Analysis of Discipline Issues in Special Education.

This report describes a research effort to analyze extant information from state and local education agencies on the incidence and consequences of children with disabilities who bring weapons to school, engage in life-threatening behavior, or commit other acts of serious misconduct. Specific research activities included a review of existing national data sets, analysis of data from all 50 states (and the District of Columbia) and a sample of 62 school districts, and telephone interviews with 12 special education directors and school administrators in nine districts. The study analyzed data in terms of the following categories: suspensions, expulsions, percentage of misconduct by students with disabilities, disciplinary actions by disability category, weapons, gender, court injunctions, and due process. Among conclusions are the following: (1) states do not currently collect data appropriate for assessing misconduct by students with disabilities or the resulting disciplinary actions; (2) students with disabilities are probably suspended and expelled from schools at rates that exceed their proportion in the school population; (3) the provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act do not prevent these suspensions and expulsions; and (4) students identified as emotionally disturbed are highly over represented among special education students suspended and expelled. Extensive data tables, due process summaries, and interview protocols are appended. (DB)