Rethinking Secondary School Programs for Students with Learning Disabilities

Abstract

Nearly 15 years have passed since enactment of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (PL and the federal government's assurance of a free and appropriate public education for students with handicaps.During that time the numbers of students served in special education programs has grown to nearly 4.5 million, an increase of 21 % over 1976-77 counts.Nowhere has the change in size and scope of special education services been more astounding than in the field of learning disabilities (LD).In the 15 years just passed, the numbers of students identified and served in programs for students with learning disabilities has increased by more than 145%.Every state in the nation has seen an increase in service rates in learning disabilities, with the service rates for students of secondary school age accounting for the greatest change.According to the Eleventh Annual Report to Congress (U.S.Department of Education, 1989) 1,025,010 students 12 to 17 years old have been diagnosed as LD and are receiving special education services.Before passage of PL 94-142, only a small body of literature specifically addressed the characteristics and needs of adolescents with learning disabilities.It is not that learning disabilities were not thought to exist in adolescents and young adults.Indeed, early descriptions of students with dyslexia and related learning disabilities often included case studies of students in the age range of 12 to 21 years (see Critchley, 1964, pp.ix-xi; Johnson & Myklebust, 1967, pp.229-232).But secondary school-aged students with learning disabilities were not considered a distinct popl!lation with distinct characteristics and programming needs.

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