Children with Disabilities in the Summer: A Seasonal Analysis of Disparities in Achievement

• In Event: Excellence in Education Research: Early-Career Scholars and Their Work

Abstract

Nearly 6.5 million public school children across the U.S. receive special education services each day (U.S. Department of Education, 2014a). Despite progress in increasing access to services for children with disabilities over the last 40 years, less than half graduate high school with a regular diploma, compared to 75 percent of the total student population (Blackorby et al., 2010). The U.S. Department of Education (2014b) recently identified only 15 states as meeting appropriate progress in terms of the educational outcomes of children with disabilities. School districts are also faced with reduced budgets and special education services that can cost twice as much as regular education services per pupil (Chambers, Parrish, & Harr, 2004). These issues are particularly concerning during the summer when children with disabilities have less access to school supports and face a higher risk of learning loss than their peers (Graham, McNamara, & van Lankveld, 2011). Yet, there is little research on what happens to this vulnerable student population during the summer. The purpose of this study is to examine how summer vacation may exacerbate academic disparities between children with and without disabilities

A large body of research indicates that summer vacation may stymie academic gains over the school year (e.g, Copper, Nye, Charlton, Lindsay, & Greathouse, 1996). Although summer loss is concerning for all students, scholars have long debated the extent to which differences in summer learning rates by students’ socioeconomic status and race/ethnicity may contribute to disparities in academic achievement. Some studies suggest that schools may play a role in reducing racial and income inequalities in student achievement, especially if achievement gaps close or growth rates between student groups equalize during the school year but not during the summer (Alexander, Entwisle, & Olson, 2001). One theory is that disadvantaged students lose access to learning resources during the summer, while their more advantaged peers continue to access enrichment activities and materials at home that can mitigate learning loss (Chin & Phillips, 2004). Students with disabilities, on the other hand, are likely to experience a substantial drop-off in learning resources over the summer than while in school. A seasonal comparison of academic outcome trends during the school year and summer can help address whether additional supports should be provided for students with disabilities at different parts of the year.

In this study, we ask the following research questions: 1) To what extent do academic growth rates for children with disabilities differ during the school year versus the summer? 2) To what extent do differences in the academic growth rates between children with and without disabilities expand during school year versus the summer? We address our questions using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-2011 (ECLSK:2011). The ECLSK:2011 sampled a nationally representative cohort of over 18,000 children who were assessed in math and reading in the fall and spring of kindergarten and in the spring of first grade. A smaller subsample of students (about 30% of the original) was selected for testing in the fall of first grades, allowing us to estimate learning during the school year and summer. We identify students with disabilities in the data based on parent self-report, formal individualized education plan, and school records of whether students received special education services. Similar to Downey, von Hippel, and Broh’s (2004) analysis of seasonal trends, we fit multilevel growth models that estimate learning rates during kindergarten, first grade, and the summer in between for children with and without disabilities.

Our preliminary results indicate that the gap in learning rates between children with disabilities and children without disabilities tend to widen more during the school year than the summer time. These trends also depend on how achievement gaps are operationalized. When using changes in standardized gaps, differences in learning rates between children with and without disabilities are consistently observed across grade level and in both reading and math. These findings do not support the idea of schools as equalizers found in previous studies (e.g., Downey et al., 2004). One potential reason for the wider gaps during the school year is that children with disabilities who are identified early on are more likely to have serious conditions that also demand more intense and frequent educational supports. That initial period of identifying appropriate services and adjusting to school supports may have a negative effect on a students’ learning and academic performance. It possible that by the summer time students with disabilities have adjusted to the services and may even receive similar supports over the summer. The study has implications for how schools can better supports children with disabilities throughout the year.

Author

• North Cooc, The University of Texas - Austin