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of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

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    Local, state, and federal government websites often end in .gov. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania government websites and email systems use "pennsylvania.gov" or "pa.gov" at the end of the address. Before sharing sensitive or personal information, make sure you're on an official state website. 

    Pennsylvania Special Education Data

    PennData is the data system in Pennsylvania that is used for collecting and reporting data for students with disabilities.  Annual reports, including school district, charter school, and IU data special education data reports and federal data reports, can be viewed on the PennData website.

    The State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report

    The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 2004) imposed new requirements on states for monitoring and enforcement. These requirements are detailed in the IDEA Federal Regulations at 34 CFR Part 300.600. Under these regulations each state is required to submit a State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report (SPP/APR) to the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). The SPP, first submitted in 2005, and now expanded to 2025, is a multi-year plan to guide improvement in special education programs. It is built around federally mandated indicators of performance and compliance and includes baseline data and measurable and rigorous targets for each indicator. States must report data annually to OSEP on the state's performance in meeting the established targets. IDEA 2004 also requires states to report annually to the public on the performance of each LEA in the state on the targets in the SPP. Data reported in the SPP/APR are used by OSEP to determine the extent to which a state is complying with IDEA.

    Beginning in 2015, all states were required to incorporate a State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP) into their SPP/APR. This new requirement is part of OSEP's implementation of a revised accountability system under the IDEA. The SSIP is a comprehensive, ambitious, multi-year plan for improving results for students with disabilities. The Bureau of Special Education collaborated with multiple stakeholders to select a focus for its SSIP. This focus area is called a State Identified Measurable Result (SIMR). Pennsylvania will be working to increase the graduation rate for students with disabilities as its SIMR. The SSIP is designated as an indicator within the SPP/APR. Therefore states must also report annually to OSEP and the public on their performance in meeting targets in the SSIP.

    On June 21, 2024, the department was notified by OSEP that Pennsylvania meets the requirements and purposes of Part B of the IDEA. This determination is based on the totality of the State’s data and information, including the federal fiscal year (FFY) 2022 State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report (SPP/APR), other State-reported data, and other publicly available information.

    State Performance Plan

    IDEA State Systemic Improvement Plan

    Beginning with FFY 2019, this report appears as part of the State Performance Plan – Annual performance Reports that are posted in the above section.​

    Additional information about the SPP/APR can be found on PennData. 

    Significant Disproportionality

    The December 2016 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) required each state to develop a standard methodology to identify local education agencies (LEAs) with significant disproportionality and ensure that children with disabilities are properly identified for services, receive necessary services in the least restrictive environment, and are not disproportionately removed from their educational placements by disciplinary removals.    

    To facilitate the regulatory process, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) conducted three stakeholder forums to obtain public comment on the required significant disproportionality standard methodology. In addition to the forums, PDE requested written input.

    General Provisions of Mandatory Comprehensive Coordinated Early Intervening Services

    Significant Disproportionality Resources

    Office of Special Education Programs Significant Disproportionality Reporting Under IDEA Part B

    Question concerning data/statistical methodology for determining significant disproportionality may be addressed to Dan Ficca, c-dficca@pa.gov  or Jodi Rissinger, jrissinger@pa.gov.  For fiscal questions related to the 15% set aside, you may contact Dr. Carole Clancy at (717) 783-6134.