Reporting Students with Disabilities Public reporting of educational results is becoming an increasingly important tool for ensuring that public schools are accountable for helping students meet higher educational standards. New federal mandates, too, emphasize the importance of establishing on-going reporting systems that include all students, including students with disabilities.
Most states publish reports on student performance.
In the past, few states publicly reported the educational results of students with disabilities. In fact, most state agencies did not even keep track of the rate at which these students participated in testing. Low rates of participation and variability from one place to the next prevents policy-relevant conclusions to be drawn about the extent to which students with disabilities are benefiting from their educational experiences. What is reported is what the public knows, and what the public reacts to. It is probably valid to say that what is reported is what we attend to in educational reform.