How Has the Pandemic Affected Students with Disabilities? A Review of the Evidence to Date Authors

In June of 2021, the Center on Reinventing Education (CRPE) and the Center for Learner Equity gathered a panel of seven experts in educating students with disabilities to assess and reflect on current research. [...] The information we have in hand so far implies that the consequences of these long interruptions are only just now starting to appear, in the form of the outcomes data available and a growing number of formal complaints and lawsuits by families. [...] Research to date has failed to tell us much, if anything, about the impacts of the pandemic on the academic and social-emotional development of students with disabilities. [...] Examine the role of trauma, including how it compounds with disability, to determine how to support the academic and social and emotional learning needs of students with disabilities who have experienced trauma. [...] Look closely at the state of the special-education teaching workforce, including recruitment, retention, and attrition associated with the pandemic and the pivot to remote and hybrid instruction.