K-12 Dive

A U.S. Department of Education proposal to remove certain data collections for racial disparities in special education has drawn opposition from special education organizations, disability rights advocacy groups and a coalition of state attorneys general.  The Education Department, in a March 23 Federal Register notice, sought public comment on proposed changes to the federally required State Performance Plans and Annual Performance Reports for special education. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act,  each state must develop these documents to evaluate their efforts to implement IDEA requirements and detail how it will make improvements. The plans and reports include indicators that measure student and family outcomes and that help evaluate compliance with IDEA requirements. 

Specifically, the department has suggested eliminating data collections used in these reports for:

• Significant discrepancies in suspension and expulsion rates for students with disabilities.
• Significant discrepancies in suspension and expulsion for students with disabilities by race and ethnicity, and policies contributing to those discrepancies.
• Disproportionate representation of racial and ethnic groups in specific disability categories that result from inappropriate identification.

In its notice, the Education Department said it wants to reduce state data collection burdens by better aligning the reporting process with IDEA statutory requirements, eliminating duplicative reporting, and streamlining reporting. The department estimated the changes would save about three hours in paperwork burden for each state and territory.

Some 313 comments were submitted before the public comment period ended on May 22