Focus area 04

District Data & Compliance

A district usually learns it has significant disproportionality when the state tells it, which is late enough that the required fund reservation lands in a budget year already committed. The risk ratio is simple arithmetic on numbers a district already holds, so it can be computed internally in October rather than received in June.

Hands with pens and notebooks around a table during a working meeting

Run the ratios before the state does

State methodology setting

Funds reserved on a flag 15% 34 CFR 300.646(d)

Who sets the threshold The state 34 CFR 300.647(b)

Threshold in this profile 3.0 applied over consecutive years Illustrative

Minimum cell size 10 below this, no ratio is calculated Illustrative

The ratio is a comparison, not a rate

Risk is the share of a group's enrollment identified for special education. The risk ratio divides one group's risk by the risk of all other groups combined, so a ratio of 2.0 means students in that group are identified at twice the rate of everyone else in the district. States must use this standard methodology, and each state sets its own risk-ratio threshold, minimum cell size, minimum n-size, and the number of consecutive years the threshold must be exceeded before the determination is made 34 CFR 300.647. Two districts with identical numbers can therefore receive different determinations in different states.

A determination of significant disproportionality carries a specific fiscal consequence. The district must reserve 15 percent of its Part B funds for comprehensive coordinated early intervening services, must review and revise policies, practices, and procedures, and must publicly report the revisions 34 CFR 300.646(c) and (d). Fifteen percent of a Part B allocation is not a rounding error, and it is committed in the same year the district is being asked to change identification practice. Districts that compute their own ratios each fall have a year of lead time on both problems.

Risk-ratio threshold set by your state

Minimum cell size Fewest students identified in a group before a ratio is calculated.

Minimum n-size Fewest students enrolled in a group before a ratio is calculated.

Enrollment and identification by group

American Indian or Alaska Native

Enrolled Identified

Asian

Enrolled Identified

Black or African American

Enrolled Identified

Hispanic or Latino

Enrolled Identified

Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander

Enrolled Identified

White

Enrolled Identified

Two or more races

Enrolled Identified

Risk ratios by group

Myth or fact?

A district identified with significant disproportionality must reserve 15 percent of its Part B funds.

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Fact. The district must reserve the maximum amount of funds, 15 percent of its Part B allocation, to provide comprehensive coordinated early intervening services. Those services must address the factors contributing to the disproportionality, and may serve students from age 3 through grade 12 whether or not they have been identified as needing special education. Source: IDEA 34 CFR Part 300, 300.646(d) and 300.226

Myth or fact?

A risk ratio above the threshold in a single year triggers the determination automatically.

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Myth. A state may set a reasonable number of consecutive years, up to three, during which a district must exceed the threshold before the state identifies significant disproportionality. States also set the minimum cell size and minimum n-size below which no ratio is calculated. A single year above the threshold is a signal to investigate, not the determination itself. Source: IDEA 34 CFR Part 300, 300.647(b)(1)(ii) and (d)

Myth or fact?

Disproportionality analysis applies only to identification for special education.

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Myth. States must examine three areas. Identification overall and by disability category, placement into particular educational settings, and the incidence, duration, and type of disciplinary removals including suspensions and expulsions. A district can be within range on identification and still be flagged on placement or on discipline. Source: IDEA 34 CFR Part 300, 300.646(a)

Myth or fact?

A flag requires the district to review its policies, practices, and procedures, and to report publicly on revisions.

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Fact. On a determination of significant disproportionality, the state must require the district to review and, if appropriate, revise the policies, practices, and procedures used in identification, placement, or discipline, and the district must publicly report on those revisions. The review covers practice, not only paperwork. Source: IDEA 34 CFR Part 300, 300.646(c)

Federal IDEA site, U.S. Department of Education Regulatory text for 300.646 and 300.647, including the standard methodology and the fund reservation requirement. Federal Rehabilitation Services Administration RSA-911 reporting requirements, relevant where district transition data is reported alongside VR service records. Family engagement Center for Parent Information and Resources Materials for the public reporting and family communication a district owes after a determination. Federal DOL Office of Disability Employment Policy Post-school outcome data and policy, useful when a district reviews placement patterns against exit outcomes. This project K-12 Special Education Project hub The other three focus areas, plus the district implementation partnership at engagement level three.