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For Immediate Release:
National Report Sheds Light on Struggles of Students With Learning Disabilities and How Parents, Educators, Physicians and Policymakers Can Help
Washington, D.C. (May 2, 2017): Stigma, low expectations and lack of understanding help explain why students with learning disabilities are more likely to repeat a grade, get suspended, and leave high school without a diploma, according to a report released today by the National Center for Learning Disabilities.
One in five children in the U.S. have learning and attention issues such as dyslexia and ADHD, but as noted in the new State of Learning Disabilities: Understanding the 1 in 5 (www.ncld.org/StateofLD), 48 percent of parents believe incorrectly that children will outgrow these brain-based difficulties, and 33 percent of educators say that sometimes what people call a learning disability is really just laziness.
“Children with learning and attention issues are as smart as their peers and with the right support can achieve at high levels, but a lack of early or effective interventions leads too many kids on a downward spiral,” says Mimi Corcoran, President and CEO of NCLD.
This downward spiral often includes disciplinary incidents at school. “I got suspended a lot,” says Lena McKnight, whose personal story is one of several featured in the State of LD. “When the teacher would ask me, ‘Lena, read this,’ or if I saw a word on a paper that I didn’t know, I would make some type of big joke or be rude to the teacher.”
Like many students with learning disabilities, McKnight repeatedly was kicked out of class as she fell further behind academically. She dropped out when she was 15. But a few years later, mentors helped her earn a GED, and she is now on track to receive a bachelor’s degree this spring.
With key insights about national trends as well as data snapshots for each state, the State of LD aims to raise awareness, reduce stigma and help students like McKnight thrive. Among the report’s findings:
- Learning and attention issues are far more common than most people think—1 in 5 children in the U.S. have learning and attention issues such as dyslexia and ADHD. Some of these children receive specialized instruction or accommodations, but many do not.
- Learning disabilities is the largest of the 13 disability categories covered under special education law: 39 percent of students receive special education for LD, which covers twice as many students as the second biggest category (speech/language impairments).
- A third of students with LD have repeated a grade, which increases the risk of dropping out.
- Seven out of 10 students with LD spend at least 80 percent of their time in general education classrooms. Inclusion is beneficial, but in a nationwide survey many general education teachers said they don’t have the training or the resources to meet the needs of diverse learners.
- Students with disabilities are more than twice as likely to be suspended as those without disabilities. Nearly two-thirds (65%) of special education disciplinary removals involve students with LD or with other health impairments (OHI), which is the disability category that covers many students with ADHD.
- The dropout rate for students with LD (18.1 percent) is nearly three times the rate of all students (6.5 percent).
- More than half (55 percent) of young adults with LD have been involved with the justice system.
- Low self-esteem and stigma help explain why only 1 in 4 students with LD tell their college they have a disability and why only 1 in 20 young adults with LD receive accommodations in the workplace.
“The data in this report should be a call to action so that individuals with learning and attention issues receive the instruction and support they need to succeed in school and in life,” says Corcoran. If you’re interested in talking to NCLD’s experts about the report’s findings and policy recommendations, or in connecting with families affected by issues such as dyslexia and ADHD, please contact:
Sean Hennessey
VP, Schneider Associates617.943.4323
About NCLD:
The mission of NCLD is to improve the lives of the 1 in 5 children nationwide with learning and attention issues—by empowering parents and young adults, transforming schools and advocating for equal rights and opportunities. We’re working to create a society in which every individual possesses the academic, social and emotional skills needed to succeed in school, at work and in life. Founded in 1977 by Carrie and Pete Rozelle as the Foundation for Children with Learning Disabilities, NCLD now provides leadership, public awareness and grants to support research and innovative practices in learning disabilities.
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Thanks to support from generous partners like you, we are able to create programs and resources to support the 1 in 5 individuals with learning and attention issues nationwide.
Special education encompasses the programs which serve students with mental, physical, emotional, and behavioral disabilities. The major law governing special education is the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which guarantees a “free appropriate public education” to children with disabilities and mandates that, to the “maximum extent appropriate,” they be educated with their nondisabled peers in the “least restrictive environment.” Read more.
How many students are in special education?
In the U.S. overall, 14.5 percent of all students were special education students (ages 3-21) in 2020-21. The percentage varied by state from 11.3 percent in Hawaii and Texas to 20.5 percent in New York.
Share of special education students by state
See the percent of special education students by state in the map below:
Has the number of students served in special education increased?
Yes. In the past decade, the number of students with disabilities has grown from 6.4 million, or 13 percent of all students in 2010-11, to almost 7.2 million, or 14.5 percent in 2020-21.
Special education statistics by race
While overall, 14.5 percent of public school students were served by IDEA in 2020-21, that number varies by race and ethnicity.
- White students – 14.9% served under IDEA
- Black students – 16.8%
- Hispanic students – 14.1%
- Asian students – 7.6%
- Pacific Islander students – 11.6%
- American Indian/Alaska Native students – 18.6%
- Two or more race students – 15%
Are schools overidentifying minority students with disabilities?
Federal law requires that states monitor their districts for overidentifying students with disabilities. Several studies have found that minority students are actually being underidentified for disabilities.
But some new studies are uncovering more nuanced findings, suggesting that minority students are overidentified in some contexts, and underidentified in others. Read more.
What are the demographics of special education teachers?
Although research has shown that students often do better in school when they have a teacher of the same race, just over 83.5 percent of special education high school teachers in public schools are white, higher than the teaching population as a whole, according to the most recent data available. But only about half of all students receiving special education services are white, according to 2017-18 data.
Read more about efforts to prepare, recruit, and retain special education teachers of color.
Inclusion statistics
A majority of special education students—66 percent of those ages 6-21 and 5-year-olds in kindergarten—spend 80 percent or more of their time in regular education classes, according to 2020 data. That number has more than doubled in recent decades. In 1989, only 31.7 percent of students ages 6-21 spent 80 percent or more of their time in regular classes.
Getting students with disabilities into general education classrooms is not a silver bullet, researchers say. Read more to learn what else needs to happen to raise academic outcomes for students with disabilities.
Learning disabilities statistics
The specific learning disabilities category is the most common one covered under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act—in 2020-21, 32.7 percent of students with disabilities had specific learning disabilities.
Autism statistics
Eleven and a half percent of all students with disabilities have been diagnosed with autism alone, according to 2020-21 data.
Which disability categories have grown the most?
In the past decade, the number of students with disabilities as a percentage of total enrollment has increased a small amount, from 13 percent in 2010-11 to 14.5 percent in 2020-21.The mix of disabilities those students have, however, has changed dramatically.
The percent of students with disabilities who had a specific learning disability, like dyslexia, decreased from 36.7 percent in 2010-11 to 32.7 percent in 2020-21. And the percent of students with disabilities with autism almost doubled, from 6.5 percent to 11.5 percent.
How much money is spent on special education by the federal government?
In fiscal year 2018, the federal government earmarked $12.3 billion for the education of children ages 3-12 with disabilities. That’s only about 15 percent of the excess cost of educating students with disabilities, compared with the cost of educating a general education student. The federal government under the 1975 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act set a goal to pay states up to 40 percent of the excess cost. It never reached that goal.
What is the student-teacher ratio for special education students?
In 2016, there were 17.1 special education students for each special education teacher in the United States. That’s higher than the overall student-teacher ratio of 16.2 students per teacher.
From 2006 to 2016, the number of special education teachers has decreased by 17 percent, while the number of special education students only dropped by 1 percent. Read more about how that plays out on the school level.
For more information on special education, check out our Special Education topics page.
Page 2
Special education encompasses the programs which serve students with mental, physical, emotional, and behavioral disabilities. The major law governing special education is the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which guarantees a “free appropriate public education” to children with disabilities and mandates that, to the “maximum extent appropriate,” they be educated with their nondisabled peers in the “least restrictive environment.” Read more.
How many students are in special education?
In the U.S. overall, 14.5 percent of all students were special education students (ages 3-21) in 2020-21. The percentage varied by state from 11.3 percent in Hawaii and Texas to 20.5 percent in New York.
Share of special education students by state
See the percent of special education students by state in the map below:
Has the number of students served in special education increased?
Yes. In the past decade, the number of students with disabilities has grown from 6.4 million, or 13 percent of all students in 2010-11, to almost 7.2 million, or 14.5 percent in 2020-21.
Special education statistics by race
While overall, 14.5 percent of public school students were served by IDEA in 2020-21, that number varies by race and ethnicity.
- White students – 14.9% served under IDEA
- Black students – 16.8%
- Hispanic students – 14.1%
- Asian students – 7.6%
- Pacific Islander students – 11.6%
- American Indian/Alaska Native students – 18.6%
- Two or more race students – 15%
Are schools overidentifying minority students with disabilities?
Federal law requires that states monitor their districts for overidentifying students with disabilities. Several studies have found that minority students are actually being underidentified for disabilities.
But some new studies are uncovering more nuanced findings, suggesting that minority students are overidentified in some contexts, and underidentified in others. Read more.
What are the demographics of special education teachers?
Although research has shown that students often do better in school when they have a teacher of the same race, just over 83.5 percent of special education high school teachers in public schools are white, higher than the teaching population as a whole, according to the most recent data available. But only about half of all students receiving special education services are white, according to 2017-18 data.
Read more about efforts to prepare, recruit, and retain special education teachers of color.
Inclusion statistics
A majority of special education students—66 percent of those ages 6-21 and 5-year-olds in kindergarten—spend 80 percent or more of their time in regular education classes, according to 2020 data. That number has more than doubled in recent decades. In 1989, only 31.7 percent of students ages 6-21 spent 80 percent or more of their time in regular classes.
Getting students with disabilities into general education classrooms is not a silver bullet, researchers say. Read more to learn what else needs to happen to raise academic outcomes for students with disabilities.
Learning disabilities statistics
The specific learning disabilities category is the most common one covered under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act—in 2020-21, 32.7 percent of students with disabilities had specific learning disabilities.
Autism statistics
Eleven and a half percent of all students with disabilities have been diagnosed with autism alone, according to 2020-21 data.
Which disability categories have grown the most?
In the past decade, the number of students with disabilities as a percentage of total enrollment has increased a small amount, from 13 percent in 2010-11 to 14.5 percent in 2020-21.The mix of disabilities those students have, however, has changed dramatically.
The percent of students with disabilities who had a specific learning disability, like dyslexia, decreased from 36.7 percent in 2010-11 to 32.7 percent in 2020-21. And the percent of students with disabilities with autism almost doubled, from 6.5 percent to 11.5 percent.
How much money is spent on special education by the federal government?
In fiscal year 2018, the federal government earmarked $12.3 billion for the education of children ages 3-12 with disabilities. That’s only about 15 percent of the excess cost of educating students with disabilities, compared with the cost of educating a general education student. The federal government under the 1975 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act set a goal to pay states up to 40 percent of the excess cost. It never reached that goal.
What is the student-teacher ratio for special education students?
In 2016, there were 17.1 special education students for each special education teacher in the United States. That’s higher than the overall student-teacher ratio of 16.2 students per teacher.
From 2006 to 2016, the number of special education teachers has decreased by 17 percent, while the number of special education students only dropped by 1 percent. Read more about how that plays out on the school level.
For more information on special education, check out our Special Education topics page.