significant disproportionality

The editorial delves into the Comprehensive Coordinated Early Intervening Services (CCEIS), mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to address disparities in the treatment of students of color within local educational agencies (LEAs). When LEAs disproportionately identify students of color in certain categories or discipline them, they are labeled "disproportionate" or "significantly disproportionate."  

The California Department of Education (CDE) State Performance Plan Technical Assistance Project (SPP-TAP) supports LEAs in CCEIS work by guiding them through data analysis, root cause identification, improvement planning, and implementation monitoring. Despite initial overwhelm, educators appreciate the structured approach provided by SPP-TAP TA Facilitators. 

The editorial provides examples of successful strategies in districts like Evergreen Elementary Alameda Unified, and Pittsburg Unified such as engaging families through community liaisons and personalized learning plans for "focal scholars." It discusses efforts to address racism, cultural disconnect, and implicit bias through staff training and community outreach. There’s also a focus on empathy and inclusion, alongside efforts to dissolve traditional disciplinary methods and address cultural biases, exemplifies a commitment to equity. 

This document contains a table that outlines three distinct requirements around equity: Disproportionate Representation, Significant Discrepancy, and Significant Disproportionality. This resource can help clarify the differences and similarities among the three equity requirements and enable users to compare and contrast these various equity requirements in key areas such as methodology, data sources, and reporting considerations. 

This Board policy ensures equal access to educational opportunity for all students by minimizing or elimination the impacts of disparities in ability, levels of preparation, available resources and social-cultural differences in achievement and performance. Also, it describes how to prevent disproportionality associated between a child's race or ethnicity and the number and type of special education classifications and placements that result. 

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.

The Data Center for Addressing Significant Disproportionality (pronounced DEE-KAS-DEE) is a U.S. Department of Education-supported center dedicated to working with state and local education agencies to help build their capacity to identify and address significant disproportionality by more accurately collecting, reporting, analyzing, and using their IDEA data.