National Study of Special Education Spending
Federal, state, and local policymakers and education leaders urgently need up-to-date national estimates for what is spent to provide special education services to inform their funding policies and budgeting for special education.
The National Study of Special Education Spending’s purpose is to update our understanding of the costs of special education and related services. The study will collect information from a national sample of districts and schools about what is spent to educate students with disabilities, as well as what states and districts spend to operate their special education programs and comply with federal and state laws. The Institute of Education Sciences within the Department of Education has partnered with AIR, NORC at the University of Chicago, and Allovue, a PowerSchool Company, to design the study.
Project Timeline
A pilot study will take place in the 2024-2025 school year, in anticipation of a larger, full-scale national study occurring in the 2025-2026 school year.
- Summer 2024: Study development and district recruitment for pilot study
- Fall/Winter 2024: School recruitment and student rostering for pilot study
- Winter 2024: Collect local education agency financial data for pilot study
- Early 2025: Administer pilot study questionnaires
- Spring/Summer 2025: Analyze pilot study data and revise study design
- Early 2026: Conduct full-scale study
Information for Participants
The study will ask for data from district financial and personnel information systems and ask district and school staff to complete surveys about special education service delivery models and resources, instruction, and services each sampled student receives.
Districts, schools, coordinators and respondents will be reimbursed for the time it takes to coordinate and complete surveys and provide administrative data.
Any reports prepared for the study will summarize findings and will not associate survey responses or other data with a specific individual, school, or district. Information collected for this study comes under the confidentiality and data protection requirements of the Institute of Education Sciences (The Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, Title I, Part E, Section 183). All the information may be used only for statistical purposes and may not be disclosed, or used, in identifiable form for any other purpose except as required by law (20U.S.C. §9573 and 6 U.S.C. §151).
Our Partners
