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How well are students with disabilities performing in school?

That's the question facing states as the U.S. Department of Education announced Tuesday it will begin monitoring the academic outcomes of students with special needs, rather than focusing on public school compliance with the procedural requirements of federal education law.

The good news: Wisconsin is one of just 15 states and three territories that meet the newly announced accountability requirements, which the Department of Education is tying to the release of special education funding.

That means Wisconsin is doing better than most states in terms of reading and math test scores and high school graduation rates for students with special needs.

But federal officials and Wisconsin disability rights advocates say that should not welcome feelings of complacency.

"This change in accountability represents a significant and long overdue raising of the bar for special education," U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a conference call with reporters.

In Wisconsin, only about 69% of students with special needs graduated from high school in 2013, compared with 90% of students without disabilities, according to four-year graduation rate data.

In larger and more troubled districts such as Milwaukee, Madison and Racine, less than half of students with disabilities graduate in four years. In 2013, a mere 16% of students with disabilities in Milwaukee Public Schools graduated on time.

In a letter to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction in March, representatives from local disability advocacy groups urged the state to provide school districts with more targeted guidance and technical support to improve reading instruction for students with special needs.

The representatives from Wisconsin's Disability Rights Partnership, the Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities and Disability Rights Wisconsin noted that despite 20 years of intervention and research, "we still see flat-lined progress for students with disabilities."

The advocates said educators needed more training on how to appropriately use assistive technology, and how to better engage families to hold high expectations for their children.

The new accountability requirements are important because, according to experts, only a small proportion of students who meet the federal definition of having a disability — which triggers the creation of individualized education plans — have an intellectual disability that significantly impedes academic achievement.

"That's why you see the feds saying you can't use this as an excuse anymore," said Lisa Pugh, education policy director for Disability Rights Wisconsin. "For too many years, we've been setting the bar way too low for all students with disabilities, as well as those with intellectual disabilities."

Pugh added that research shows even students with intellectual disabilities, such as Down syndrome, can make stronger academic gains with appropriate supports.

"You're seeing new postsecondary programs for kids with intellectual disabilities — it's not just a nice thing to do, it's because we know these students can have better outcomes that lead to better work opportunities, higher earnings and reduced reliance on public benefits," she said.

Duncan said Tuesday that while federal regulations over time have compelled states and districts to meet procedural requirements, such as timely evaluations of students with special needs, they have not led to a corresponding rise in achievement for such students overall.

"Basic compliance does not transform student lives," he said.

Under the old requirements, 41 states met expectations set by the federal government. Under the new requirements, just 15 states — including Wisconsin — and three territories do.

What states must do

States and territories that no longer meet the U.S. Department of Education's outcomes-based accountability standards will receive stronger interventions or could ultimately see their federal administrative funds withheld.

To avoid that, states must pay more attention to what percentage of students with disabilities score at or above the "basic" level in reading and math on a national and respected exam given every other year.

They also must better track achievement gaps between special education students and traditional education students, as well as what percentage of children with special needs are taking the regular state exams in reading and math, rather than a set of alternate, and often less rigorous, assessments.

About 120,000 students in Wisconsin, or 14% of the public-school population, have disabilities, according to state data. Most of them — 89% — are taking the general state assessments in reading and math, according to DPI.

But the proficiency gap between fourth- and eighth-grade students with and without special needs on the state assessments is 22%.