Individual students are the core constituents of the educational process. Students bring powerful assets to the educational equation–intelligence, hope, enthusiasm, drive, compassion, sense of humor, and a variety of functional abilities–to varying degrees. To provide an understanding of student outcomes, SEELS will need to paint a thoughtful picture of students in special education. Several dimensions for task force consideration include:

• Disability — The disability category for which the student is eligible for special education is an important variable. There is, however, considerable variation in diagnosis and placement.
• Abilities — An assessment of students’ functional capabilities in a range of domains from physical health to social development is an important element.
• Health — Students with disabilities of many kinds frequently face medical challenges that also present educational challenges in terms of school attendance and participation and demands on school staff.
• Ethnicity — Student ethnicity is both an important component of student identity and an ongoing policy issue in special education related to the appropriateness of assessment and placement.
• Mobility — Some students move repeatedly during their educational careers, posing challenges for their school performance and social involvement.
• Gender — Young women often have not fared as well as their male peers in terms of teacher attention and assessment or student outcomes. There is evidence that these outcome gaps are even wider among students in special education, particularly after their transition to adult life.
• Past experience — Students bring an educational history to each school year, including past experiences with grade promotion and retention.

Potential research questions related to student characteristics appear in Table 8.

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