Special Needs...Special Opportunities

The National Center for Education Statistics states that between the 1990-91 and 2003-04 school years, the percentage of children ages 3-21 served under the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), Part B, increased 38.5%.

Federal Support for Special Education is up even more. According to U. S. Department of Education data, Special Education spending on the federal level has increased from just over $2 billion in 1990 to $12 billion in 2006. Adjusted for inflation, this is a 150% increase. And according to MDR data, the number of Special Education schools and those with Special Education classes had grown over 15% from 1990 to over 91,000 this year.

By any measure, these are significant jumps. With this growth has come the addition of Special Education faculty, changes and additions in programs and curriculum, an increased emphasis on staff development for Special Education faculty, and dramatic changes in the administrative components of delivering services to this growing student population.

The National Association of Special Education Teachers (NASET) now includes nearly 300,000 educators who serve students with a variety of special needs, ranging from visual and hearing impairments to learning disabilities and physical disabilities. Many Special Education teachers teach “across disabilities,” working with a variety of students with different needs.

Schools serving students with special needs often receive additional funding from the Individuals with Disabilities Act, state-based agencies, and other federal programs to support both staffing and instructional needs. Generally, most students with special needs have Individualized Education Plans (IEP), which specify the types and amount of special services the district will provide. Publishers and providers software, hardware, professional development, and other administrative services have recognized Special Education as a growth opportunity, albeit one with a unique and often complex set of requirements and purchasing processes. Typically, accommodations for students with special needs are spelled out in the IEP, and purchases for these students are made in keeping with IEP recommendations.

For marketers, the Special Education market offers important opportunities, including the development of adapted materials, increased needs for adaptive and assistive technology, focused professional development programs, and administrative solutions to help schools and districts track funding and expenditures related to the needs of their students with special needs.

We also offer e-mail marketing services targeted to the Special Education market segment, and we include contact information for district-level Special Education administrators in our School Directories in print and online.

For counts and assistance in developing strategic Special Education market segmentation approaches, contact your MDR Representative.