OSEP Releases Fast Facts on the Race and Ethnicity of Children with Disabilities Served under IDEA Part B

Screen cap: OSEP Fast Facts on Race and Ethnicity OSEP Hand in Hand on Race and Ethnicity

By the Office of Special Education Programs

OSEP is excited to release a new OSEP Fast Facts: Race and Ethnicity of Children with Disabilities Served under IDEA Part B and new supplemental tool, Hand In Hand, which explore our IDEA, Section 618 data with the specific lens on race and ethnicity.   

Highlights from OSEP Fast Facts: Race and Ethnicity of Children with Disabilities Served under IDEA Part B:

  • Asian students with disabilities are more likely to be identified with autism or hearing impairment than all students with disabilities and less likely to drop out and more likely to graduate with a regular high school diploma than all students with disabilities.
  • Black or African American students with disabilities are more likely to be identified with intellectual disability or emotional disturbance than all students with disabilities and more likely to receive a disciplinary removal than all students with disabilities.
  • Hispanic students with disabilities are more likely to be identified with hearing impairment or specific learning disability than all students with disabilities.
  • American Indian or Alaska Native students with disabilities are more likely to drop out than all students with disabilities and less likely to be inside regular class less than 40% of the day than all students with disabilities.
  • White students with disabilities are more likely to be served inside a regular class 80% or more of the day than all students with disabilities and less likely to be identified with specific learning disability or intellectual disability than all students with disabilities.

For the Hand In Hand supplemental tool, each display in the OSEP Fast Facts: Race and Ethnicity of Children with Disabilities Served under IDEA Part B is presented with critical questions to allow parents and other stakeholders to engage with the materials. Throughout the Hand In Hand resource, look for hands highlighting further reading on the topics.

OSEP Fast Facts is an ongoing effort to display data from the 12 data collections authorized under IDEA Section 618 into graphic, visual representations with the intent to present 618 data quickly and clearly.

Visit the OSEP Fast Facts page for existing and future Fast Facts.


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2 Comments

  1. Why does the government collect this data if they don’t do anything to change the negative results?
    Since the start of data collection on this topic, the results for black students have not changed.
    It would be fair to state that we need more ACCOUNTABLE and attention to fixing the problems vs. just reporting the problem.

    • I agree with Cheryl. Turning a blind eye and collecting data to just have, is not providing a solution. What is the action plan that need to be put in place across the US.
      The impact is systemic when it comes to growth and projections of our nation. However I understand the school to prison pipeline. Which makes it absolutely possible to collect the data to fund the private prisons and predict the future growth for them.

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