Presenters: Jack Jorgensen, Executive Director, Dep’t. of Educational Services

1. Addressing Disproportionality in the Madison Metropolitan School District – Transfer Students Are a Part of the Puzzle Presenters: Jack Jorgensen, Executive Director, Dep’t. of Educational Services Kisten Gillespie, Bilingual School Psychologist

2. Disproportionality The overrepresentation of racially, culturally and linguistically diverse students in special education has been well established in over 30 years of research and is emphasized as a critical issue in IDEA ’04.

3. Examining Critical Data Identifying the problem.

6. MMSD District and Special Education Enrollment Comparison of 2005-06 and 2006-07

7. K-12 Initial Referral & Placement Data This is where we started in our attempt to address disproportionality.

12. Risk Ratios Digging deeper into our data to identify potential contributing factors.

13. What is Risk Ratio? Risk ratio compares the risk of one racial/ethnic group to the risk for all other racial/ethnic groups combined.

14. Where is evidence of our greatest risk of disproportionality? *LI= Autism, Deaf-Blind, Hearing Impairment, Orthopedic Impairment, Significant Developmental Delay, Traumatic Brain Injury, Visual Impairment

16. Statutes Relating to Exclusionary Factors • Eligibility criteria for each impairment • Federal Register/Vol. 71, No. 156/Monday, August 14, 2006/Rules and Regulations 300.304 Evaluation procedures. (c) Each public agency must ensure that (1) Assessments and other evaluation materials used to asses a child under this part (i) Are selected and administered so as not to be discriminatory on a racial or cultural bases; • Wisconsin Statute 115.782(2)(a) 3.a. a. That assessments and other evaluation materials used to assess a child under this section are selected and administered so as not to be racially or culturally discriminatory and are provided and administered in the language and form most likely to yield accurate information on what the child knows and can do academically, developmentally, and functionally, unless it is clearly not feasible to do so.

17. Statutes Relating to Exclusionary Factors • Code of Federal Regulations 300.306(b) and (c) (b) Special rule for eligibility determination. A child must not be determined to be a child with a disability under this part- (1) If the determinant factor for that determination is (i)lack of appropriate instruction in reading, including the essential components of reading instruction (as defined in section 1208 (3) of the ESEA); (ii)Lack of appropriate instruction in math; or (iii) Limited English proficiency; and (2) If the child does not otherwise meet the eligibility criteria under 300.8(a). (c) Procedures for determining eligibility and educational needs. (1) In interpreting evaluation data for the purpose of determining if a child is a child with a disability under 300.8, and the educational needs of the child, each public agency must (i) Draw upon information from a variety of sources, including aptitude and achievement tests, parent input, and teacher recommendations, as well as information about the child’s physical condition, social or cultural background, and adaptive behavior…

18. ExaminingK-12 Transfer Student Data Revealing yet another dimension to the problem.

23. So what have we done to address disproportionality in the Madison Metropolitan School District ? 1999 - 2004 • Created a centrally coordinated IEP system (CCIS) in 1999 to slow the rate of inappropriate referrals and placements to special education • Improved the knowledge and skills of staff in conducting non-bias, multi-cultural assessments and developed guidelines for non-bias, multicultural assessment • Engaged in courageous conversations about race and equity

24. Continuation of efforts 2004 - 2006 • Secured a WI Department of Public Instruction mini-grant in 2005 to examine root causes as to why African American and American Indian students are at greater risk of being labeled EBD and SLD • Entered into multi-year partnership with National Institute for Urban School Improvement - NIUSI • Focused on greater adherence to the eligibility criteria, especially for overrepresented groups (e.g., African American students) • Employed university personnel to develop a process and tool to assist with addressing the exclusionary factors – The Checklist to Address Exclusionary Factors in Special Education Eligibility Determination – now being embedded into our electronic Student Intervention Monitoring System (SIMS) • Examined more carefully transfer students to MMSD and the effect on our disproportionality

25. Continued Work – Transfer Students2006 - 2007 • Have dedicated two school psychologist to review all transfer student special education records to determine if an evaluation is warranted: • In-State transfers will be referred to school as reevaluations • Out-of-state transfers will be referred to CCIES as initial referrals • Improved version of exclusionary factor checklist tailored specifically for the review of transfer records • Eligibility criteria checklist developed for each disability area

26. Transfer File Reviews from 10/06 – 06/07