State Performance Plan 2005-2012 - Part B - Arkansas Department Of Education (Page 62 of 277) in pdf

State Performance Plan 2005-2012 - Part B - Arkansas Department Of Education Page 62

Arkansas Department of Education Special Education Unit

Part B State Performance Plan

Formula: Suspension/expulsion rate for children with disabilities – Suspension/expulsion rate for general

education students = Difference between Special Education & General Education students.

In establishing the State’s targets for Indicator 4A, a four-year moving average was used to project

suspension/expulsion rates through FFY 2014 for Indicator 4A. A comparison between mean and median

found no discernible difference; therefore, the mean was used to facilitate comparisons with past reporting.

Indicator 4B

The measurement for 4B uses a percent difference calculation within the LEA; the calculation is the

difference of a specific race for SWD with suspension/expulsion exceeding 10 days minus the percent of all

general education students with suspension/expulsion exceeding 10 days within the LEA. Exclusion criteria

are applied after the percent difference is calculated. Exclusion is possible if a:

• LEA’s special education child count is less than or equal to 40 students; or

• Particular race/ethnicity in LEA’s special education child count for the race/ethnicity is less than or

equal to 10.

Any district identified for having a percentage difference greater than 4 (special education rate for a specific

race is more than four (4) percentage points higher than general education rate) in a given year is required to

submit a self-assessment for the review discipline policies, procedures, and practices.

Baseline Data for FFY 2004

A) Percent = the number of districts identified by the State as having significant discrepancies in the

rates of suspensions and expulsions of children with disabilities for greater than 10 days in a school

year divided by the number of districts in the State times 100: 6.15%.

B) Percent = the number of districts identified by the State as having significant discrepancies in the

rates of suspensions and expulsions of children with disabilities by race ethnicity for greater than 10

days in a school year divided by the number of districts in the State times 100.

Discussion of Baseline Data

Report

Measurable and Rigorous Target

Year

The suspension/expulsion rate historically has been higher for children with disabilities than the

FFY 2004

rate for all students. In 2005 the special education rate is only 0.03 percentage points from

equaling the rate for all students.

In 2005, the unduplicated count of students suspended or expelled for greater than 10 days was

438. The focused monitoring suspension/expulsion trigger identified 16 or 6 % of districts for

possible monitoring. Each district that triggers is required to include an action plan in the

district's submission of the Arkansas Comprehensive School Improvement Plan (ACSIP). To

address the localized concerns about suspension/expulsion, the monitoring staff works with the

districts to develop their ACSIP plans.

In addition, the Special Education Unit has been the leader throughout Arkansas in promoting

school-based mental health programs for children with and without disabilities and

school- based positive behavioral support programs through the State Improvement Grant

(SIG).

Page | 60

State Performance Plan 2005-2012 - Part B - Arkansas Department Of Education Page 62

Related Articles

Related forms

Related Categories