.04 State Administration.
A. Assurance.
(1) The Department shall ensure that all students, birth through the end of the school year in which the student turns 21 years old residing in the State, who have disabilities, regardless of the severity of the disability, and who are in need of special education and related services, are located, identified, evaluated, and provided with services consistent with:
(a) The student's IEP;
(b) 20 U.S.C. §§1400—1419;
(c) 34 CFR 300;
(d) Education Article, §§8-401—8-415, Annotated Code of Maryland; and
(e) COMAR 13A.05.01.
(2) Students under §A(1) of this regulation include:
(a) Students with disabilities attending private schools;
(b) Highly mobile students;
(c) Migrant students;
(d) Homeless students, as defined in COMAR 13A.05.09;
(e) Wards of the State, as defined in COMAR 13A.05.01; and
(f) Students who are suspected of being a student with a disability under 34 CFR §300.8 and in need of special education, even though they are advancing from grade to grade in accordance with 34 CFR §300.101.
B. Oversight Responsibility. The Department shall have in effect policies and procedures to ensure that a FAPE is available to all students with disabilities residing in the State in accordance with §A of this regulation.
C. State Implementation. To receive funds under Part B of the Act, the Department shall submit information that includes the requirements of 20 U.S.C. §1411 to the United States Department of Education at the time and in the manner specified by the Secretary of the U. S. Department of Education.
D. State Performance Plan.
(1) The Department shall have a performance plan that:
(a) Evaluates the State's efforts to implement the requirements and purposes of the Act in accordance with 20 U.S.C. §1416(b) and 34 CFR §300.601; and
(b) Describes how the Department shall improve implementation.
(2) The Department shall establish measurable rigorous targets for the indicators established in accordance with 20 U.S.C. §1416(a)(3).
(3) The Department shall collect information to report annually to the Secretary of the U. S. Department of Education in accordance with 20 U.S.C. §1416(b)(2)(B), 34 CFR §300.602, and Regulation .11 of this chapter.
(4) The Department shall use the targets described in §D(2) of this regulation to analyze and report annually on the performance of each public agency in the State in accordance with 20 U.S.C. §1416(b)(2)(C) and 34 CFR §300.602.
(5) If the Department receives notice that the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education is proposing to take or is taking an enforcement action pursuant to 34 CFR §300.604, the Department shall notify the public in the manner described in 34 CFR §300.606.
E. Access to Instructional Materials. The Department shall adopt the National Instructional Materials Standards (NIMAS) and coordinate with the National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC) to provide instructional materials in specialized formats to blind students and students with print disabilities in accordance with 34 CFR §300.172 and Education Article, §8-408, Annotated Code of Maryland.
F. Significant Disproportionality.
(1) The Department shall collect and examine data to determine if significant disproportionality based on race and ethnicity is occurring in each public agency in the State in accordance with 34 CFR §300.646.
(2) In making determinations of significant disproportionality, the Department shall use:
(a) A risk ratio threshold of 2.0;
(b) A minimum cell size of 5; and
(c) A minimum n-size of 20.
(3) The Department shall determine that significant disproportionality is occurring in a public agency that has:
(a) Exceeded the risk ratio threshold for 2 consecutive years; and
(b) Failed to demonstrate reasonable progress under §F(4) of this regulation.
(4) Demonstrating reasonable progress means that a public agency has:
(a) Decreased its risk ratio by 0.15 and the current risk ratio is 2.0 to 4.0; or
(b) Decreased its risk ratio by 0.50 and the current risk ratio is above 4.0.
