MSDE flags racial disproportionality in special education; announces $1M ROWS grants to reduce over‑identification

MSDE staff told the State Board that statewide data show persistent racial disproportionality in special‑education identification and discipline, and described required federal remedies and new state grant support to address the problem.

Presenters displayed multiple years of data showing that Black students are identified as having intellectual or emotional disabilities at rates above their enrollment proportion and that Black students with disabilities have been suspended at higher risk ratios than their peers. MSDE explained the federal multi‑step methodology it uses to designate significant disproportionality (risk‑ratio thresholds, minimum cell sizes, multi‑year and reasonable‑progress options), and described LEA remedies: a root‑cause analysis, public reporting, and a mandatory reservation of up to 15% of IDEA Part‑B funds to provide Comprehensive Coordinated Early Intervening Services (CCIS).

MSDE reviewed district examples (Baltimore County’s revised eligibility guidance, new monitoring and pre‑referral trend tracking) and said the department has tightened review and technical assistance: every submitted CCIS plan was returned for revision and MSDE added a national equity expert to review district plans.

To accelerate local work, MSDE announced a $3‑million ROWS grant pool (three awards of $1,000,000 each) to support LEAs that propose data‑driven strategies (family engagement, pre‑referral processes, professional learning, systems to prevent unwarranted referral) to reduce racial over‑identification. The grant application will be released March 1 and due May 16; MSDE said awards will require measurable milestones and expectation of public progress reporting.

Board members and speakers urged rapid action. The superintendent framed the issue as urgent and systemic, calling misidentification “an ugly problem” that changes children’s life trajectories. MSDE said the grant will be open to LEAs statewide, that projects may include family navigators or cross‑sector strategies, and that grant proposals that propose remediation of past misidentifications (case reviews, re‑evaluations and family outreach) would be considered.

What the data show: MSDE presented that, over recent years, the state risk ratio for Black students identified as intellectually disabled averaged ~2.7, and the risk ratio for out‑of‑school suspensions exceeding 10 days sometimes exceeded 4. MSDE stressed that virtual learning years affected some disciplinary numbers and that identification patterns require local root‑cause work.

MSDE’s technical and policy steps include (a) tighter state methodology and monitoring; (b) technical assistance, including a national equity expert; (c) mandatory CCIS plan revisions and semiannual progress reporting; and (d) grants to seed demonstrable local change. MSDE said it will monitor use of reserved funds and evaluate outcomes across pilot LEAs.

What’s next: ROWS application released March 1; deadline May 16. MSDE will publish CCIS and disproportionality data as part of March report‑card releases and expects to require and monitor semiannual progress reports from identified LEAs.

Note on claims and verification: public commenters in the meeting made unverified statistical claims on unrelated public‑health topics; MSDE did not treat those as evidence on special‑education issues and the department’s analysis relied on internal assessment and federal methodology.