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Significant Disproportionality is the persistent over-representation of students from a particular racial or ethnic group in one or more of the following categories: identification as a child with a disability or within a specific disability, restrictive placements, and/or disciplinary removals as compared to other groups of students.
In Maryland, a local education agency (LEA) is determined to be significantly disproportionate if it has one or more subgroups of students evidencing a risk ratio of greater than 2.0 for two or more consecutive years (unless the risk ratio declines by a defined amount (.15 if less than 4.0 and .5 if over 4.0) from one year to the next. (COMAR 13A.05.02.04, Adopted May 22, 2018)
IDEA regulations guiding the mandatory provision of CCEIS require LEAs identified by the State as having significant disproportionality to reserve 15 percent of IDEA Part B Section 611 and Section 619 funds to implement a comprehensive system of proactive and responsive actions to address root cause factors contributing to significant disproportionality with respect to identification, placement, and/or disciplinary removals. CCEIS is defined by regulations at 34 CFR §300.646(d).
CCEIS activities funded under Part B include:
Providing educational and behavioral evaluations, services, and support, including evidence-based literacy instruction (see 34 CFR §300.226(b)).
Providing professional development and educational and behavioral evaluations, services, and supports (see 34 CFR §300.646 (d)(1)(i)).
Additionally, the local system must:
Address the factors contributing to the significant disproportionality (34 CFR §300.646 (d)(1)(ii)); and
Address and review a policy, practice, or procedure identified by the LEA as contributing to the significant disproportionality (34 CFR §300.646 (d)(1)(iii)).
Build systemic awareness and the leadership supports by convening a local implementation team necessary to implement organizational change and promote sustainability.
Establish a diverse stakeholder group inclusive of external and internal partners to develop an understanding of disproportionality and the conditions resulting in the LEA's identification as significantly disproportionate.
Engage in a self-assessment/data review process to determine the root cause factors creating the area(s) of significant disproportionality.
Use the root cause factors to plan for proactive and responsive actions necessary to increase equity and decrease disproportionality at the district, school, and/or classroom level.
Consider implementation drivers: staffing, training, ongoing coaching, and consultation, staff performance evaluation, data systems that support decision making, progress monitoring, implementation with fidelity, and effective evaluation.
Identify a structure of results-based and job-embedded professional learning experiences to build the capacity of local general and special education personnel who are engaged in the day-to-day implementation of change efforts.
Develop a comprehensive system for the evaluation of plan outcomes that emphasizes teacher/staff fidelity of implementation and measurable student outcomes.
SFY 2025 Comprehensive Coordinated Early Intervening Services Plan Template
C-1-25 and Budget Detail
CCEIS Allowable Costs Stoplight
CCEIS Plan Review and Feedback Tool
For a copy of this form, please email Interagency Equity Specialist Demetria White at demetria.white@maryland.gov.
CCEIS Plan Programmatic Amendment Template
CCEIS Plan Fiscal Amendment Template
CCEIS Progress Report Template
IDEA Data Center – Equity, Inclusion, and Opportunity: How to Address Success Gaps Rubric
The Success Gaps Rubric, is designed to help any school district or school identify the root causes for success gaps, which are gaps in performance between groups of children in a district or school.
Addressing the Root Causes of Disparities in School Discipline
This guide is intended to assist your school community in engaging in efforts to create supportive school climates and to address any persistent challenges, including disparities, in the administration of school discipline.
Assessing and Improving Special Education: A Program Review Tool for Schools and Districts Engaged in Rapid School Improvement
This program review tool is designed to assist school districts and leaders in beginning and engaging in conversations about, and reviewing and improving the quality of, their special education programs.
Equity Requirement in IDEA
This resource from www.ideadata.org defines the three distinct equity requirements of IDEA: Disproportionate Representation, Significant Discrepancy, and Significant Disproportionality,
Equity, Inclusion, and Opportunity Addressing Success Gaps
This resource from www.ideadata.org provides a summary of factors that contribute to the success of all children and is in alignment with the factors identified in the Success Gaps Rubric.
Racial/Ethnic Disproportionality in Special Education
A data analysis workbook tool developed by Dr. Edward Fergus and Roey Ahram provides an overview of how to analyze special education and general education data to identify rates of disproportionality in special education classification and placement.
Significant Disproportionality (Equity in IDEA) Essential Questions and Answers
A frequently asked questions and answer document developed by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) offers guidance related to the components of the IDEA regulations related to Significant Disproportionality.
Distinguishing Difference from Disability: The Common Causes of Racial/Ethnic Disproportionality in Special Education
Each year state education departments inform school districts whether they have met the measure of racial/ethnic disproportionality in special education. The formula and the threshold of what is disproportionate varies across the country.
Preventing Disproportionality by Strengthening District Policies and Procedures – An Assessment and Strategic Planning Process
This instrument creates an opportunity to look at both general and special education practices and policies with the understanding that where disproportionality exists, it may be due a variety of institutional factors that include organizational structures, classroom processes, curriculum implementation, knowledge, skills, and dispositions of practitioners, administrators, and other staff.
Center on Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports
High-Leverage Practices (HLPs) for Students with Disabilities
National Center on Intensive Interventions (NCII)
Evidence for ESSA
Innovation Configuration for Culturally Responsive Teaching
Parent Engagement from Preschool through Grade 3: A Guide for Policymakers
Using Student Data to Drive Instruction
A comprehensive examination ofdisproportionality research since the 1960s offering a thorough snapshot of current understandings of inequities in special education.
Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Equity - A series of learning modules developed by Ohio State University
Pursuing Equity for Black Students in K - 12 Education: Exploring the Intersection of Race and Disability
Including Voice in Education: Addressing Equity through Student and Family Voice in Classroom Learning
Root Cause Analysis: Using Data to Improve Students' Outcomes
The AIR Equity Initiative: A Bridge to a More Equitable World
Quick Reference Guide on the LEA Maintenance of Effort Adjustment and Use of Freed-Up Funds
Coordinated Early Intervening Services (CEIS) Fiscal and Student Data Tracker
CEIS Practice Guide: Examples of Fiscal and Child Tracking for Voluntary and Comprehensive Coordinated Early Intervening Services (CEIS)
Contact:
Gary W. Richardson, MBABranch Chief, Resource Management and MonitoringOffice: (410) 767-0706Fax: (410) 767-8165gary.richardson@maryland.gov