The Nation’s Report Card is out. Students with disabilities deserve better
Originally published in the East Bay Times on February 9, 2025
When the Nation’s Report Card was released last month, it reiterated a hard truth about our education system today: We are failing our students with disabilities.
Students with disabilities, who make up 15% of all public school students, continue to lag significantly behind their non-disabled peers. On the reading assessment administered by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), fourth graders with disabilities scored 39 points lower and eighth graders scored 38 points lower. In math, fourth graders with disabilities scored 31 points lower and eighth graders scored 40 points lower. And in both math and reading, eighth-grade students with disabilities saw a decrease in their NAEP scores since previous results from 2022.
This achievement gap reflects an ongoing crisis likely to worsen with inaction. Over the last 40 years, the number of students receiving special education services has doubled to over 7 million children today. If trends continue and these numbers rise but we refuse to change how we serve students with special needs, we risk denying millions of children their right to a high-quality education.
New piece out in the East Bay Times (https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/02/08/opinion-nations-report-card-education-students-disabilities/)! Follow @mcizmane on Instagram to stay up to date with updates and make sure to subscribe if you haven’t already :)