The image below depicts the four step Compliance and Improvement Monitoring for Significant Disproportionality (CIM for Sig Dis) Process for significantly disproportionate Local Education Agencies (LEAs). A CULTURAL LENS should be applied throughout the four steps to ensure equitable educational opportunities for all students. LEAs should begin by exploring the Guidance Document for CIM for Sig Dis Action Plan. For direct assistance with the four-step process, the California Department of Education (CDE) provides technical assistance to LEAs through the Napa County Office of Education (NCOE) State Performance Plan Technical Assistance Project (SPP-TAP) to support the development and implementation of effective CIM for Sig Dis Plans for Improvement.
This guidance is based upon the promising practices for improvement detailed in the national disproportionality literature and the Comprehensive Coordinated Early Intervening Services (CCEIS) federal guidance from the U.S. Department of Education. The U.S. Department of Education provided a memorandum (opens in new window) that addresses CCEIS under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
LEAs identified as significantly disproportionate engage in a process for systems change designed to provide LEA and school improvement teams with knowledge and technical expertise to develop a thorough understanding of the factors contributing to their disproportionate student outcomes based on race and ethnicity, and what action needs to be taken to address the disproportionality.
When the LEA is involved in other CDE accountability efforts, those efforts should be leveraged into the CIM for CCEIS Process. Many of the activities that have already been completed could enhance the critical conversations about disproportionality at the local level. The LEAs may want to integrate existing Title I, Part A (Program Improvement); Title II (Teacher Quality); and Title III (English Language Learners) efforts into the CIM for Sig Dis Plan for Improvement Process to address significant disproportionality.
