Special Education

Diplomas and Disabilities

December 06, 2000 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Diplomas and Disabilities

Graduation Rates Vary
The following shows the number and proportion of disabled students age 17 or older who earned standard high school diplomas in 1997-98, as a percentage of all such students in that age bracket and disability category.
Disability Number Percentage
Specific learning disabilities 99,640 30.5
Speech or language impairments 4,099 35.0
Mental retardation 15,268 13.8
Emotional disturbance 13,861 22.3
Multiple disabilities 2,061 10.3
Hearing impairments 2,761 29.0
Orthopedic impairments 2,037 25.8
Other health impairments 5,052 29.6
Visual impairments 1,157 30.6
Autism 384 8.4
Deaf- blindness 132 39.2
Traumatic brain injury 671 27.7
All disabilities 147,123 25.5

Standard Diplomas Inching Up

There has been a gradual rise in recent years in the proportion of students with disabilities earning standard high school diplomas, as a percentage of all such students ages 17 to 21 who exit their states’ education systems.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, Data Analysis System.

A version of this article appeared in the December 06, 2000 edition of Education Week as Diplomas and Disabilities

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Mathematics Webinar
Pave the Path to Excellence in Math
Empower your students' math journey with Sue O'Connell, author of “Math in Practice” and “Navigating Numeracy.”
Content provided by hand2mind
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Recruitment & Retention Webinar
Combatting Teacher Shortages: Strategies for Classroom Balance and Learning Success
Learn from leaders in education as they share insights and strategies to support teachers and students.
Content provided by DreamBox Learning
Classroom Technology K-12 Essentials Forum Reading Instruction and AI: New Strategies for the Big Education Challenges of Our Time
Join the conversation as experts in the field explore these instructional pain points and offer game-changing guidance for K-12 leaders and educators.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Special Education Opinion 'I Dread Being at This Table.' How to Improve the IEP Process
IEP meetings take an emotional toll on families. But they can be turned into a forum where hope for the possibilities of schooling prevail.
8 min read
Images shows colorful speech bubbles that say "Q," "&," and "A."
iStock/Getty
Special Education Letter to the Editor Schools Must Do Better to Meet IDEA Requirements
More states must follow through on this law.
1 min read
Education Week opinion letters submissions
Gwen Keraval for Education Week
Special Education Test Your Knowledge: How Does Universal Screening for Dyslexia in Schools Work?
Take our quiz to gauge your knowledge of the language processing disorder—and find links to further reading.
1 min read
 Conceptual image of wooden alphabet tiles scattered across blue metallic surface.
iStock/Getty
Special Education Letter to the Editor Reevaluating My Language Around Disability
A recent opinion essay encouraged this teacher to unpack her approach to labeling students with specific disability classifications.
1 min read
Education Week opinion letters submissions
Gwen Keraval for Education Week