Family & Community Special Communities
Special Education

Preliminary Study of the Special Education Standard for Services - February 2000

Part 1: Eligibility: How does Massachusetts compare with other states?

It has been asked if Massachusetts has more students in special education because of the MPD standard. The high number of students identified as "eligible" for special education is a separate and different issue from the MPD standard. As an analogy, if "eligibility" is the door through which a student must enter to receive special education services, then MPD can be likened to the furniture in the room once a student enters through the door.

In this study, the following information and data regarding a comparison of the numbers of students in special education for Massachusetts and seven other states, as well as data for the United States as a whole were reviewed.

• Massachusetts' standard for eligibility for special education was more inclusive than the federal law for a number of years. The language in statute (MGL Ch. 71B) from 1972 to 1992 provided for a finding of eligibility if the student because of "temporary or more permanent adjustment difficulties or attributes arising from intellectual, sensory, emotional, or physical factors, cerebral dysfunctions, perceptual factors, or other specific learning disabilities or any combination thereof is unable to progress effectively in a regular school program and requires special classes, instruction periods, or other special education services in order successfully to develop his individual educational potential…"
• In 1992 the state Legislature and Governor acted to change the eligibility definition, and aligned the criteria to be more consistent with federal language, most specifically adding the word "disability" to the eligibility criteria. Language was retained that named types of impairments, rather than the strictly categorical approach used in federal law. The new language reads "because of a disability consisting of a developmental delay or intellectual, sensory, neurological, emotional, communication, physical, specific learning or health impairment or any combination thereof, is unable to progress effectively in regular education and requires special education services."
• Since 1992 (when special education enrollment in Massachusetts reached a high of 17.3% of the public school population), the enrollment has essentially stabilized and declined slightly to the current 16.9% (FY99).
• While Massachusetts' special education enrollment has stabilized in this period, other states continue to experience growth in the percentage of students served in special education.
• Chart B illustrates the growth experienced in the United States and in our comparison states . ¹ (Note that the chart is based on a percentage rate comparing the numbers of students in special education against the resident population. This figure allows state to state comparison without regard to considerations such as private school attendance vs. public school attendance, and explains the percentage rate under 12% for all states, including Massachusetts.)

CHART B: Special Education Enrollment in Selected States

In another formulation, Chart C ² below shows the participation of students in special education as a percentage of the public school enrollment for every state in the nation in 1996-97. In this chart, Rhode Island has exceeded Massachusetts' percentage.

CHART C: Students in Special Education as a Percentage of Public School Enrollment, by State: 1996-97

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