July 2025

This joint effort from NCLD, the GRAD Partnership and WestEd highlights critical barriers facing students with learning disabilities (LD) and offers a roadmap and call to action for schools, districts, and policymakers to better support high school completion and postsecondary transitions.

The report draws from a unique mixed-methods study that centers the lived experiences of more than 100 young adults with LD who either left high school before graduating or strongly considered doing so, along with qualitative interviews with 27 participants. Together, these findings identify four key factors of student success: behavioral engagement, student agency, belonging and connectedness, and access to effective transition supports.

The data reveals a troubling pattern of disconnection and distress:

• More than half of students with LD (55%) missed 10 or more days of school in a single year. Including:
  • Three in five said they felt anxious or depressed, over half were sick, and one in three had fallen so far behind on schoolwork they didn’t see the point in showing up. These patterns reflect more than just absenteeism—they’re signals of serious emotional distress and academic overload.
• Half skipped classes, 89% struggled to focus, and 76% regularly turned in assignments late or not at all, showing widespread disengagement and a misalignment between school demands and student needs.
• Only 38% knew how to ask for help, revealing major gaps in how schools support self-advocacy and agency.
• 44% said teachers mistreated or bullied them, and 42% felt disliked by their peers, reinforcing that many schools fail to provide the safe, supportive environments students need to thrive.

“These numbers tell a powerful story,” says Saashya Rodrigo, Principal Researcher at NCLD. “But they also point to a clear opportunity. When students feel anxious, disengaged, or unsupported, it’s not a sign of failure on their part—it’s a call for us to design better systems. Every student deserves to feel safe, connected, and seen at school. This report gives us a roadmap to get there, and it’s on all of us to listen and act.”

While the report focuses on students with LD, its findings have broader implications. The same school conditions that hinder students with disabilities often affect many others, particularly those facing barriers due to poverty, mental health challenges, or systemic inequities.

Together, NCLD, The GRAD Partnership, and WestEd call on education leaders to:

• Integrate self-advocacy and agency-building into everyday instruction.
• Implement student success systems to foster early intervention and meaningful, trusting relationships between students and adults.
• Ensure all students have access to personalized, high-quality transition supports.
• Prioritize school climates where belonging, safety, and inclusion are non-negotiable.

“These findings paint a troubling picture of how students with learning disabilities experience many aspects of school life,” says Bob Balfanz, Director of the Everyone Graduates Center. “It is critical that our educators, policymakers, and stakeholders work together to ensure that all students have the learning experiences and supports they need to thrive in high school and beyond.”