The Long-Run Impacts of Special Education

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Ballis, Briana; Heath, Katelyn
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Merced; Rice University
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-ECONOMIC POLICY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7731
• DOI: 10.1257/pol.20190603
• 发表日期: 2021
• 页码: 72-111
• 关键词: investments

摘要

Over 13 percent of US students participate in special education (SE) programs annually, at a cost of $40 billion. However, due to selection issues the effect of SE placements remains unclear. This paper uses administrative data from Texas to examine the long-run effect of reducing SE access. Our research design exploits variation in SE placement driven by a unique state policy that required school districts to reduce SE caseloads to 8.5 percent. This policy led to sharp reductions in SE enrollment. These reductions generated significant reductions in educational attainment, suggesting that marginal participants experience long-run benefits from SE services.