A Comparative Study of Special Education Prevalence Rates by Disability Categories Between Taiwan and Wisconsin

Using 2007-08 special education child counts data from Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and Taiwan’s Ministry of Education, this study compares prevalence rates by disability categories. Wisconsin’s prevalence rate of 12.55 is found 5.75 times greater than that of Taiwan. The greatest discrepancy is revealed in the area of Speech and Language Impairment. In other Category B areas identified by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development report such as Learning Disabilities and Emotional Behavior Disability, Wisconsin also reports significantly higher prevalence rates. The findings were discussed in relation to different cultural, linguistic, socio-economical and philosophical perspectives and future comparability due to the implementation of Response-to-Intervention model for LD eligibility determination in the U.S.