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CEIS: Step-by-Step – Significant Disproportionality

BACK TO CEIS Step-by-Step

Resource – Coordinated Early Intervening Services (CEIS) – Resources Step-by-Step

State Educational Agency

Determine whether each LEA has
significant disproportionality based on race or ethnicity with respect to identification, placement, and disciplinary removals.

States are required to determine whether each LEA has significant disproportionality based on race or ethnicity in these areas:

  • The identification of children as children with disabilities, including identification of children with particular disabilities;
  • The placement of children in particular educational environments; and
  • The incidence, duration, and type of disciplinary actions, including suspensions and expulsions.

States are required to provide, as part of the State Supplemental Survey, their definition of significant disproportionality. By July 1 2018, this definition must conform to a national standard provided at 34 CFR §300.647. Forthcoming guidance will require states to report all risk ratio thresholds, minimum cell sizes, minimum n-sizes, standards for measuring reasonable progress, and the rationales for each as a part of that definition.

Relevant Regulations

  • 34 CFR §300.647
  • Significant Disproportionality Final Regulations (pp. 92394–442)

TA Centers that assist with determining significant disproportionality

U.S. Department of Education-Funded TA Centers

  • IDEA Data Center (IDC)
    IDC provides technical assistance to SEAs to help them understand and interpret different methods for calculating significant disproportionality as part of its mission of building state capacity to collect, report, analyze, and use high-quality IDEA data. This includes the new standard significant disproportionality method defined in 34 CFR §300.647.

Other TA Centers

  • Civil Rights Project
    The Civil Rights Project is dedicated to improving educational opportunities and outcomes for children from subgroups who have been discriminated against historically due to their race/ethnicity, and who are frequently subjected to exclusionary practices such as disciplinary removal, over-representation in special education, and reduced access to a college-bound curriculum.
  • The Equity Project at Indiana University
    The Equity Project provides evidence-based information specific to issues of school discipline, school violence, special education, and equality of educational opportunity for all students. In addition, the project provides support and technical assistance to educational agencies seeking to create equitable school systems.

Specific resources to help determine significant disproportionality

U.S. Department of Education Resources

  • Dear Colleague Letter: Preventing Racial Discrimination in Special Education
  • Significant Disproportionality 101: Equity in IDEA – Contents of the Final Rule (Video)
  • EMAPS User Guide: State Supplemental Survey – IDEA SY 2018–19 (Section 6.9, p. 32)
  • Fact Sheet: Equity in IDEA
  • Model State Timeline
  • OSEP Memo 07-09: Significant Disproportionality
  • OSEP Memo 08-09: Coordinated Early Intervening Services (CEIS)
  • Significant Disproportionality 201: Equity in IDEA – Contents of the Final Rule (Video)
  • Significant Disproportionality (Equity in IDEA): Essential Questions and Answers (pp. 4–17)

U.S. Department of Education-Funded TA Center Resources

  • CIFR. Crosswalk of Current Significant Disproportionality Regulations with Prior Significant Disproportionality Regulations
  • CIFR, IDC and NCSI. IDEA Fiscal Timeline
  • IDC. EDFacts IDEA Discipline Data Infographic
  • IDC. IDEA Part B Discipline Data Collection Questions and Answers
  • IDC. Methods for Assessing Racial/Ethnic Disproportionality in Special Education: A Technical Assistance Guide (Revised)
  • IDC. Spreadsheet Application for Calculating Disproportionality Measures and User Guide (Revised)

Do you know of other resources that are not listed here? Contact us.

The Center for IDEA Fiscal Reporting (CIFR) provides technical assistance to state educational agencies (SEAs) to help them meet their federal obligation to collect and report special education fiscal data. Although CIFR does not provide technical assistance related to each step of CEIS, we believe that accurate data begins with the first step. The high quality resources provided for each step will lead to high quality collection and reporting.

IDEAs that Work

The Center for IDEA Fiscal Reporting (CIFR) is a partnership among WestEd, AEM Corporation, American Institutes for Research (AIR), Emerald Consulting, the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Center for Technical Assistance for Excellence in Special Education (TAESE) at Utah State University, and Westat. The Improve Group is CIFR's external evaluator.

The contents of this website were developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, #H373F200001. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Project Officers: Jennifer Finch and Charles Kniseley.

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