District leads state in number of students with disabilities graduating with standard diploma

The graduation rate for students with disabilities in 2009-2010 was 82 percent. This well exceeds the state average for the same year of 53 percent. That’s according to the LEA Profile 2011. The Florida Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services has asked OCPS to serve as a mentor on graduation to other districts.

The Exceptional Student Education department achieved the high graduation rate in part by:

• Placing students with disabilities in classes with non-disabled students

• Providing coaches to support classroom teachers serving students with disabilities

• Intensive progress monitoring of student academics and other factors that impact graduation

• Creating individual plans for each student including credit retrieval, course recovery, and tutoring

In another notable factor, the dropout rate for students with disabilities has been consistently lower than the state average from 2005-2006 to 2009-2010. In 2009-2010, OCPS had a two percent dropout rate while the state had a four percent dropout rate.

One of the measurements fundamental to student success is providing increased opportunities for disabled students in the least restrictive environment. This is done by measuring the amount of time students with disabilities spend with their non-disabled peers. OCPS is proud of the increase from 57 percent to 74 percent over a five-year period (2005-2006 to 2009-2010) of students with disabilities who spend the majority of their day in the regular-education classroom.

Finally, the district outperformed the state as well as comparable districts on the 2009-2010 No Child Left Behind (NCLB) federal graduation rate for students with disabilities.