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ExpectMore.govExpectMore.gov home pageEXPECT FEDERAL PROGRAMS TO PERFORM WELL, AND BETTER EVERY YEAR.
 
Program Assessment

Program

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IDEA Special Education Grants to States

The Grants to States program provides formula grants to States and territories to help them provide special education and related services to children with disabilities. States must provide a "free appropriate public education" designed to meet each student's specific needs.

Rating

What This Rating Means

PERFORMING
Adequate

This rating describes a program that needs to set more ambitious goals, achieve better results, improve accountability or strengthen its management practices.
  • The program has made some progress in improving student achievements. Between 2000 and 2005, the percentage of students with disabilities scoring at or above Basic on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (the Nation's Report Card) grew from 22% to 33% for 4th grade reading and from 20% to 31% for 8th grade mathematics.
  • Also, more students with disabilities are staying in school. The percentage of students with disabilities who graduate from high school with a regular high school diploma increased from 46% in 2000 to 54% in 2004 and the percentage who drop out of school decreased from 42% in 2000 to 31% in 2004.
  • There is no independent evaluation to provide information on the relationship between outcomes for children with disabilities and the program. While performance on the Nation's Report Card has improved, drop-out rates have declined, and graduation rates have increased, there is little information on the program's role in relation to these outcomes.

Improvement Plan

About Improvement Plans

We are taking the following actions to improve the performance of the program:

  • Conducting an independent evaluation of the program of sufficient scope to determine if and how the program contributes to the effectiveness of special education and its impact on students.
  • Identifying program strategies in key topic areas that have potential for improving results for children with disabilities.
  • Using data to focus resources and attention on areas critical to improving results for children with disabilities.

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