The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) has notified leaders at the New Jersey Department of Education that the state met the requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in several key indicators. This marks the first time in three years that New Jersey has met the federal standards in areas such as graduation rates, testing, and placement and identification of students with disabilities. The determination is based on state-reported data, and a small sample of New Jersey school districts.
The letter from OSERS also found some districts engaged in potentially discriminatory treatment of students with disabilities when it comes to school discipline and identification. More than half of the 54 districts sampled in 2011 were found to have disproportionately suspended more minority special education students than non-minority. There were also findings of disproportionate identification of minority students as disabled or in specific disability categories.
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