On Top of the News
States’ Special Education Services Face Tighter Oversight by the Obama Administration
6/25/14 | Washington Post

Behind the Headline
Special Needs
Winter 2003| Education Next

The U.S. Department of Education is changing the way it holds states accountable for the education of students with special needs to focus more on results and less on inputs. Under the new rules, only 15 states are currently in compliance with federal law.

An early issue of Education Next featured a debate over changing special ed accountability away from procedural compliance and towards academic results for disabled students.

Patrick Wolf argued that the reams of paperwork that serve as special education’s “accountability” system distract from the practice of teaching and learning, and that a focus on results is necessary.

Rud and Ann Turnbull argued that special education has its problems, but they mainly follow from the failure of schools to comply fully with the existing law.

-Education Next