Observations to Accompany Analyses of the Tenth Annual Report to Congress

The federal government provides support for children and youth ages 3-21 years under provisions of Part B of the Education of the Handicapped Act (EHA-B) and also from birth through age 20 in programs operated by state agencies through Chapter I of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act-State Operated Programs (ECIA-SOP) authorization. Each year, personnel in the U.S. Department of Education assess progress in providing services to children and youth with disabilities and prepare a report of their findings for dissemination. Publication of the annual reports typically stimulates interest and dialogue among professionals (cf. Gerber, 1984; Greenburg, 1984) and provides a unique basis for examining what is going on in special education across the country (Blackman, 1989; Danielson & Bellamy, 1989; Tucker, 1989). When the Tenth Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Education of the Handicapped Act (Tenth Annual Report) was published, it marked the end of a decade of extraordinary change" (U.S. Department of Education, 1988, p. i). To stimulate thinking about previous and future progress in meeting the needs of students with disabilities, the "Executive Summary" of the Tenth Annual Report and three reactions to it recently were published in Exceptional Children (Gerber & Levine-Donnerstein, 1989; Greenburg, 1989; Wyche, 1989; Ysseldyke, 1989). Greenburg's (1989) perspective on the Tenth Annual Report reflects disappointment and dissatisfaction: The current report again seems overly dependent on congregated numbers and on reports of federally supported projects awarded to a limited number of selected agencies with little or no practitioner contact. Though there may be gross understaffing in the office responsible for the report, both Congress and special education practitioners are justified in anticipating a quality characterization of the implementation of EHA and the Tenth Annual Report seems to fall short of this expectation. (p. 10) In reference to the sections on related services, least restrictive environment, and personnel, Greenburg's opinions varied. For example, he found references to average numbers of related services "totally meaningless" and information on students exiting school programs limited, but helpful. Concerning information presented about special education personnel, Greenburg identified a set of questions worthy of further consideration (e.g., Are state education agencies better enforcing class size and caseload regulations? Do emerging service-delivery options require more, rather than fewer, personnel?) (p. 11). He did not identify a research agenda related to these questions. Despite the shortcomings he observed, Greenburg stated, "the annual reports are essential reading for those interested in the perspective of the Department of Education on the field and the practice of special education," and the report is filled with potential areas for further questions and research" (p. 12). Information about youth with disabilities who drop out of school was the primary focus of Wyche's ( 1 989) review of the Tenth Annual Report. After reviewing figures related to minority dropout rates from several sources, he made a plea for continued research and development to address dropout problems: Systematic strides must be taken to devise a diagnostic assessment battery that will identify potential dropouts in elementary grades, before they choose to leave school. Psychological and educational tests have an accepted tradition of being used to predict future behavior. An assessment battery that could identify specific cutoff scores and predict the possibility of dropping out with at least 80% accuracy would give educators a valuable tool. (p. 15) Although limited in its analysis of the overall report, Wyche's review illustrates the interest generated by annual reporting of figures related to special education. Gerber and Levine-Donnerstein's (1989) plan was "to update some earlier observations, identify some newer issues, and make some recommendations about treatment of data such as those provided by the annual reports" (p. …