Special Education Data - 618 Data Collections
This page contains data relating to the 618 Data Collections as outlined in the IDEA (see IDEA Section 618 Data Products for more information) and Rhode Island's collection and reporting of this data.
Note that any data point with an asterisk (*) denotes a total of less than 10 in that specific category.
Rhode Island's Special Education Population - Child Count
The US Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs requires yearly reporting of the count of students served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B, by age group. These counts are known as "Child Count" and serve as the basis for the special education population statistics for each entity under the US Department of Education.
OSEP's guidelines for Child Count include a range of acceptable "as of" count dates, the day on which the count is based. States are able to choose a date between October 1 and December 1 of each school year. Rhode Island's Child Count date is December 1.
Each year, the Child Count data is submitted to the US Department of Education as part of the EdFacts initiative. As of the 2023-24 school year collections, the data is submitted on through the EDPass platform in July of each year - the 2023-24 Child Count files were submitted in July 2024 and constitute the final data that both RIDE and the US Department of Education will use for the upcoming year.
The data is submitted in 2 separate files, one for "School Age" counts (students ages 5-21 in Kindergarten through Grade 12) and one for Early Childhood Special Education (students ages 3-5 in Pre-K). These files are outlined by the US Department of Education through the EDFacts initiative and have file specifications that are released yearly. The files for Child Count are FS002 - Children with Disabilities (IDEA) School Age and FS089 - Children with Disabilities (IDEA) Early Childhood.
Below, see RIDE's Child Count data as it was reported for the most recent school year, 2023-24, and submitted to the US Department of Education in July 2024. Please note that any category with a * indicates a count <10.
Total Students with Disabilities Population: 25,945
By Age Group
School Age (K-12): 23,196
Early Childhood (3-5 Pre-K): 2,749
By Race and Ethnicity
| American Indian or Alaskan Native (AM7) | 301 |
| Asian (AS7) | 480 |
| Black or African American (BL7) | 2,513 |
| Hispanic (HI7) | 7,996 |
| Two or More Races (MU7) | 1,569 |
| Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander (PI7) | 29 |
| White (WH7) | 13,057 |
By Primary Disability/Disability Category
| Emotionally Disordered | 1,296 |
| Intellectual Disabilities | 826 |
| Orthopedically Impaired | 36 |
| Other Health Impaired | 4,278 |
| Learning Disabled | 7,854 |
| Deaf/Blind | * |
| Hearing Impaired (Deaf or Hard of Hearing) | 144 |
| Speech/Language Impaired | 4,537 |
| Blind/Visual Impaired | 51 |
| Multi-handicapped | 417 |
| Developmentally Delayed | 3,477 |
| Autism | 2,984 |
| Traumatic Brain Injury | 40 |
Other Demographic Categories
Age (Calculated as of 12/1/2023)
|
Age 3 928 |
Age 4 1,323 |
Age 5 1,465 |
Age 6 1,778 |
Age 7 1,790 |
|
Age 8 1,917 |
Age 9 1,929 |
Age 10 1,763 |
Age 11 1,658 |
Age 12 1,784 |
|
Age 13 1,832 |
Age 14 1,744 |
Age 15 1,588 |
Age 16 1,681 |
Age 17 1,488 |
|
Age 18 748 |
Age 19 275 |
Age 20 168 |
Age 21 21 |
Age 5 |
Gender
| Male | 16,898 |
| Female | 9,042 |
| Other | * |
Limited English Proficiency Status (MLLs)
| Non-MLL Students | 19,783 |
| MLL Students ("Dually Identified") | 3,413 |
**As MLL identification happens after Pre-K, LEP status is only applicable to K-12 ("School Age") counts.
Educational Environment Data - Least Restrictive Environment
In addition to the demographic information contained in the Child Count files submitted (FS002 and FS089), the Child Count collection includes information on the educational environment of children with disabilities. Under IDEA, students are entitled to a Free and Appropriate Education (FAPE) in the Least Restrictive Environment, or "LRE" (20 USC 1412(5)(B)).
For the School Age file, RIDE collects data on the location of each student throughout their school day and calculates which of the defined educational environment categories each student falls under. The school age categories are:
| In a Regular Classroom 80% or more of the day (RC80) | Students who receive special education services and are in a general education classroom with typical peers for at least 80% of the day (averaged across a week). |
| In a Regular Classroom 40% to 79% of the day (RC79TO40) | Students who receive special education services and are in a general education classroom with typical peers for at least 40% but no more than 79% of the day (averaged across a week). |
| In a Regular Classroom less than 40% of the day (RC39) | Students who receive special education services and are in a general education classroom with typical peers less than 40% of the day (averaged across a week). |
| In a Separate School (SS) | Students who receive special education services and are attending a school for children with disabilities, and receive their education and services in this setting . |
| In a Residential Facility (RF) | Students who receive special education services and are placed in a residential facility, and receive their education and services in this setting. |
| Homebound or Hospitalized (HH) | Students who receive special education services and are homebound or hospitalized, and receive their education and services in this setting. |
| In a Correctional Facility (CF) | Students receiving special education services and are in a correctional facility. In Rhode Island, this applies only to students at the Department of Corrections. |
| Parentally Placed in a Private School (PPPS) | Students receiving special education services through an IEP written by their district of residence but are attending a private school in which they were enrolled by their parent/guardian. |
Early Childhood Special Education has separate categories. These categories are reported to RIDE by the servicing district of each student for the Child Count collection submission. The categories for ECSE are:
| In a Regular Early Childhood Program and Receiving Majority of Services in EC Setting | Students who receive special education services in a regular EC program among typical peers |
| No Regular Early Childhood Program, and in a Separate Class, School, or Residential Facility | Students with no regular EC program and receive special education services in a separate special education class, school, or residential facility |
| No Early Childhood Program and Receiving Services in Home | Students with no regular EC program and receive special education services in their home and have no EC program |
| No Early Childhood Program and Receiving Services at a Service Provider Location | Students with no regular EC program and receive special education services in a service provider location |
| In a Regular Early Childhood Program but Receiving Majority of Services Elsewhere | Students enrolled in a regular EC program with typical peers but receive the majority of their services elsewhere |
As part of the yearly State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report (SPP/APR), LRE data is reported for 3 categories in separate "Indicators" based on age group (see the State's SPP/APR page for more information on this Indicator and all others).
Indicator 5 is for School Age LRE and has 3 parts:
| 5A | RC80 - Percent of students. State-set target, data should be above the target |
| 5B | RC39 - Percent of students. State-set target, data should be below the target. |
| 5C | SS + RF + HH - Percent of students State-set target, data should be below the target. |
Indicator 6 is LRE for ECSE, and is also 3 parts:
| 6A | Regular EC Program - Percent of students. State-set target, data should be above the target. |
| 6B | Separate Class + Separate School + Residential Facility - Percent of students. State-set target, data should be below the target. |
| 6C | Services in Home - Percent of students. State-set target, data should be below the target. |
LRE data for 2023-24 is as follows:
School Age
| RC80 | 16,768 | 72.29% |
| RC79TO40 | 2,388 | 10.29% |
| RC39 | 2,251 | 9.70% |
| SS | 1,247 | 5.38% |
| RF | 93 | 0.40% |
| HH | 16 | 0.07% |
| CF | * | * |
| PPPS | 433 | 1.87% |
Early Childhood
| Regular EC Program | 1,376 | 50.07% |
| Separate Class, Separate School, Residential Facility | 439 | 15.98% |
| Home | * | * |
| Service Provider Location | 657 | 23.91% |
| In Regular EC Program, Services Elsewhere | 267 | 9.72% |
Exiting Data for Students in Special Education
Another component of IDEA's 618 data collections is the exiting collection, collected yearly in the EDFacts file FS009 - Children with Disabilities (IDEA) Exiting Special Education. This collection is defined by OSEP as the number of students (ages 14-21) in special education at the start of the reporting period and not in special education at the end of the reporting period. For purposes of this collection, the reporting period is a school year, starting July 1st and ending June 30th.
There are 7 categories that a student leaving can fall into. They are:
- Graduating with a regular high school diploma
- Receiving a certificate
- Reaching maximum age (age 22)
- Dropping out
- Death
- Transferring to regular education
- Moving, and continuing in special education elsewhere
In the last full school year of collected data, the 2022-23 school year, RIDE reported the following totals in the file submitted to OSEP:
| Graduated with a regular high school diploma | 1,082 |
| Received a certificate (including GED) | 43 |
| Reached maximum age (age 22) | 53 |
| Dropped out | 58 |
| Died | * |
| Transferred to regular education | 164 |
| Moved, known to be continuing | 757 |
One of the uses for this data file is calculating the Graduation and Dropout rates used for the State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report submissions for Indicators 1 (Graduation) and 2 (Dropout). Both of these indicators are calculated based solely on the data contained within FS009. Since FS009 does not contain any information on the cohort year of students, the graduation rate is calculated based only on the exiting group, meaning students who returned to school are excluded from the calculation until the year they exit. Due to this, the graduation rate is what percentage of students graduated in a school year, no matter if it took 4, 5, 6, or more years to complete their high school diploma.
To calculate graduation, the number of graduates is divided by the number of students in the first four categories listed: graduated, received a certificate, reached maximum age, and dropped out. In this case, that would be 1,082/1,236 - a graduation rate of 87.5%.
Similarly, the dropout rate is 58/1,236 - a rate of 4.7%.
For purposes of IDEA accountability in the SPP/APR, Rhode Island has met its target graduation and dropout rates in each of the 4 years since the implementation of this calculation method.
Additional 618 Data Collections
Three other categories of 618 data collections exit as part of the USED EDFacts initiative. These categories are Personnel, Discipline, and Dispute Resolution.
The Personnel category has 3 files that are upload yearly:
- Special Education Teachers (FTE) (FS070)
- Special Education Related Services Personnel (FS099)
- Special Education Paraprofessionals (FS112)
The Discipline category has 6 files:
- Children with Disabilities (IDEA) Removal to Interim Alternate Educational Setting (FS005)
- Children with Disabilities (IDEA) Suspensions/Expulsions (FS006)
- Children with Disabilities (IDEA) Reasons for Unilateral Removal (FS007)
- Children with Disabilities (IDEA) Disciplinary Removals (FS088)
- Children with Disabilities (IDEA) Total Disciplinary Removals (FS143)
- Education Services During Expulsion (FS144)
Unlike other 618 data collections, Dispute Resolution data is collected through a manually-input survey through the EMAPS reporting system. The data collected on dispute resolution collects counts of formal dispute resolution proceedings and their outcomes. The three formal dispute resolution categories are:
- Written Complaints
- Mediations
- Due Process Hearings
Each of the three collections have the most recent year of data below.
FS070 reports the FTE count of Special Education teachers in the state. The data for the most recently submitted files, with data for the 2023-24 school year, is:
Special Education Teachers (FTE) (FS070) |
|
| Total Special Educator FTE Count | 1,660.88 |
| FTE Count for Teachers of Students Ages 3-5 | 134.03 |
| FTE Count for Teachers of Students Ages 5 (in K) to 21 | 1,526.85 |
FS099 is the FTE count of related service personnel in a school year, by area. For FS009, the counts are rounded. The most recent year of data is the 2023-24 school year, seen below:
Special Education Related Services Personnel (FS099) |
|
| Audiologists | * |
| Speech-Language Pathologists | 345 |
| Interpreters | * |
| Psychologists | 207 |
| Occupational Therapists | * |
| Physical Therapists | * |
| Physical Education Teachers and Recreation and Therapeutic Recreation Specialists | 112 |
| Social Workers | 390 |
| Medical/Nursing Service Staff | 286 |
| Counselors and Rehabilitation counselors | 379 |
| Orientation and Mobility Specialists | * |
FS112 is the third and final IDEA Personnel collection, and reports the FTE count of Special Education Paraprofessionals. It is split similarly to FS070, with a total count as well as a breakdown by age population served. The most recent year of data is the 2023-24 school year, where the counts were:
Special Education Paraprofessionals (FS112) |
|
| Total Special Education Paraprofessional FTE Count | 2,203.25 |
| FTE Count for Paraprofessionals of Students Ages 3-5 | 262.62 |
| FTE Count for Paraprofessionals of Students Ages 5 (in K) to 21 | 1,940.63 |
Six different data files make up the IDEA 618 Discipline data collection, with data on the suspension and expulsion and disciplinary removals of students. Note that Rhode Island does not permit the expulsion of students, and as such all expulsion counts in the data are zeroes or, where permitted in file specifications, not reported as they are not applicable.
Below, find the 2023-24 discipline data reported in February of 2025 as part of the EDFacts initiative.
Children with Disabilities (IDEA) Removal to Interim Alternate Educational Setting (FS005) |
|
| Total Count | 0 - Not Applicable |
Children with Disabilities (IDEA) Suspensions/Expulsions (FS006) |
|
| Out of School Suspension - Greater than 10 Days | 120 |
| Out of School Suspension - 10 or Fewer Days | 1,661 |
| In-School Suspension - Greater than 10 Days | 73 |
| In-School Suspension - 10 or Fewer Days | 1,110 |
Children with Disabilities (IDEA) Reasons for Unilateral Removal (FS007) |
|
| Total Count | 0 - Not Applicable |
Children with Disabilities (IDEA) Disciplinary Removals (FS088) |
|
| Total Removals | 2,533 |
| Children Removed 1 or Fewer Days Total | 762 |
| Children Removed 2 to 10 Days Total | 1,506 |
| Children Removed Greater than 10 Days Total | 265 |
Children with Disabilities (IDEA) Total Disciplinary Removals (FS143) |
|
| Total Disciplinary Removals | 6,747 |
Education Services During Expulsion (FS144) |
|
| Total Count | 0 - Not Applicable |
Discipline Collection Notes
- FS005, FS007, and FS144 are all not applicable based on Rhode Island not permitting expulsion, and are 0 counts by default for each year of data.
- FS006 used cumulative days of suspension, grouped by students. For each student counted in the "Greater than 10 Days Suspended" categories, they may have no individual suspensions longer than 10 days but have several shorter suspensions totaling at least 11 days.
IDEA Dispute Resolution data is reported through a survey contained within the US Department of Education's EMAPS platform, and is broken into 4 categories:
- Written, Signed Complaints
- Mediation Requests
- Due Process Complaints
- Expedited Due Process Complaints (Related to Disciplinary Decision)
Each of the four categories is reported with a total count as well as several subcounts based on specific outcomes of the dispute process. The 2023-24 school year data is reported below.
Written, Signed Complaints
| (1) Total number of written signed complaints filed. | 19 |
| (1.1) Complaints with reports issued. | 17 |
| (1.1) (a) Reports with findings of noncompliance. | * |
| (1.1) (b) Reports within timelines. | 12 |
| (1.1) (c) Reports within extended timelines. | * |
| (1.2) Complaints pending. | * |
| (1.2) (a) Complaints pending a due process hearing. | * |
| (1.3) Complaints withdrawn or dismissed. | * |
Mediation Requests
(2) Total number of mediation requests received through all dispute resolution processes. |
46 |
| (2.1) Mediations held. | 24 |
| (2.1) (a) Mediations held related to due process complaints. | * |
| (2.1) (a) (i) Mediation agreements related to due process complaints. | * |
| (2.1) (b) Mediations held not related to due process complaints. | 24 |
| (2.1) (b) (i) Mediation agreements not related to due process complaints. | 19 |
| (2.2) Mediations pending. | * |
| (2.3) Mediations withdrawn or not held. | 21 |
Due Process Complaints
(3) Total number of due process complaints filed. |
21 |
| (3.1) Resolution meetings. | 13 |
| (3.1) (a) Written settlement agreements reached through resolution meetings. | * |
| (3.2) Hearings fully adjudicated. | * |
| (3.2) (a) Decisions within timeline (include expedited). | * |
| (3.2) (b) Decisions within extended timeline. | * |
| (3.3) Due process complaints pending. | * |
| (3.4) Due process complaints withdrawn or dismissed (including resolved without a hearing). | 19 |
Expedited Due Process Complaints (Related to Disciplinary Decision)
(4) Total number of expedited due process complaints filed. |
* |
| (4.1) Expedited resolution meetings. | * |
| (4.1) (a) Expedited written settlement agreements. | * |
| (4.2) Expedited hearings fully adjudicated. | * |
| (4.2) (a) Change of placement ordered. | * |
| (4.3) Expedited due process complaints pending. | * |
| (4.4) Expedited due process complaints withdrawn or dismissed. | * |
IDEA 618 Assessment Data
IDEA 618 Data Collection and Reporting requirements also include state assessment data. This data covers the assessment of students across all grades. In Rhode Island, the data reported includes data from RICAS, PSAT, SAT, NGSA, and DLM. This data is reported across 6 separate files; ELA, Math, and Science are all reported separately, with each having a file for reporting participation on the respective assessment, and a file for reporting performance.
The files are:
- Academic Achievement in Math (FS175)
- Academic Achievement in Reading/Language Arts (FS178)
- Academic Achievement in Science (FS179)
- Assessment Participation in Mathematics (FS185)
- Assessment Participation in Reading/Language Arts (FS188)
- Assessment Participation in Science (FS189)
Unlike other 618 data files, the assessment collection files contain participation and achievement data for all students in the state. Students with Disabilities are a sub-count within the files, allowing for their use in the assessment indicator in the annual State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report (SPP/APR, Indicator 3).
Rhode Island reports state assessment as part of its Assessment Data Portal (ADP). To view the ADP, follow this link: RIDE Assessment Data Portal.
To view the data for Students with Disabilities/Differently Abled Students, use the "By Student Group" filter and select "Special Education".