Updated, December 2010
Indicator 9 is quite the mouthful, isn’t it? It focuses on a top priority concern of the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)—reducing the disproportionate representation of specific minorities in special education because of inappropriate identification as a “child with a disability.”
Indicator 9 dovetails neatly with Indicator 10, which is also concerned with disproportionate representation of minorities–this time, however, into specific disability categories.
Indicator 9 reads as follows:
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Percent of districts with disproportionate representation of racial and ethnic groups in special education and related services that is the result of inappropriate identification. (20 U.S.C. 1416(a)(3)(C))
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These, then, are the data that States must compile and report to OSEP in keeping with its monitoring and supervision activities regarding disproportionate representation.
Resources to Support Data Gathering for Indicator 9
Guidance, research, state examples, and policies related to Indicator 9.
The SPP/APR calendar was designed to assist States with the preparation and timely completion of their State Performance Plans and Annual Performance Reports. The tabs in this section will lead you to helpful resources focused specifically on Indicator 9.
http://spp-apr-calendar.tadnet.org/byindicator.html#b_indicator_9
And technical assistance.
http://spp-apr-calendar.rrfcnetwork.org/explorer/view/id/386
How are we doing?
What’s the current status on reducing the level of disproportionate representation in special education as a result of inappropriate identification practices? What are the data telling us? Read pages 109-122 in this summary from August 2010.
http://uploads.tadnet.org/centers/88/assets/221/download
Resources to Support Reducing Disproportionate Representation
Learn about disproportionality in special education from the experts.
The National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems (NCCRESt) provides technical assistance and professional development to close the achievement gap between students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and their peers, and reduce inappropriate referrals to special education.
www.nccrest.org
Train others on disproportionality and IDEA’s requirements.
NICHCY offers Module 5, “Disproportionality and Overrepresentation,” in its Building the Legacy training curriculum on IDEA 2004. The module comes with a slideshow, handouts for participants, and a trainer’s guide to explain in detail what the problem is, what IDEA requires school systems do about it, how “significant disproportionality” is defined, and more.
http://www.nichcy.org/laws/idea/legacy/module5/
State definitions of “significant disproportionality.”
This publication compiles states’ definitions of significant disproportionality as described under Section 618 of IDEA.
http://projectforum.org/docs/StateDefinitionsofSignificantDisproportionality.pdf
Visit the Technical Assistance Center on Disproportionality.
This Center serves regions in New York State, but has lots of very useful info on its website, including publications such as these two:
Equity in Education: Addressing Racial/Ethnic Disproportionality in Special Education
This manual is intended to provide school districts with detailed data-driven processes for identifying the root causes of disproportionality in their district and ensure equitable outcomes.
http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/metrocenter/tacd/resources/publications
Distinguishing Difference from Disability: The Common Causes of Racial/Ethnic Disproportionality in Special Education
This Equity In Action brief provides educators and researchers with the most comprehensive, praxis-oriented information on identifying and reducing disproportionality in schools. Over the course of developing and piloting a data-driven process (2004-2010) for identifying root causes, the Center gained insight into not only the root causes but also the driving forces (internal and external to district) of these root causes.
http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/metrocenter/tacd/resources/publications
Preparing special education providers to avoid inappropriate identification.
The IRIS Center is a national center that serves college and university faculty and professional development providers by providing resources about students with disabilities. IRIS develops free, online, interactive training enhancements that translate research about the education of students with disabilities into practice. Of particular relevance to the issue of disproportionality are these two modules:
Cultural and Linguistic Differences: What Teachers Should Know
This module examines the ways in which culture influences the daily interactions that occur across all classrooms and provides practice for enhancing culturally responsive teaching. Also available in Spanish.
http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/clde/chalcycle.htm
Teaching and Learning in New Mexico: Considerations for Diverse Student Populations
Though developed specifically for the New Mexico Public Education Department, this module offers a broad overview of how diversity (i.e., culture, language, exceptionality, socioeconomic status, and learning style) affects learning and how teachers can better meet the needs of all students in their classes.
http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/tnm/chalcycle.htm
Use positive behavior supports to deal with behavior problems.
The National Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavior and Intervention Supports was established to address the behavioral and discipline systems needed for successful learning and social development of students. The Center provides capacity-building information and technical support about behavioral systems to assist states and districts in the design of effective schools.
http://www.pbis.org
NEA, on disproportionality.
Want the facts quick? Try this 3-pager, called “Disproportionality: Inappropriate Identification of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Children,” from the National Education Association.
http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/HE/mf_PB02_Disproportionality.pdf
A longer resource from NEA.
The National Education Association gives us a veritable primer on disproportionality in special education and discusses local practices that can yield positive results.
http://www.nccrest.org/Exemplars/Disporportionality_Truth_In_Labeling.pdf
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