Secondary School Principals Cite Inadequate Support to Help Students with Disabilities

A 2019 RAND Corporations survey of secondary school principals from the American School Leader Panel found that principals in schools with the highest percentage of students of color feel inadequately prepared to support students with disabilities.

While past survey results have shown that teachers believe they lack support for serving students with disabilities, Rand’s results demonstrate that secondary school principals also lack sufficient guidance for helping teachers and for supporting students. Principals are critical in providing support to teachers as they serve the 6.7 million students with disabilities across the nation. 

These survey results, which suggest a need for greater access to expertise, materials and training, particularly for principals serving students of color, can assist policymakers in developing future improvements for district level leadership.

Read about the RAND report and survey here.