Special Education Column

An "encouraging" number of disabled students are participating in a Minnesota open-enrollment program, according to a study by University of Minnesota researchers.

The study, part of a larger examination of how school-choice programs affect disabled students, looks specifically at the state's postsecondary enrollment-options program. The program permits 11th and 12th graders to attend universities or technical and community colleges for high-school credit.

Of the 4,183 students in the program in December 1990, the study found, 318--or 8 percent--were special-needs students. Of that number, 17 percent qualified as gifted. Most of the remaining students were classified as learning-disabled and...