The effect of the national plan (2010–2020) on the development of special education in China: Evidence from before–after design at a 7-year interval

The possible effect of the National Plan on the development of special education has not been examined, and there is no published evidence concerning both national and international readership about the realisation of this policy document in China. Given this, we conducted a before–after design study at a 7-year interval including six variables of special education: Number of schools, total enrolment, new enrolment, graduates, educational personnel, and full-time teachers. The data were retrieved from the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBSC). The results indicated two patterns of special education development in China. First, the National Plan has quantitatively affected some special education services (schools, new enrolments, educational personnel, and full-time teachers). Second, the National Plan has possibly resulted into better control of the quality of special education—evidenced by an insignificant increase in total enrolment and graduates at the two compared intervals.