Education Department Publishes Fact Sheet on Children with Disabilities’ Educational Environments

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) released a fact sheet exploring data from Section 618 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). In this document, OSEP analyzes the environments in which children with disabilities receive special education and related services. One finding shows that in the 2020-2021 school year, students with emotional disturbances were more likely to receive services in a separate school than all students with disabilities. Additionally, those with intellectual disabilities and autism were less likely to receive services inside a regular classroom for 80% or more of the day, while those with speech/language impairments and specific learning disabilities were more likely to do so. The sheet includes state by state percentages of students with disabilities served in a classroom for 80% or more of the day as well as data on how students of different racial groups are served in various educational environments.

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