Why conduct SEELS?
SEELS is being conducted to help policymakers and other interested people understand what is happening with students who are receiving or have received special education services. This will help us know how students who receive special education services are doing, what services schools are providing to students and families, and to what extent special education is helping students and families. Because this study uses a nationally representative student sample, SEELS will provide an important national picture of special education. [Back to Top] Who conducts SEELS? SEELS is being conducted by SRI International, a scientific research institute located in Menlo Park, California, and Westat, a social scientific research firm located in Rockville, Maryland. SEELS includes approximately 13,000 students who were receiving special education services at the start of the study. Students represented the 13 federal disability categories and ranged in age from 6 to 13 when the study began in 1999.
