Significant Disproportionality

About

Under Section 618 of The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, States are required to collect and examine data to determine if significant disproportionality based on race and ethnicity is occurring in the State and the public education agencies (PEAs) of the state with respect to:

• Identification 
  • The identification of children ages 3 through 21 as children with disabilities;
  • The identification of children ages 3 through 21 as children with the following impairments:
    • Intellectual disabilities;
    • Specific learning disabilities;
    • Emotional disturbance;
    • Speech or language impairments;
    • Other health impairments; and
    • Autism
• Placement
  • Placements of children with disabilities ages 6 through 21, inside a regular class less than 40 percent of the day; and
  • Placements of children with disabilities ages 6 through 21, inside separate schools and residential facilities, not including homebound or hospital settings, correctional facilities, or private schools
• Discipline
  • For children with disabilities ages 3 through 21, out-of-school suspensions and expulsions of 10 days or fewer;
  • For children with disabilities ages 3 through 21, out-of-school suspensions and expulsions of more than 10 days;
  • For children with disabilities ages 3 through 21, in-school suspensions of 10 days or fewer;
  • For children with disabilities ages 3 through 21, in-school suspensions of more than 10 days; and
  • For children with disabilities ages 3 through 21, disciplinary removals in total, including in-school and out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, removals by school personnel to an interim alternative education setting, and removals by a hearing officer

The State has moved to a Risk Ratio method to determine the likelihood of overrepresentation of a group when compared to another group. Arizona defines significant disproportionality as a rate of greater than or equal to 3.0 within a group compared to another group. If the ratio is greater than or equal to 3.0 for three consecutive years, the PEA is significantly disproportionate. PEAs that do not meet minimum cell size (10) are exempt from calculation. PEAs that do not meet the minimum n-size (30) are calculated using the alternate risk ratio.

Public Education Data - Fiscal Year 2023

KEY:

PEAs identified with significant discrepancy in Fiscal Year 2023 are listed below. These PEAs have been above the risk ratio of 3.0 for the past 3 consecutive years.

PEAs identified as being "at risk" for significant discrepancy are listed below. These PEAs are not identified with significant disproportionality; however, they have had a risk ratio of at least 3.0 for the past two years. If these PEAs are above a risk ratio of 3.0 next year, they will be flagged for significant disproportionality in FY24.

Resources

• Significant Disproportionality FAQ
• Calculating Significant Disproportionality Infographic

ESS Operations Contact Information

ESS Operations Inbox

Page revised 11/29/23