The resource directory is searchable and contains articles, tools, recordings, and links to websites. The resources are also categorized by topics, including the five Focus Areas suggested by the California Department of Education. Use the Search box below or click on the topical links to access the resources. (Hint: Once you have done an initial search, you will be able to sort the results by Resource Name or Publication Date.)
This two-page document designed for family and community members articulates the value that the Office of Special Education Programs places on involving affected communities such as children with disabilities and their families, educators, education agency staff, researchers, policymakers, and advocacy groups in defining criteria for determining significant disproportionality. This ensures that families and community partners have a say in identifying Local Education Agencies (LEAs) with significant disproportionality. Additionally, addressing significant disproportionality requires a comprehensive examination of LEA policies, practices, and procedures, with families and community partners contributing to identifying the causes and solutions for disproportionality.
Citation: The Data Center for Addressing Significant Disproportionality. 2023. “Significant Disproportionality: For Families and Communities.” https://dcasd.org/resources/SigDisproIntro-Parents.pdf (accessed, June 14, 2024).
This brief two-page document outlines the fundamental aspects of significant disproportionality for State and Local Educational Agencies. According to IDEA Section 618, states are required to collect and examine data to identify significant disproportionality among the seven federally identified race and ethnicity categories in:
Identification of children as having disabilities.
Placement in less inclusive educational settings.
Incidence, duration, and type of disciplinary actions, including suspensions and expulsions.
States use 98 separate calculations for each Local Education Agency (LEA) to determine the presence of significant disproportionality. These calculations must follow a standard methodology and analyze disparities based on race/ethnicity in identification, placement, and discipline.
Citation: The Data Center for Addressing Significant Disproportionality. 2023. “Significant Disproportionality: For SEAs and LEAs.” https://dcasd.org/resources/SigDisproIntro-SEA.pdf (accessed, June 14, 2024).
In this article, esteemed scholars in equitable education Anne Gregory and Edward Fergus collaborate to investigate why focus on social-emotional learning does not ensure equity in school discipline.
Gregory, Anne, and Fergus, Edward. 2017. “Social and Emotional Learning and Equity in School Discipline.” The Future of Children 27, no. 1: 117-136.
Through this work, the author hopes educators will identify what creates barriers for student success by analyzing data to help create pathways for schools to provide equitable service to all students. Included are tools for data collection and progress monitoring.
Fergus, Edward. 2017. Solving Disproportionality and Achieving Equity: A Leader's Guide to Using Data to Change Hearts and Minds. California: Corwin Press.
This website allows users to quickly identify patterns of special education identification for students in California overall, and by individual counties throughout the state. Using multiple formats, it shows data disaggregated by race and ethnicity, disability category, and by multiple-year trends.
Kidsdata.org: A Program of Lucille Packard Foundation for Children’s Health. 2016. Special Education Enrollment, by Race/Ethnicity. www.kidsdata.org (accessed April 17, 2018).
This research article provides a brief overview of special education policy within the context of changing student demographics, with a focus on disproportionate identification for special education and inappropriate educational placement for diverse students. The article additionally provides an overview of the Response to Intervention (RTI) model.
Castro-Villarreal, Felicia, Victor Villarreal, and Jeremy R. Sullivan. 2016. “Special Education Policy and Response to Intervention: Identifying Promises and Pitfalls to Advance Social Justice for Diverse Students.” Contemporary School Psychology 20 (1): 10–20.
This brief provides strategies, suggestions, and resources for schools to help families understand and become a vital part of the process.
Gross, J. (2017). Strategies for Transitioning to an Inclusive School Environment, Issue Brief #10. Lawrence, KS: SWIFT Center
The data in this report prepared by the Los Angeles Unified School District provides evidence that 100% of the secondary students in LAUSD minimally accessed Schoology, the district's primary online course management system at least once during the first nine weeks of school closure. Data is provided that there were disparities in activities. Compared to more advantaged students, fewer middle and high school students who are Black, Hispanic, living in low-income households, classified as English Learners, have a disability, are in the District's homeless program or are in foster care participated across all measures of online activity. Report states that low participation may show lost learning, which could take students years to recoup.
Besecker, M., Thomas, Ph. D., A. 2020. Student Engagement Online During School Facilities Closures: An Analysis of L.A. Unified Secondary Students' Schoology Activity from March 16 to May 22, 2020. Los Angeles, California: Independent Analysis Unit, Los Angeles Unified School District
http://laschoolboard.org/sites/default/files/IAU%20Report%202020%200707%20-%20Student%20Engagement%20Online%20During%20Closures.pdf
The authors examined the relationship among K-12 students and their attendance rates with a focus on EL students, students living in poverty, suspension rates and students with disabilities.
Forman, K., & Markson, C. (2022). Students with Disabilities and Suspension Rates: A Cautionary Tale for School Districts. Journal for Leadership and Instruction, 21(1), 20–24
Valenzuela includes student voice in this text documenting the need for kindness and caring for youth of color in secondary schools
Valenzuela, Angela. 1999. Subtractive Schooling: U.S.-Mexican Youth and the Politics of Caring.
Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Valenzuela, Angela. 1999. Subtractive Schooling: U.S.-Mexican Youth and the Politics of Caring.
Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
