The impact of poverty on special education students

Abstract

This study examined the impact of poverty using multiple poverty measures on students with disabilities, using data from the first wave of the Special Education Longitudinal Study (SEELS; Wagner, Marder, Blackorby, & Cardosa, 2004). Multiple definitions of poverty based on previous research were employed in the present study, to address limitations of the federal poverty measure. These definitions included (a) 50% of the federal threshold (extreme poverty), (b) the federal threshold, (c) 150%, and (d) 200% of the federal threshold. These measures were then used with the SEELS data that were obtained from 9,747 parent interviews and 4,912 student assessments based on subtests of the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement. Both student and household characteristics data were used to identify the extent to which income and poverty were associated with academic achievement and disability using multiple poverty measures. Findings of interest were uncovered in the extreme poverty category, with more pronounced differences revealed in gender and ethnicity. Overall, this research suggests that poverty is a better predictor of academic achievement than ethnicity, and that life circumstances become increasingly less positive as family income declines. Future research and policy implications are discussed.

Citation

Halloran Tornquist, E., Mastropieri, M.A., Scruggs, T.E., Berry, H.G. and Halloran, W.D. (2009), "The impact of poverty on special education students", Scruggs, T.E. and Mastropieri, M.A. (Ed.) Policy and Practice (Advances in Learning and Behavioral Disabilities, Vol. 22), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 169-187. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0735-004X(2009)0000022008