Project Activities
The mixed-methods study will utilize student-level administrative data on the population of Michigan general and special education students, spanning the 2003-04 to 2019-20 school years, as well as results from semi-structured focus groups with families of SWDs and special education systems leaders. The project aims are to (1) determine the characteristics of districts that send and receive SWDs through the IDSC system, and (2) assess the extent to which SWDs experience equitable access to and benefit from the IDSC system. The team will address these aims through four quantitative, descriptive research questions (RQs) and two qualitative RQs.
Structured Abstract
Setting
We will use student-level administrative data on all Michigan general and special education students from the 2003-04 through the 2019-20 school year. IDSC participation rates in Michigan are among the highest in the United States, making it an ideal context in which to examine equitable access to this opportunity. Approximately two-thirds (65 percent) of Michigan’s school districts are classified as rural and enroll less than a third (31 percent) of Michigan’s K–12 students.
Sample
For this project, the research team will analyze longitudinal education records for 2,022,246 unique Michigan students (2003-04 through 2019-20) across 521 districts. IDSC participation among SWDs grew from 2.5 to 10.6 percent during this period. SWDs constituted 13 to 14 percent of the total student body, with approximately 35 percent female, 75 percent White, 23 percent Black, 3 percent other race, 6 percent Hispanic, and 65 percent eligible for free and reduced-price lunch (FRPL). In comparison, students without disabilities were 52 percent female, 73 percent White, 24 percent Black, 4 percent other race, 6 percent Hispanic, and 49 percent eligible for FRPL. The team will also conduct semi-structured interviews with 20 families of SWDs and 20 special education systems leaders in districts experiencing an influx or outflux of SWDs through IDSC.
Research design and methods
The research team will use both descriptive and quasi-experimental methods to address the project’s three aims through five RQs: (1) To what extent do district characteristics explain overall rates of SWDs' participation in IDSC, as well as rates of participation for different SWDs? (2) Do families of SWDs travel farther than families of students without disabilities to participate in IDSC? Does this distance differ by disability type? (3) What challenges, if any, do special education systems leaders experience serving SWDs through IDSC? (4) Which SWDs participate in IDSC? When do they participate? How is participation correlated with special education classification? (5) What are the experiences of families of SWDs who choose to participate in IDSC? (6) Does participation in IDSC affect SWDs' standardized test scores? RQs 1, 2, 4, and 6 use a descriptive, quantitative study design, while RQs 3 and 5 use a grounded theory qualitative design.
Control condition
For RQ 1, the study will compare characteristics of high- and low-sending and high- and low-receiving districts. RQs 2 and 6 will compare SWDs, non-SWDs, and SWDs with different characteristics. RQ 4 will include only students who participated in IDSC and were identified for special education services at some point in grades K–12. Groups of students experiencing different sequences of events, including changes to special education services and IDSC participation, will be identified and compared by student characteristics. RQ 3 will compare perspectives of special education systems leaders from high- and low-sending and high- and low-receiving districts. RQ 5 will compare parent experiences by demographic characteristics.
Key measures
The research team will aggregate the number of K–12 students and SWDs participating in IDSC to the district level for RQ 1. They will use a student-level indicator measuring participation in IDSC at each grade (RQs 2, 4, 6) in combination with home residence and district zip codes and census tracts (RQ 2). They will assess special education participation in all RQs with a series of variables at each grade indicating whether the student received special education services, including the types of services and specific programs, as well as the student’s primary educational setting and disability category. Student achievement (RQ 6) will be measured in grades 3–7 with Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress math and reading scores.
Data analytic strategy
The team will use descriptive analyses and regression to evaluate the district level characteristics of high- and low-sending and -receiving districts of SWDs and students without disabilities for RQ 1. For RQ 2, they will use spatial analysis to calculate the commute-time distance between students assigned versus attending districts before using multilevel modeling to compare these distances across students and grade levels. This will include evaluating how the average distance traveled differs for students by both time-invariant (i.e., race/ethnicity, sex) and time-varying student characteristics. They will conduct semi-structured focus group interviews with 20 families of IDSC-participating SWDs for RQ 3. They will also interview 20 special education systems leaders in high-sending and high-receiving districts of SWDs through the IDSC system for RQ 5. Multiple event process survival mixture modeling will evaluate RQ 4, comparing the probabilities that SWDs participate in IDSC at different points during the K–12 period. This will explore the timing and co-occurrence of participation in IDSC and special education and identify groups of students who may experience similar educational trajectories, including across specific disability categories and other characteristics (e.g., race/ethnicity, multilingual learner status, residence in a low-income household). Lastly, for RQ6, the researchers will use a student fixed-effects approach that leverages within-student differences on standardized test scores from grades 3–7 before and after IDSC participation.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Project contributors
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Products and publications
Publications:
ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.
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