Contextualizing the Academic Outcomes of Students with Disabilities Enrolled at an Alternative School

Despite reforms in federal and state laws to address educational equity, students with disabilities still often underperform their peers across academic outcome measures (i.e., school attendance, academic achievement and grade point average, graduation rates, and school drop-out). While researchers have suggested both individual and contextual-level factors to explain the disparity in these outcomes, there is a shortage of research examining the educational experiences of students of color with disabilities in alternative schools. Across four school years, this study quantitatively investigated the academic outcomes of students with disabilities enrolled in an alternative high school network for students who had previously dropped out of public schools. Outcome measures were further investigated across demographic variables such as race, gender, age, and disability category. After quantitative analysis occurred, school stakeholders were interviewed to gain a more in-depth understanding of the contextual and individual factors that act as assets, mediators, and barriers to the academic success of students of color with disabilities. Quantitative results suggested that academic mediators, access to the general education classroom, race, and disability category significantly impacted whether or not a student graduated. Qualitative findings indicated the importance of teacher-student relationships, how educational structures and policies facilitate student success, and how individual-level factors interact with contextual factors. Implications and recommendations for Disability Studies in Education and special education are also discussed.