CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Trends in CT’s Special Education Population Data Diane Murphy Performance Office 860-713-6891 Diane.Murphy@ct.gov September 12th, 2017

Agenda CT Overall Prevalence Rate trends History Calculation Prevalence Trends by Disability Where are the rate of change greatest Discussion of Contributing factors What supports exist and what supports are needed by LEAs?

Connecticut K-12 Special Education Prevalence Rate CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Initial Reactions What are the top 3 factors contributing to the increase in special education identification? Have you seen increases in parent generated referrals? Staff referrals? Pre-K Child Find referrals? Mental Health Prek Behavior Autism Misidentification

Prevalence Calculation Count of K-12 Students with Disabilities Count of All K-12 Students CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Prevalence Numerators & Denominators YEAR Special Education Prevalence K-12 Special Education Count All K-12 Student Count 2007-08 11.5% 64,375 559,500 2008-09 11.6% 64,187 555,411 2009-10 63,968 551,461 2010-11 63,486 548,052 2011-12 11.7% 63,651 541,727 2012-13 12.1% 65,096 537,595 2013-14 12.4% 66,132 532,320 2014-15 13.0% 68,445 527,832 2015-16 13.4% 70,055 522,906 2016-17 13.9% 72,420 519,885

Prevalence Numerators & Denominators

Prevalence Counts: Rate of Change

Where is the change occurring? CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Rate of Change 3-5 year olds CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Rate of Change Overall SWD CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Rate of Change by Disability Category

Rate of Change by Disability - Increasing CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Rate of Change by Disability - Decreasing CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Follow-up Questions What impact if any has dyslexia legislation had on your LD identification rates? What identification guidelines need updating/ revisions to assist with appropriate identification for special education? Mental Health Prek Behavior Autism Misidentification

Significant Disproportionality CT Disproportionality Trends CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Follow-up Questions Do you have an over-identification/misidentification issue within your district? Overall special ed or by specific disability category? By race? How about within the EL population? Have you seen an increase in: Parent generated referrals? Staff referrals? Pre-K child find referrals? Mental Health Prek Behavior Autism Misidentification

Identification Process Is there consensus about the identification process across your whole district (across schools, grade levels, etc.)? What data are being monitored/examined within your district to help ensure appropriate identification? How is your Tier 1 SRBI Process working to support your district to avoid inappropriate identification? What areas need to be addressed? Training? Specialized/specific reading interventions? Staffing?

Identification Process What strategies exist to help monitor prevalence and identification within your district? What supports, documents or data are needed by districts to support the monitoring of identification and special education prevalence? CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Special Education Population Data Questions? CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION