Special Education and the Pandemic: Making Up for Lost Time and Lost Opportunities
How schools are helping students with disabilities recover from diminished services and lost instructional time due to the pandemic.
October 17, 2022
The pandemic’s academic and social-emotional toll has been especially hard on students with disabilities at both ends of the age spectrum: those in the early years in need of catch-up and services; and older learners on the cusp of post-high school and the working world who require support and preparation.
This Education Week special report looks at how schools and districts are finding ways to meet those needs at a time when special education caseloads and diagnoses are rising amid acute staffing pressures and limited resources, all complicated by COVID-19's long shadow.
This Education Week special report looks at how schools and districts are finding ways to meet those needs at a time when special education caseloads and diagnoses are rising amid acute staffing pressures and limited resources, all complicated by COVID-19's long shadow.
- Special Education Getting Specialized Services to Students Who Need Them MostEducators scramble to ensure that students in special education get services they missed during the pandemic.
Special Education Young Children Were Massively Overlooked for Special Education. How Will Schools Respond?Forty percent fewer preschoolers received special education services during the pandemic. Schools deal with the fallout.
Special Education Older Students Face Time Crunch in Getting Crucial Special Education ServicesMany students with disabilities missed out on key transition services during the pandemic. Advocates are pushing schools to make up for lost time.
Student Well-Being Addressing the Link Between Anxiety, Depression, and Student AttendanceIssues such as severe anxiety and depression can have a direct effect on school avoidance and attendance issues.
Special Education Special Education During the Pandemic, in ChartsKey data points show the challenges students with disabilities have faced during remote learning and pandemic recovery.
Coverage of students with learning differences and issues of race, opportunity, and equity is supported in part by a grant from the Oak Foundation, at www.oakfnd.org. Education Week retains sole editorial control over the content of this coverage.