[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-587235-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-587235-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","texas-special-education-report-13-takeaways-for-texans-april-2025","Texas Special Education Report - 13 Takeaways For Texans - April 2025","","A public-facing report explaining how Texas addresses its legal obligations under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). It outlines IDEA’s federal-state responsibilities, highlights Texas’s troubling track record in identification, monitoring, and funding, and targets actionable guidance for traditional public schools serving students ages 5 through 21. Through analysis of Texas special education data and stakeholder input, it presents key findings supported by data displays and concluding recommendations for TEA, districts, journalists, universities, families, community organizations, and the Texas legislature.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/texas-special-education-report-13-takeaways-for-texans-april-2025/587235/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/texas-special-education-report-13-takeaways-for-texans-april-2025/587235.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"วิน","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-01","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",7,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What legal responsibilities does IDEA place on Texas and the federal government?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"IDEA requires both the federal government and Texas to ensure students access high-quality public education. States must implement IDEA with fidelity, sustain programs that meet IDEA standards, and monitor special education effectively through local- and state-level processes.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"Why does the report emphasize Texas’s “troubling track record”?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"It cites concerns that Texas has failed to accurately identify all eligible students with disabilities and has not monitored special education appropriately. It also points to illegal cuts to special education funding.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"Who is the report intended to help, and what does it focus on?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"The report is designed for Texans including parents, journalists, policymakers, practitioners, and community organizations. It focuses on critical areas relevant to traditional public schools serving students ages 5 through 21, rather than assessing every aspect of IDEA implementation.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},587235,1792165356,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,106,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":102,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},2336475104736,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/22000c4c5e0e5b17e70?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1786591360781797222","TEXAS SPECIAL  \nEDUCATIONREPORT  \n13 Takeaways For Texans  \nApril 2025  \nDavid E. DeMatthews  \nUniversity of Texas at Austin  \nPedro Reyes  \nUniversity of Texas at Austin  \nJinseok Shin  \nUniversity of Texas at Austin  \nTorri D. Hart  \nUniversity of Texas at Austin  \nMeeting the educational needs of students with disabilities in Texas:Information Texans need to know .  \n# The State’s Responsibility\n\nThe federal government and the state of Texas share acritically important and legal responsibility to ensureevery student has access to a high-quality publiceducation. To ensure students with disabilities receivethe services they need to support their learning, the U.S.Congress reauthorized the Individuals with DisabilitiesEducation Act (IDEA) in 2004. IDEA requires that eachstate (1) implement IDEA with fidelity, (2) sustain specialeducation programs that meet IDEA’s educationalstandards, and (3) monitor special education effectivelyat the local- and state-levels. Each state is responsiblefor submitting a State Performance Plan to the U.S.Department of Education (ED), at least, every 6 years.Also, all states must annually report a series of goalsand targets specific to meeting the needs of studentswith disabilities to the ED. Based on these reports,additional monitoring visits, and other information, theED annually determines if a state meets requirements orneeds assistance, intervention, or substantialintervention to implement IDEA with fidelity.  \n# Troubling Track Record\n\nAnnual determinations of IDEA implementation aremade publicly available, but members of the public whoare interested in assessing special educationimplementation can find navigating federal and statewebsites, legal jargon, and governmental data displaysconfusing or time intensive. While Texas has madesome progress in special education in recent years, thestate has a troubling track record. For example, the statewas rated as “meet requirements” by the ED in 2023-24, which was the first time this rating was given in overa decade. Yet, Texas has been cited multiple times forfailing to accurately identify all eligible students withdisabilities and failing to appropriately monitor specialeducation. Texas has also made illegal cuts to specialeducation funding.  \n# Critical Need for Information\n\nThis report was designed to provide accessibleinformation to Texans who are also parents, journalists,policymakers, practitioners, community organizations,and other interested parties. Rather than assessing allaspects of IDEA implementation, this report focuses oncritical areas relevant to traditional public schoolsserving students ages 5 through 21 in grades K through  \n12. We identified key areas of action for Texans tosupport students with disabilities, after a year-longanalysis of Texas special education data and inconsultation with educators, administrators, disabilityrights advocates, and families of students with andwithout disabilities.  \nThe key areas are presented as our main findings andinclude data displays, discussion, and an explanation of  \nwhy Texas policymakers should prioritize addressingareas of need in special education for traditional publicschools. We conclude with actionable items for thefollowing entities in Texas: Texas Education Agency(TEA), traditional public school districts and chartermanagement organizations, journalists, universities,families and community organizations, andthe Texaslegislature. Additional information related to researchmethods, data, and analysis procedures is provided inthe Appendix.  \n# Acknowledgments\n\nWe are grateful for the contributions of many individualsthat made this work possible. We thank theTranscending Research Analytics through CollectiveExploration (T.R.A.C.E.) data team, including LauraTorres, Katie Mason, and Sarah Mason, for their effortsin supporting the data visualizations of the report. Wealso thank Drs. Rachel White, Shelby Cosner, AndrewPendola, and David Knight for their thoughtfulconservations and revie","cbCairvpsX0gKSDf","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCairvpsX0gKSDf","pdf",5935223,17,"English","# The State’s Responsibility\n# Troubling Track Record\n# Critical Need for Information\n# Acknowledgments\n# Takeaways for Texans","[{\"question\":\"What legal responsibilities does IDEA place on Texas and the federal government?\",\"answer\":\"IDEA requires both the federal government and Texas to ensure students access high-quality public education. States must implement IDEA with fidelity, sustain programs that meet IDEA standards, and monitor special education effectively through local- and state-level processes.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the report emphasize Texas’s “troubling track record”?\",\"answer\":\"It cites concerns that Texas has failed to accurately identify all eligible students with disabilities and has not monitored special education appropriately. It also points to illegal cuts to special education funding.\"},{\"question\":\"Who is the report intended to help, and what does it focus on?\",\"answer\":\"The report is designed for Texans including parents, journalists, policymakers, practitioners, and community organizations. It focuses on critical areas relevant to traditional public schools serving students ages 5 through 21, rather than assessing every aspect of IDEA implementation.\"}]","Texas Special Education Report - 13 Takeaways For Texans - April 2025 | PDF",1792061134,43]