By Associated Press
Albany, NY – More disabled students are succeeding and graduating, but overall numbers are still low, according to statewide data released Tuesday.
For example, elementary school and middle school performance improved significantly in math, but more than half of the middle school students still failed to meet the standard. Meanwhile, middle school English scores dropped.
In high school, about half of disabled students are passing the English and math Regents exams even as far more are taking the rigorous tests. The result is more than four times as many disabled students are graduating with Regents diplomas than in 1995, just before the state raised academic standards for all students.
Minority students' scores, however, also continue to lag white students' scores. Minority students also continue to be over-represented in special education compared to their general population, the state Education Department data showed.
For example, 10.3 percent of black special education students were restricted to separate classes, compared to 7.3 percent of Hispanic special education students. Less than 6 percent of white students were restricted to special education classes. Most special education students also attend some general classes.
"This report shows progress," said state schools Chancellor Robert Bennett. "But it also shows many still need much more extra help to reach the standards."
Disabled students comprise 12 percent of the public school enrollment.
In New York City, test scores generally dragged down already low statewide success rates. Just 5 percent of students with disabilities in New York City met the middle school math standard and 3.5 percent met the English standard compared to 16.4 percent statewide in math and 7.9 percent statewide in English.
New York City also has the highest percentage of students placed in separate special-education classes (9.2 percent) compared to the state average of 6.6 percent and the national average of 4 percent. By comparison, Syracuse places 2.6 percent of disabled students in separate classes.
Statewide, more disabled students spent most or all of their class time in general classes than the national average _ a goal for better performance by disabled children.
"We have far to go here," said state Education Commissioner Richard Mills of the test scores and data.