1 Students with Disabilities and Accountability Reform: Findings from the New York Case Study

This document is one of four individual case study reports presenting the qualitative findings from a five-year investigation of the impact of accountability reform on students with disabilities in four states, eight districts, and twenty schools. During the late 1980s and 1990s, many states passed legislation requiring school systems to be more accountable for students ’ learning. However, the impetus for the most recent changes in state accountability systems originated in state responses to federal concerns about the quality and equity of public education. These concerns can be considered as the next phase of the standards-based reform movement. The standards-based reform movement, which began during the 1970s, has been integrated into federal education policy, most notably the last two reauthorizations of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), and has become increasingly focused on holding schools accountable for the academic performance of all their students. The drive for greater accountability and educational equity is embedded in the 2001 reauthorization of ESEA, known as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). NCLB aims to increase student achievement, improve schools, provide parents and the communit