That is so sad. It's not called "Special Needs" for nothin'. Disabled children deserve special attention, to the point of one-on-one instruction. That's extremely pricy, but if we got rid of the bureaucracy, I'll bet we could afford it. But you'll never be able to include them in a pass/fail measurement and get an accurate result.
The misguided education authorities didn't want to make slower children "feel bad," so they did away with "Special Ed." So now these poor kids really feel isolated because they're expected to keep up in a class that's moving too fast for their abilities. That just stinks!
Some children are "gifted," some are "average," and some need special attention. You're right -- an autistic child isn't going to get Algebra. Why torment them and their classmates for the sake of a measurement. That's just wrong, but I have no idea how to turn that around and get back to Special Ed and Advanced classes.
I think actually it was parents who didn't want their children feeling shuffled away, hidden, and isolated, and so asked for them to be mainstreamed.
I'll agree that special ed students shouldn't go into the assessment for NCLB.