| The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services [OSERS] (2003) estimates that at age five (the Kindergarten year for most students) more than 250,000 students (7 percent) are receiving special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). By age nine, when most U.S. students are completing third grade, more than 500,000 students (12 percent) are receiving special education. Despite the high incidence of students ages five through nine receiving special education services, relatively little is known about their participation in these programs. Do students who receive special education services during the primary years have a better chance of declassification or do they continue to need special education despite intervention during this period? This paper presents a theoretical framework for intervening in the early primary grades and offers a comprehensive review of the literature that exists regarding early childhood special education. This study proposes to identify the influence of 13 independent variables within three domains considered to have an impact on student performance: (1) Student variables---race, GPA, gender, percentile ranking on standardized math and reading assessments, time in general education, and duration of services; (2) Parent variables---education level of the mother and father, income status, and family composition; and (3) Teacher variables---teacher certification for regular and general educator. The purpose of the study is to determine if evaluation outcomes can be predicted based upon knowledge of these variables. |
