Post on 19-Dec-2015
OUTLINE
• Purpose
• Introduction
• Model Development
• Data Collection
• Data Analysis
• Conclusions
• Future Improvements
• Sources
PURPOSE OF OUR STUDY
• 13.7% of Children Receive Special Ed. Services
• Budget Cuts
• What Does This Mean For Students?
• Is the Number of Special Education Students Predictable?
INTRODUCTION
• Disabilities of Special Education Students
• Down Syndrome as Our Main Focus
• Definition of Down Syndrome
• Data Collection from 20 years
MODEL DEVELOPMENT
• Assumptions:
• Down Syndrome Model applied to other Disabilities
• 0.12% of Americans have Down Syndrome
• All Down Syndrome Children in School at Age 5
• All Down Syndrome Students Graduate/Transition
• Assume all 5-18 Year-Olds in 1990 in School
MODEL DEVELOPMENT• Equation Variables:
• xn: total # of students diagnosed with Down Syndrome in year n
• s: total # of 5 year-olds with Down Syndrome entering public school
• g: total # of graduating/transitioning Down Syndrome students
• r: # of Down Syndrome Students in Public School per Year
• Model Equation:
• Xn = (xn-1) + r(s – g)
DATA COLLECTION• Birth Rates for Years 1990-2010
• Finding Initial Population, x0
• Plotting the Differences between Years
DATA ANALYSIS• Normal and Uniform Distributions do not fit
• Plotting Randomness
• With Normal Distr.:
• With Uniform Distr.:
CONCLUSIONS
• Challenges of Educating Students of All Abilities
• Numbers are Virtually Impossible to Predict
• There is No Accurate Way for State Legislators to Predict # of Special Needs Students
• Special Education Budget Cuts Can Not be Justified
FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS
•Creating Models for Each Disability
•Collecting Information on # of Student Deaths and/or Dropouts
•Look at Costs of Special Needs Students vs. Average Students for the State
•Use Information to Create Ideal State Budget for Each State
SOURCES• SchoolSpeechPathology, . (2011, February 20). School speech pathology blog. Retrieved from
http://schoolspeechpathology.wordpress.com/2011/02/20/special-education-budget-cuts-of-2011/
• Pearson Education, . (2007). Crude birth and death rates for selected countries. Retrieved from http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0004395.html
• Pearson Education, . (2007). Live births and birth rates, by year. Retrieved from http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0005067.html
• Elizabeth, Mary. (2011). Special education statistics. Retrieved from http://www.educationbug.org/a/special-education-statistics.html
• Health Guide, Initials. (2001-2011). Learning disabilities in children. Retrieved from http://www.helpguide.org/mental/learningdisabilities
• Wikipedia, . (2011, March 10). Dsm-iv codes. Retrieved from - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DSM-IVCodes
• Google, . (n.d.). Define: down syndrome. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/search
• National Down Syndrome Society, . (n.d.). Transition planning. Transition Planning, Retrieved from http://www.kcdsg.org/files/content/Transition%20Planning%20for%20Students%20with%20Down%20Syndrome.pdf
• U.S. Census Bureau, . (n.d.). American fact finder. Retrieved from http://factfinder.census.