Leveraging Resources in Rural Special Education: Using Economic Evaluation to Guide Decision-Making

Rural schools are important service centers that play a valuable and critical role serving children with disabilities in rural communities, and it is imperative rural schools provide high-quality and effective special education services. However, rural schools face significant challenges that are likely to affect the quality of special education services and need support that can assist district-level decision-makers to select effective interventions that can be feasibly implemented in rural schools. This article reviews how economic evaluation methods can be used by rural schools to address some of the implementation barriers they face and facilitate the adoption and implementation of interventions that can be feasibly and effectively implemented in rural schools. Four economic evaluation methods, cost analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis, benefit–cost analysis, and cost–utility analysis, are described, as well as how these methods align with implementation barriers faced in rural schools. Implications for rural school decision-makers, policymakers, and researchers are discussed.