A proposed change to how states measure racial disparities in special education for federal data collection could limit transparency and make the issue harder to identify, according to public comments.

In August, the U.S. Department of Education sought comments on the possible elimination of a data collection within states’ annual applications for Part B grants under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Those applications give assurances that the state and its districts will comply with IDEA rules as a condition for receiving federal IDEA funding, including measuring racial disparities in special education. Currently, those applications ask states to provide rationale and supporting data if they want to alter the metrics they use for how they identify districts and schools with racial disparities in student special education identifications, placements and discipline.

The data collection for racial overrepresentation or underrepresentation in special education — known as significant disproportionality — helps states and districts identify racial disparities in special education so they can address the causes and find remedies.

The Education Department is not proposing to rescind or pause the significant disproportionality regulation, a rule known as Equity in IDEA. But the agency said in its public notice seeking comments that it wants to reduce paperwork burdens by eliminating this part of the data submission from states, undermining measurement of racial disparities in special education. The comment period ended Oct. 21.

The agency estimated that the annual data collection takes 14 hours per state or territory and costs about $26,880 collectively.

States would still need to comply with the Equity in IDEA rule, they just wouldn’t have to update the Education Department with the changes they make to how they measure significant disproportionality in racial disparities in special education.

But opponents of the change said it would limit the public’s ability to make sure districts are tracking and responding to racial disparities in special education.

Students with disabilities, for instance, have higher rates of in-school suspensions, federal data has shown. Although students with disabilities represented 17% of K-12 student enrollment in the 2021-22 school year, they comprised 27% of students with one or more in-school suspensions, 29% of those with one or more out-of-school suspensions, and 24% of those who were expelled, according to the Civil Rights Data Collection.

Read the full article about racial disparities in special education by Kara Arundel at K-12 Dive.