considered gifted and talented may need specialized teaching, but this is usually not included in special education. Gifted students are not eligible for an IEP. [10]

• Enhancing Healthcare Team Outcomes

Students with special educational needs due to medical conditions need optimal health care. Optimizing medical care for those students improve their educational outcomes. Routine assessment, long-term planning, and treatment are essential components of health care and education outcomes. Technology has become increasingly important in special needs students' health care and learning process. Various tools and devices became available to improve the function of impaired body systems like hearing, sensing, visualizing, vocalizing, ambulating, and writing or communicating. Learning, in general, has also made critical forward steps using technology. The availability of advanced audio-visual devices and learning objects, fast and highly efficient communication devices and routes, distant education concepts and tools, and the needed expertise gave a new meaning and set up new higher goals of education. 

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Disclosure: Anthonella Benitez Ojeda declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Paola Carugno declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

This book is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ), which permits others to distribute the work, provided that the article is not altered or used commercially. You are not required to obtain permission to distribute this article, provided that you credit the author and journal.

• Cite this Page Benitez Ojeda AB, Carugno P. Special Education. [Updated 2022 Sep 18]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-.

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Learning & Tech

Ipads in special ed: what does the research say.

Anya Kamenetz

An iPad in a classroom. So what? Eric Westervelt/NPR hide caption

An iPad in a classroom. So what?

This week, NPR Ed's Eric Westervelt visited a special education classroom in New York City where iPads are being used in a novel way. Students with a range of severe disabilities, including developmental, mental, physical and autism spectrum disorders, are using apps alongside traditional instruments to help express themselves through music.

Teachers there saw improvements not only in students' musical knowledge and performance skills but also in their motivation, communication skills and the strength of their social bonds. The changes showed up in everything from little things, like saying hello to each other, to big things, like dreaming of a future as a touring musician.

The story was a lovely ray of light in a perpetually dark news cycle. It also fits into a common genre these days; we'll call it the "Optimistic Take on the Power of the Classroom iPad." I've done one myself. Just last year, I reported on a classroom in Los Angeles where an iPad had replaced a $15,000 custom assistive technology setup, enabling a student with control over only one finger to communicate.

Eric, of course, noted in his piece that the evidence here is mostly anecdotal. But we wondered: what do researchers say about whether the iPad is contributing meaningfully to kids' classroom experience?

The first widely marketed touchscreen tablet computer, the iPad is still relatively new. It was introduced in the spring of 2010. Over four short school years, 8 million of the tablets have been sold to classrooms worldwide. During Apple's most recent quarterly earnings call , CEO Tim Cook claimed iPads have 95 percent of the classroom tablet market — a market Apple essentially invented — and that this is a crucial market niche going forward, as it represents more than $1 billion in annual revenue.

"The focus in education is on penetration, is on getting more schools to buy and my belief is the match has been lit, and it's very clear to the educators that have studied it is that student achievement is higher with iPad in the classroom than without it."

But we should hardly take Cook's word for it. Let's go to the literature.

The published studies of classroom iPad use – in special education, specifically — are eye-opening. But not because they're "clear." Because they're all so... tiny . The number of studies is small. Their sample sizes are miniscule. And the measurable effects are pretty small too.

I reviewed a dozen published research studies on the use of iPads with special ed students. iPads are being tested with students from kindergarten through the college level both as basic communication devices for students with limited verbal skills, and to teach math, science, reading, and other subjects.

To understand just how limited these studies are, keep this in mind: 6.4 million students in the U.S., aged 3-21, have some kind of learning disability. That's about 13 percent of all public school students . Yet most of the papers now being published look at fewer than ten students. One "surveyed" a dozen special education teachers. This small sample size matters because special education students vary so widely in their needs and abilities. There is no typical or representative learning disabled student.

The other takeaway, as I said, from looking over these studies is that the advantage found from using the iPad was often small or mixed. It's hard to talk about statistical significance when the sample size is in single digits. One study of just five elementary school students compared the use of an iPad communication app to a simpler, less expensive system using picture cards. Some students did better with the iPad. For others there was no detectable difference.

One word shows up a lot in these iPad studies: "engagement." Simply put, introducing an iPad into a classroom seems to get kids excited and focused. According to one study, "results were mixed for math skill development but indicated an increase in independent task completion as demonstrated by a decrease in noncompliant behaviors and teacher prompt levels." In other words, students didn't necessarily learn more but acted up less and stayed on task.

But it's not clear if this kind of bump in engagement is unique to the iPad. It could easily be true of just about any nifty, new gadget. It's also not clear if the bump lasts once the gadget's newness has worn off.

And is that bump – perhaps lasting, perhaps short-lived — a big enough benefit for school districts to invest in tablet computers en masse? Anecdotally, of course, reports like Westervelt's show: in the hands of gifted teachers, iPads, like other technology, can bring real advantages to students. But the gaps in the literature, at this point, make it hard (and dangerous) to draw any broad or meaningful conclusions about the iPad's place in our schools.

In future What Does the Research Say? posts, NPR Ed will continue to take a critical view of the state of the art in educational research.

New research to address school food inequalities for children with special educational needs and disabilities

A new project has been launched to urgently address the public health need to tackle inequalities in access to nutritious meals for children with special educational needs or disabilities who attend special schools.

The Adapt-Ed study is collaborating with children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), families and carers, school professionals, third-sector organisations, and people working in health and education policy to develop a whole-school intervention to promote healthy eating in special schools. The project has been funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) , with findings expected to inform a future research proposal for a larger study that will implement this approach in schools across the East of England and evaluate its effectiveness. .

Researchers from the University of Hertfordshire and Essex will work with stakeholders to adapt School Food Matters’  Healthy Zones initiative to tailor the programme, so it is appropriate for the unique needs of special schools. Heathy Zones takes a whole-school approach, engaging student voice, and involving parents, teaching staff, kitchen staff, caterers, Senior Leadership Team members and governors. Importantly, pupils are empowered to have more say about school food and developing school food policies, and access to healthier food throughout the school day, including healthier breakfast and after-school club menus. This initiative has been incorporated into mainstream schools, but has so far only been implemented in a few special schools.

Professor Rebecca O’Connell , Principal Investigator, stated: 

“We want more SEND children to be able to access and enjoy inclusive, nutritious food provision at school. Improved school meal uptake can improve children’s nutrition, mental health, learning and support family finances, as well as provide benefits for the school such as improved attendance, behaviour and belonging...

Professor Rebecca O’Connell, Principal Investigator

Professor Rebecca O’Connell continues, "However, not only do schools face many challenges in providing nutritious, inclusive meals, it is not straightforward to agree what good food looks like or how to deliver it in special schools. This is why this study is so important to help ensure we can include different perspectives in shaping the future intervention and its evaluation, as well as guide us on how to ensure we involve people in ways that work for them.”

Schools are acknowledged as key influencers for children’s health and wellbeing, as schools provide both food for children to eat and educate children on health and nutrition. As such, school meals play an important role in meeting children’s right to food and alleviating the impact of poverty on children’s diets and overall wellbeing. However, nutritious school meals are not always available or accessible to all children who might benefit from them, including children with SEND. In the UK, children with SEND are more likely to grow up in poverty and are almost twice as likely to be entitled to free school meals in comparison to children without SEND. In addition, many children with SEND also fall outside their suggested healthy body mass index (BMI) and are at greater risk of being malnourished. Therefore, this project is essential to address the food and wellbeing disparities experienced by SEND children.

Georgie Branch, Programme Manager for Healthy Zones, said:

“We at School Food Matters believe every child, no matter where they live or the type of school they attend, should enjoy nutritious and delicious food at school. Our Healthy Zones programme aims to improve the food environment taking a whole school approach, and we’ve learnt a lot about how best to support mainstream schools over the past five years...

Georgie Branch continues, "However, we know special schools face different challenges when it comes to food provision and culture, which is why this research project is so important – to help us determine how to adapt our approach to ensure that children and young people with special educational needs have an equal opportunity to benefit from the programme.”

As part of the project, the team is forming stakeholder groups of children and young people, families and carers, school professionals, third-sector organisations, and people working in health and education policy. It is also forming a nationwide working group with experts in a range of fields, including the sociology of children’s food and eating, psychology and neurodiversity, public health inequalities, and economic approaches to school food. Together, these group will assist in designing the project and the future research proposal.

The project team is looking to hear from people who are interested in schools and food for children with SEND, including children, families, schools and people and organisations who work with children, families and schools. If you are interested, then contact the team via email at  [email protected] .  

Adapt-Ed is funded by the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR163616). Any views expressed are those of the research team and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the UK government.