A Tale of Two States: Educational Service Agencies, Access, and Outcomes for Students With Disabilities

• In Event: Inclusive Education: Outcomes, Challenges, and the Perspective of Students and Educators

Abstract

Although over four decades of research shows that access to inclusive environments impacts improved academic outcomes for students with disabilities, many continue to be taught in segregated environments. State Educational Service Agencies (ESAs) provide special education services to their districts, but these services vary in whether or not states establish separate schools and/or programs at ESA sites. The purpose of this quantitative study is to probe for state- and district-level variables in two representative states—Florida and New York—that both configure their school districts and use their ESAs in very different ways that might help explain the ways that the use of ESAs by states affords or limits equitable access to educational opportunities in general education classrooms for SWD.

Authors

• Julia M. White, Syracuse University

• Christine Elaine Ashby, Syracuse University

• Qiu Wang, Syracuse University