Title page
Contents
Summary 3
Why this study? 8
What the study examined 11
What the study found 13
The special education enrollment gap between charter schools and traditional schools declined from 2.5 percentage points in 2010/11 to 0.5 percentage point in 2013/14 13
Both the level and trend of the special education enrollment gap in Louisiana varied across educational regions 14
The special education enrollment gap tended to be smaller at schools serving grades 9-12 than at schools serving grades K-5 and schools serving grades 6-8 and at times favored charter schools 14
The size and direction of the special education enrollment gap varied by disability category 15
The association between being enrolled in a charter school and being newly classified as requiring an individualized education program was unclear after initial grade, which heavily influenced classification, was controlled for 17
Being declassified from requiring an individualized education program was rare, but the likelihood was statistically significantly higher in charter schools than in traditional schools, after initial grade was controlled for 19
The likelihood of being newly classified as requiring an individualized education program was statistically similar in charter schools and traditional schools but significantly higher for students who persisted in their original school for the first two years of the study and... 20
The likelihood of being declassified from requiring an individualized education program was rare but was statistically significantly higher in charter schools than in traditional schools, after student enrollment persistence and initial grade were controlled for 21
Implications of the study findings 21
Limitations of the study 23
Appendix A. Literature review 25
Appendix B. Historical context on Louisiana and portfolio districts 29
Appendix C. Data, study population, and methodology 30
Appendix D. Detailed results 38
References 54
Table 1. Special education enrollment rates in Louisiana charter schools and traditional schools, by year, 2010/11-2013/14 13
Table 2. Special education enrollment rates in Louisiana charter schools and traditional schools, by region and year, 2010/11-2013/14 14
Table 3. Special education enrollment rates in Louisiana charter schools and traditional schools, by year and school grade range, 2010/11-2013/14 15
Table 4. Special education enrollment rates in Louisiana charter schools and traditional schools, by low-incidence disability category and year, 2010/11-2013/14 16
Table 5. Special education enrollment rates in Louisiana charter schools and traditional schools, by high-incidence disability category and year, 2010/11-2013/14 17
Table 6. Likelihood of being newly classified as requiring an individualized education program in Louisiana schools, by school type and grade, 2010/11-2013/14 18
Table 7. Likelihood of being declassified from requiring an individualized education program in Louisiana schools, by school type and grade, 2010/11-2013/14 19
Table 8. Likelihood of being newly classified as requiring an individualized education program in Louisiana schools, by school type and years of persistence in the same school, 2010/11-2013/14 20
Table 9. Likelihood of being declassified from requiring an individualized education program in Louisiana schools, by school type and years of persistence in the same school, 2010/11-2013/14 21
Boxes
Box 1. Key terms 10
Box 2. Data sources and research methods 12
Table C1. Variables used in the study, by level of measurement 30
Table C2. Number of charter schools in the study population, by region, 2010/11-2013/14 33
Table C3. Study population for research question 1, by region, 2010/11-2013/14 33
Table C4. Louisiana charter schools and students excluded from the study population, 2010/11-2013/14 34
Table C5. Study population for research question 2a, by years in special education and region, 2010/11-2013/14 35
Table C6. Study population for research question 2b, by years in special education, 2010/11-2013/14 35
Table D1. Special education enrollment rates in Baton Rouge region charter schools and traditional schools, by year and school grade range, 2010/11-2013/14 38
Table D2. Special education enrollment rates in Jefferson region charter schools and traditional schools, by year and school grade range, 2010/11-2013/14 39
Table D3. Special education enrollment rates in New Orleans region charter schools and traditional schools, by year and school grade range, 2010/11-2013/14 40
Table D4. Special education enrollment rates in Ouachita region charter schools and traditional schools, by year and school grade range, 2010/11-2013/14 41
Table D5. Special education enrollment rates in Louisiana charter schools and traditional schools, by disability category and year, 2010/11-2013/14 41
Table D6. Special education enrollment rates in Baton Rouge region charter schools and traditional schools, by disability category and year, 2010/11-2013/14 43
Table D7. Special education enrollment rates in Jefferson region charter schools and traditional schools, by disability category and year, 2010/11-2013/14 45
Table D8. Special education enrollment rates in New Orleans region charter schools and traditional schools, by disability category and year, 2010/11-2013/14 46
Table D9. Special education enrollment rates in Ouachita region charter schools and traditional schools, by disability category and year, 2010/11-2013/14 48
Table D10. Complete disaggregation of students with disability frequencies by year, grade range, and disability category for the Baton Rouge region, 2010/11-2013/14 50
Table D11. Complete disaggregation of students with disability frequencies by year, grade range, and disability category for the Jefferson region, 2010/11-2013/14 50
Table D12. Complete disaggregation of students with disability frequencies by year, grade range, and disability category for the New Orleans region, 2010/11-2013/14 51
Table D13. Complete disaggregation of students with disability frequencies by year, grade range, and disability category for the Ouachita region, 2010/11-2013/14 51
Table D14. Special education enrollment rates in Louisiana charter schools and traditional schools, by year and severity of intellectual disability, 2010/11-2013/14 52
Appendix Maps
Map C1. Map of Louisiana regions included in study population 32