This study, The Privatization of Special Education, addresses a shift in the provision of special education and related services to students with disabilities in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Students with disabilities are being publicly placed in private day and residential schools at public expense. In Virginia, 125 private schools are licensed…

This study provides a description of the academic functioning levels and performance gains of adolescents (n = 423) attending a residential school over a seven year period using secondary data. Students ranged in age from 12 to 18 and represented a wide range of cultural and linguistic backgrounds. The vast majority of the sample were males (68%).…