K-12 Dive

The number of students with disabilities, ages 3-21, could jump by about 1 million students between 2021 and 2025 if the current rate of increase continues, according to federal data and an analysis by The Advocacy Institute. By comparison, it took about 20  years — from 1997 to 2017 — to add 1 million students eligible for services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, said Candace Cortiella, founder and director of The Advocacy Institute, a nonprofit focused on improving the lives of people with disabilities. But pre-K-12 grade schools gained 539,617 students eligible for IDEA services between fall 2021 and fall 2023, the most recent year for which data is available from the U.S. Department of Education. From fall 2022 to fall 2023, the number of IDEA-eligible students increased by 3.4% to a total of 7,892,433.