The OSEP Symposium on Significant Disproportionality explored why this is an important topic for all of us as we work to ensure that children with disabilities, regardless of race or ethnicity, are provided educational services and accommodations that enable and prepare them for post-school education and career opportunities. The Symposium presentations highlighted the key topics from a national perspective, framed the importance of this issue for all OSEP grantees, and provided some examples of practices and strategies that help address significant disproportionality. In addition to the live event, numerous resources related to significant disproportionality have been posted for participants to use as they prepared for the event and as resources to improve services and conditions for children with disabilities in States, districts, schools, and programs.
The Region 15 Comprehensive Center (R15CC), led by WestEd, is part of the national Comprehensive Center Network (CC Network), and works to provide capacity-building technical assistance, content expertise, and other services to effectively support state education agencies (SEAs) and their regional and local constituents in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah.
The Regional Educational Lab (REL) West partners with key stakeholders in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah to develop evidence that can inform consequential decisions about policy, programs, and practice. Key stakeholders include organizations with decision-making authority and the ability to influence education policy and practice, such as state and local education agencies, school boards, institutes of higher education, and student, family, and community organizations. RELs partner with these organizations on applied research and development; training, coaching and technical supports; and dissemination.
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).
The Innovations in Equity and Systemic Change (IESC) at NYU Metro Center (Previously TAC-D) provides professional development, technical assistance, and consultancy to educational institutions in general and special education. The IESC’s mission is to disrupt, dismantle, and eliminate disproportionality by building the capacity of educators to implement Culturally Responsive Sustainable Equity-Based Systems that meet the needs of all students and families.
Innovations in Equity and Systemic Change | NYU Steinhardt. Steinhardt.nyu.edu, steinhardt.nyu.edu/metrocenter/iesc. Accessed 9 Mar. 2023.
The WEEAC houses a number of equity related resources on a variety of topics. This center is no longer providing technical assistance to states.
