August 11, 2023
In the 2019 – 2020 academic year, the graduation rate for students with disabilities was 71%, far below the national graduation rate of 87%. Students with disabilities drop out at over twice the rate as their non-disabled peers.
For students with specific learning disabilities, factors such as disciplinary exclusion, lower-than-average grades, retention, low parent expectations, and poor quality of relationships within schools significantly predict graduation rates over and above sociodemographic indicators such as race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status.
Yet, students with specific learning disabilities can learn on par with their non-disabled peers if given the appropriate instructional resources and support.