Special Education

The COVID-19 pandemic has upended schooling for all children, but students with disabilities have been hit particularly hard. These children often face the most challenges in remote education and the biggest hurdles in making up for the time away from in-person learning. There has been confusion among educators about how to deliver special education services and whether the services should be provided to the same degree that they would be in-person. Some experts say students with disabilities are regressing, and families are wondering whether their children will receive compensatory services when they eventually return to school. But other experts, including some education and disability advocates, as well as parents, believe that remote schooling actually helps. They see this unprecedented shock to special education as an opportunity to make fundamental corrections to a highly imperfect system — one that has educated many children with disabilities, but often falls short of the potential envisioned by the landmark Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.