Almost 19,000 kids in South Dakota, between the ages of 3 and 21, have a disability such as speech or hearing impairment or a developmental delay.  The Department of Education has released a report of South Dakota’s special education performance. The report analyzes seventeen areas including graduation rates, dropout rates, and parent involvement.  Melissa Flor is the Assistant Director of Special Education and says the report showed strengths and weaknesses…

 

The report shows that South Dakota did not meet the set goal of 81.5 percent of students with disabilities graduating high school in four years. Only 63.8 percent achieved a diploma on time or at all.  Flor says there has been some encouraging news for those who do graduate…

 

Flor says to improve areas where the state fell short of performance and compliance goals, teachers will be given the results in order to implement different teaching strategies.