DCASD Westat

Big shoutout to Tennessee for meeting milestones associated with updating and enhancing their processes by consulting with experts in the state! Exciting work ahead!? Tennessee Department of Education

Kudos to Illinois for milestone accomplishments related to planning stakeholder meetings and drafting communications to boost awareness of their significant disproportionality dashboard among Illinois LEAs!?Illinois State Board of Education

Shoutout to Arizona for meeting milestones on LEA self-assessments!?Arizona Department of Education

New DCASD Resource:?Teaming for Successful Root Cause Analyses Created with both SEAs and LEAs in mind, our new DCASD In Depth,?Teaming for Successful Root Cause Analyses, offers a comprehensive look into the first component of a high-integrity root cause analysis: the meaningful engagement of a varied and representative team. The resource includes crucial information and considerations for establishing, resourcing, and supporting diverse teams to address significant disproportionality. https://lnkd.in/g3SVYWE9

Spotlight On...DCASD Director Amy Bitterman Amy Bitterman serves as the director of DCASD. In this role, she oversees all the center’s activities and coordinates with a diverse staff of managers, project specialists, and TA providers who work together to build states’ capacity to identify and address significant disproportionality by more accurately collecting, reporting, analyzing, and using their IDEA data.?We sat down with her recently for a brief question-and-answer... Hi, Amy. Thank you for your time! First question: What attracts you to work around the issue of significant disproportionality (SD)? "SD has been area of great interest of mine and one that I have been involved in for over ten years. Significant disproportionality can impact students’ access to opportunities and outcomes and all students deserve to have their needs met and a receive a high-quality education." What is something you want people to know about working with DCASD? "States and districts have grappled for years with how to accurately identify districts with SD and then what actually works to address it.?Our amazing group of technical assistance providers are ready to support states and their districts to build their capacity to identify and address significant disproportionality by more accurately collecting, reporting, analyzing, and using their IDEA data." What is one goal you have for DCASD in the next five years? "My goal for DCASD over the next five years is that through our tools, resources, and technical assistance states and their districts will be better able to use data to understand what SD is, identify what may be leading to it, and implement services to address it." Okay, final question: Name a book or movie title that sums up your view of the world. "The Little Engine that Could, because even though things can seem impossible we can all accomplish hard things." Thanks, Amy! Reader, watch this space for further DCASD Spotlights to learn more about our team and our work.

“What is significant disproportionality and why is it an important idea to understand?” Curious in Colorado Great question, Curious! Simply put, significant disproportionality is a term we use to describe patterns of certain racial and ethnic groups being identified for special education, placed in more restrictive educational settings, or disciplined at high rates than other students. States are required by federal law to collect?data?and report on significant disproportionality in special education by race and ethnicity. It is important to understand significant disproportionality because not only are states required to comply with federal mandates, but implications of the inappropriate identification, placement, and disciplining of students can lead to disparities in access and outcomes for students. Want to learn more about significant disproportionality and how to address it? Visit?DCASD.org?today!

New DCASD Resource: Root Cause Analysis Overview What is a root cause analysis and what role does it play in helping states to identify and address the contributing factors behind significant disproportionality? This resource from DCASD includes information about who conducts an RCA, data important to the process, an overview of root cause methodologies, and much more: https://lnkd.in/g6jGcUGD

What do we mean when we discuss significant disproportionality? Who does it affect, and what are the legal issues surrounding it? In this introductory webinar from DCASD, we discuss these topics and many others, helping to build a strong foundation of knowledge about significant disproportionality and empowering viewers to seek more information and answers going forward: https://lnkd.in/gya2Mmth

Are you attending this year’s Division of Early Childhood (DEC) conference in New Orleans? DCASD will be there! Make a plan to attend our presentation on “Exploring Preschool Data for Insights on Significant Disproportionality.” Visit the link for more information about the conference, including registration information: https://lnkd.in/gQz_yfF

DCASD In Brief: Significant Disproportionality for SEAs and LEAs. To adequately address significant disproportionality requires us first to understand it. This handy DCASD In Brief resource is a great place to begin. Specifically calibrated for LEA and SEA staff, the document includes overviews of key data, state obligations once significant disproportionality is identified, sources for further research, and much more. https://lnkd.in/gthaVUwV