Logging In to Press On: An Examination of High School Dropout and Completion Among Students With Disabilities in Online Courses

Students with disabilities (SWDs) continue to experience rates of high school dropout greater than students not receiving special education services. Furthermore, there is a persistent gap in the rates of high school completion among students with and without disabilities. While criticized for lowering standards and learning, online learning represents a plausible mechanism to both decrease dropout and increase high school completion among SWDs. Drawing on theoretical frameworks advanced by Dynarski et al. and Cavanaugh et al., the current study uses a nationally representative data panel to investigate the association between online coursetaking among SWDs and two dependent variables: high school dropout and completion. Results indicated that online coursetaking was associated with increased probabilities of high school completion among SWDs. Implications and policy recommendations are discussed.