Special education funding in Indiana's public schools: A financial analysis of current practices
Abstract
This quantitative and qualitative study examines the current funding practices in the state of Indiana in regards to special education programs. The analysis includes interviews with current practitioners (superintendents and cooperative directors) from the state of Indiana to gather their perceptions in terms of the current funding practices for special education. A regression analysis was performed to determine if a statistical relationship exists between the expenditures per special education student and their achievement levels on the Indiana State Test of Educational Proficiencies (ISTEP). The results of the study included that the current practitioners in the state of Indiana believe that special education is currently underfunded in their districts/cooperatives. The data showed little evidence that increased expenditures per special education student resulted in increased achievement on ISTEP. In fact, the districts with the highest expenditures per special education pupil also had the lowest documented ISTEP scores. The final result of this research includes specific findings that should be researched further to determine their correlation with special education funding practices. The research showed evidence that special education cooperatives that shared common traits related to standardized testing (statistically high or low standardized test scores for special education students) also shared common traits in terms of the numbers of students categorized by specific disabilities (high or low incidence of students with specific disabilities).
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Hirth, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Education finance|Special education
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