| The study examined non-disabled students compared to students with disabilities and their academic performance on Georgia's Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests. Specifically, the content areas of mathematics and language arts were analyzed for its progression since the enact of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The study is quantitative, panel longitudinal, and ex post facto. The study included the eligible student target population for the criterion-referenced competency enrolled in grades one through eight in its entirety. The results of the study showed that students who were characterized as non-disabled continually outperformed their disabled counter parts in both language arts and mathematics across all grade levels with regard to the proportion of students meeting or exceeding Georgia state standards. These differences were large and statistically significant in all cases. However, in comparing the two groups' performance patterns over time, the results tend to be mixed. Student performance for both groups has increased for grades six and eight in language arts and in grades three, four, five, seven and eight in mathematics. Therefore both subgroups of students are showing more progress in mathematics than they are in language arts. |
