Disproportionality data does not appear on a state dashboard by accident. Every indicator, including overidentification, restrictive placement, disproportionate discipline, and gaps in access to high quality instruction and supports, can point back to systems and practices established long before the data are reported: who gets referred, how evaluations are conducted, how eligibility and placement decisions are made, whether individualized supports are implemented with fidelity, and whether the adults responsible for those decisions have been adequately prepared to do the work.
When general education and special education operate as separate systems, students with disabilities experience the consequences. Compliance may identify the problem, but compliance alone does not build the internal capacity needed to solve it.
This session moves beyond monitoring indicators and into the leadership decisions that shape them. Dr. Stacy Hirt, Director of Impact and Innovation at the Inclusive Leadership Lab, brings the research to practice and systems implementation perspective, drawing on experience in special education, district leadership, technical assistance, professional learning, and responsible AI implementation. Dr. Nikki Harding, Founder and CEO of the Inclusive Leadership Lab, brings the leadership and workforce infrastructure perspective: how districts build the internal capacity necessary to move from reactive compliance to sustainable systems that last.
Together, they present a systems based leadership model for examining disproportionate identification, placement, discipline, and access for students with disabilities. Participants will explore how leadership alignment, workforce preparation, professional learning, referral and evaluation practices, individualized programming, and placement decision making interact, and how districts can identify root causes rather than continually respond to compliance findings after they occur.
Participants leave with a district leadership action plan identifying at least one root cause within their current system, the internal capacity needed to address it, and shared accountability across general education and special education leadership.