Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability

Policy

This policy outlines the requirements and resources available for schools to participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD).

Summary

• The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) is an annual collection of information about Australian school students with disability.
• The NCCD enables schools, education authorities and governments to better understand the needs of students with disability and how they can be best supported at school.
• All Australian schools are required to participate in the NCCD.
• Victorian government schools must submit their data for the collection via CASES21 by the first Friday in August each year.

Details

About the NCCD

The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) is an annual collection of information about the number of students across Australia receiving adjustments due to a disability. All Australian schools are required to participate in the NCCD.

The data collected is used by schools, education authorities and governments to better understand the needs of students with disability and how they can best be supported at school.

Through the NCCD process, school teams use their professional judgment, based on evidence, to collect information about students who are receiving reasonable adjustments to access education because of disability. The information collected relates to the level of adjustment being provided for each student with disability and the broad category of disability identified as the main focus or driver for the adjustments.

The NCCD reflects and supports the ongoing work of schools. The NCCD draws on teachers' professional judgement and practices throughout the year supporting students with disability to access and participate in education on the same basis as other students.

The NCCD model is based on mandatory obligations to students under the national Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) and Disability Standards for Education 2005 (DSE). Understanding the legal obligations to students with disability is essential for all staff.

For more information refer to: Students with Disability.

Students who are eligible to be included in the NCCD

Students must satisfy the following conditions for eligibility to be included in the NCCD:

1. the student has a disability that meets the broad definition of disability in the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth)
2. the student has been provided with reasonable adjustments to address the functional impact of a disability to enable the student to access and participate in education.

Where staff are unsure of whether a student’s condition or presentation meets the definition of disability under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) (such as medical conditions or mental health) refer to relevant case studies on the NCCD Portal for guidance.

Students receiving individualised funding

All students receiving individualised funding due to disability (Program for Students with Disabilities or Disability Inclusion Tier 3 funding) should be included in the NCCD. Students receiving adjustments with this funding are considered individually for the purposes of the NCCD but would in most instances be included in the NCCD as receiving a substantial or extensive level of adjustment.

Disability Inclusion Profile

A Disability Inclusion Profile meeting will not generate a student’s level of adjustment for the purpose of the NCCD. However, it will provide information and evidence to support the school team's professional judgement when implementing the NCCD.

Specialist settings

All students enrolled in specialist settings are considered individually for the purposes of the NCCD, however, it is expected that they would be included in the NCCD as receiving a substantial or extensive level of adjustment due to a disability. The nature of specialist school settings and the enrolment verification process implies that the adjustments to support the student are in place all or most of the time, and that they are significant in scope and scale.

Undiagnosed (imputed) disability

Students are not required to have a formal medical diagnosis to be included in the NCCD. Under the national guidelines, a disability may be ‘imputed’ to a student who is receiving educational adjustments for the purpose of including them in the NCCD. An imputed disability is an undiagnosed disability the school team reasonably considers a student to have that is having a functional impact on their learning.

The school team must have reasonable grounds to impute disability based on the definition of disability in the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth), and evidence to support the decision. At a minimum, the school team must:

• ensure that the student’s parents, guardians or carers have been consulted about concerns the school has and been involved in identifying reasonable adjustments to address the identified concerns
• be confident, and have evidence to support the decision that the adjustments are being made to support the functional impact of a disability, and not in response to other factors, for example, to support a student for whom English is an additional language, or as a temporary response to circumstances or environmental factors experienced by a student, such as a familial disruption, economic factors, a natural disaster, or a gap in learning.

Detailed guidance for imputing disability for the NCCD is available on the NCCD Portal.

All students who meet NCCD criteria, including those with imputed disability, must be included in the annual collection. Case studies where a student has been imputed with a disability are available on the NCCD portal.

Adjustments or learning support for reasons other than a disability

Students receiving adjustments for reasons other than a disability are not eligible for inclusion in the NCCD. Case studies where a student is receiving an adjustment and not eligible to be included in the NCCD can be found on the NCCD portal.

Further eligibility information is available in the Student eligibility for inclusion in the NCCD guidance chapter.

Evidence and recordkeeping

Schools must retrospectively report the level of adjustments provided to students with disability over a minimum of 10 weeks, and the broad category of disability identified as the main focus or driver for the adjustments.

Evidence of adjustments can be collected anytime between the census dates from one school year to the next. Adjustments may be delivered over consecutive weeks, or alternatively, may be delivered cumulatively, provided the cumulative period is at least 10 weeks.

Schools are not required to create new evidence for the purposes of the NCCD. Schools will already have documented evidence that support their decisions as standard practice to meet their legal obligations. This includes:

• Individual Education Plans (IEP)
• Student Support Group (SSG) minutes
• Disability Inclusion Profile
• teacher work programs and notes
• records of conversations or other communications with parents and allied health professionals.

Timeline for schools to collect and submit data

Schools must submit their data for the NCCD collection by the first Friday in August each year (August census date).

The department encourages schools to begin entering their NCCD data into CASES21 from Term 2. Schools are not required to wait until the census date in August to begin entering data.

The following timeline is a recommendation of actions for schools to collect, submit and review data for the NCCD.

Term 1 – Preparation

• Identify the staff in the school responsible for implementation of the NCCD (school team)
• Staff implementing the NCCD are recommended to complete professional learning on the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) and requirements under the Disability Standards for Education 2005 (Cth)

Term 2 – Data moderation and entry

• Provide all teachers with the NCCD fact sheet (DOCX) and encourage staff to engage in professional development through the NCCD portal. School staff can also complete a short NCCD eLearning module available on the LearnEd portal on eduPay
• The school team are recommended to apply the NCCD model to determine which students will be included in the collection, the level of adjustments that are being made, and the broad category of disability for each student
• The school team leads professional discussions to confirm that decision making has been applied consistently through moderation meetings with teachers at the school and, where possible, other schools. Teachers use the evidence collected throughout the year to make decisions that are consistent, reliable, and defensible
• Nominated school staff member begins entering data into CASES21

Term 3 – Data verification and submission

• Data entry into CASES21 continues, any time before the census date
• School principal verifies and finalises any changes to NCCD data, supported by evidence held by the school
• Schools submit final data by the August census date

Term 4 – Review and evaluation

• The school team evaluates the application of the NCCD model and how school practices and processes could be improved to facilitate next year's NCCD. School teams can refer to the Reflection Tool

Information to support schools with the NCCD process

• What is the NCCD model?
• The Data Collection Model (interactive)
• Step 1 – Is there an adjustment?
• Step 2 – What is the level of adjustment?
  • Do you have evidence?
  • Levels of adjustment (viewer)
• Step 3 – What is the category of disability?
• Step 4 – How do you record and submit the data?

NCCD data entry

Victorian government schools submit their data through CASES21. This is explained further in the guidance tab, and in the CASES21 Administration Guide Chapter 5 (PDF) page 109.

Moderation of student data

School staff are encouraged to meet in teams to discuss and moderate the collected data. This practice ensures that the NCCD data submitted is accurate and consistent.

When moderating school-based decisions, staff are recommended to engage in professional discussions using the evidence collected throughout the year about their students’ level of adjustment and category of disability to make decisions that are consistent, reliable, and defensible.

Schools undertake moderation processes (PDF) during Term 2. This allows schools sufficient time to address any significant discrepancies in judgements that can affect the consistency and reliability of data.

A professional learning webinar is available on the NCCD Portal to support school teams to engage in moderation discussions.

Professional learning

The department provides training for all school-based staff on their role in the NCCD via the LearnEd portal on eduPay (staff login required).

The department also provides a factsheet for schools to pass on to teaching staff when collecting and moderating NCCD data. This can be found in the Resources tab of this policy.

The NCCD Portal provides information and professional learning resources for teachers, school leaders, support staff, parents and carers. The portal includes a significant amount of information and guidance to help teachers and school teams work through the steps to complete the NCCD.

To access these support materials, visit the NCCD Portal.

The NCCD is designed to complement and reinforce the legislative requirements that apply to all Australian schools and education institutions under the:

• Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth)
• Disability Standards for Education 2005 (Cth)

Before completing the NCCD, it is recommended all school staff undertake professional learning to develop or refresh their knowledge and understanding of the legal obligations relating to students with disability.

eLearning resources on the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) and the Disability Standards for Education 2005 (Cth) are freely accessible on the professional learning page on the NCCD Portal.

Practical guides about the Disability Standards for Education 2005 (Cth) for individuals, families and communities can be accessed on the NCCD Portal.

Related policies

• Disability Inclusion Funding and Support
• Disability Inclusion Profile
• Individual Education Plans
• Program for Students with Disabilities
• Students with Disability
• Student Support Groups

Relevant legislation

• Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth)
• Disability Standards for Education 2005 (Cth)
• Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic)

Guidance

This guidance contains the following chapters:

• Process and data entry in CASES21
• Student eligibility for inclusion in the NCCD
• NCCD and funding
• NCCD and Disability Inclusion

Process and data entry in CASES21

What to do:

• the department requires the principal to verify that the school has undertaken appropriate processes to complete the NCCD and that the student information collected is accurate
• the nominated school staff member enters verified data for each student eligible for inclusion in the NCCD in CASES21 following the instructions in the CASES21 Administration Guide Chapter 5 (PDF) page 109 (staff login required)
• when all data has been entered in CASES21, schools are encouraged to run and save the following reports for their reference. At the end of each year, NCCD data in CASES21 will reset as part of the annual process. This means that schools should save a copy of the reports for their records next year*:
  • Students with disability – disability summary [ST21428]
  • Students with disability – student summary [ST21429].

* Note: If the PDF version of the Summary reports were not saved at the time of submission, school staff can still access the previous year’s data. This is found through the autosave Excel document in the school’s local P:Drive at any time. There will be 2 Excel documents saved at 2 timepoints of the previous year, on the August Census date and in mid-October.

Schools must submit verified NCCD data in CASES21 by the August Census date each year. The department supports schools entering data from Term 2, with all data to be verified and finalised in CASES21 by the August Census.

Student Eligibility for Inclusion in the NCCD

Which students should be included in the NCCD?

For a student to be included in the NCCD, the student must meet all of the following 3 criteria:

• the student has a disability that meets the broad definition of disability in the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth)
• the functional impact of the student’s disability results in the school actively addressing or supporting the student’s specific individual education needs arising from their disability within quality differentiated teaching practice and/or monitoring the student or providing a ‘supplementary’ or higher level of adjustment or support
• there is evidence at the school that the student has been provided with adjustment/s for a minimum period of 10 weeks of school education (excluding school holiday periods) in the 12 months preceding the NCCD census day.

Does the student have a disability?

Definition of disability

The NCCD categories of disability infographic shows how the definition applies for NCCD disability categories. The Disability Discrimination Act defines disability broadly as outlined below:

• total or partial loss of the person's bodily or mental functions or
• total or partial loss of a part of the body or
• the presence in the body of organisms causing disease or illness or
• the presence in the body of organisms capable of causing disease or illness or
• the malfunction, malformation or disfigurement of a part of the person's body or
• a disorder or malfunction that results in the person learning differently from a person without the disorder or malfunction or
• a disorder, illness or disease that affects a person's thought processes, perception of reality, emotions or judgement or that results in disturbed behaviour;

and includes a disability that:

• presently exists or
• previously existed but no longer exists or
• may exist in the future (including because of a genetic predisposition to that disability) or
• is imputed to a person (see below).

To avoid doubt, a disability that is otherwise covered by this definition includes behaviour that is a symptom or manifestation of the disability.

Undiagnosed (imputed) disability

The NCCD identifies all students with disability who are receiving adjustments to educational programs, even if there is no formal diagnosis of disability. A proportion of students included in the NCCD have formal diagnoses of disability supported by medical or allied health professionals’ diagnostic reports. However, there are cases where a student’s disability has not been formally diagnosed and a school team ‘imputes’ disability for the purposes of the NCCD.

There are also some circumstances where a school will make an adjustment(s) to support a student without disability. Based on these circumstances alone, a student would not be included in the NCCD, despite the school making adjustment(s) to support their learning. The table below contains some examples of when schools can impute a disability and when they cannot impute a disability.

When to impute

• The school has evidence that the student requires educational adjustment(s) arising from disability, but a formal diagnostic process has not been undertaken
• There is new presentation of disability that is only beginning to have a functional impact on learning, for example, a degenerative condition or social/emotional challenges that are not attributable to other factors (see below ‘When not to Impute’)
• The student is experiencing persistent and ongoing learning difficulties, and the school is not yet sure if this is due to an underlying specific learning disorder
• Lack of progress cannot be attributed to other factors, for example, absenteeism, ad hoc, as opposed to targeted, intervention
• The student has been unwell for an extended period, but medical specialists have not yet been able to determine the cause
• Limited opportunities to access qualified specialists have meant that there has been no diagnosis
• The student’s parents, guardians or carers are unable to, or have chosen not to, seek a diagnosis for the child

When not to impute

• English as an additional language or dialect (EAL/D)
• Refugee background
• Absenteeism or school refusal not related to disability
• Environmental impacts (for example, family disruption, natural disasters)
• Bullying
• Neglect
• Being a carer
• Out-of-home care or transience
• Temporary incapacity for less than 10 weeks (for example broken limb) or remediation after a period of illness
• Ineffective instruction
• Challenging behaviours not related to disability
• Socio-economic
• Cultural disadvantage

In situations where these circumstances result in imputed disability, the school’s evidence must clearly relate to the imputed disability, not the circumstance.

What is an adjustment?

Adjustment(s) for students must be made to meet ongoing, long-term specific needs directly related to their disability that has a functional impact on their schooling. Some examples of areas in which students may require adjustments include:

• teaching and learning: the student may require changes in curriculum and teaching practices to achieve the learning outcomes described in syllabus documents
• communication: the student’s ability to receive and understand information being conveyed by others and the student’s ability to convey a message to others
• participation: the student’s ability to engage in successful interactions and participate effectively in the full school program and the management strategies required to ensure the student’s safety
• personal care and safety: the student may require essential hygiene, eating, drinking and dietary routines which require individual management, and the procedures specified in an individual health care plan which require specialised support
• movement: the student’s level of functional independence in mobility and positioning and the student’s ability to use the hand motor skills required to participate in learning activities.

The Disability Standards for Education 2005 (Cth) require that the student or their parents/associates are consulted prior to an adjustment being made, however parental consent is not required for students to be included in the NCCD.

Levels of adjustment

The NCCD collects data on the level of adjustment made to usual classroom practice to enable students with disability to access education. There are 4 levels of adjustment recorded in the NCCD (follow the links below for a more in-depth explanation of each adjustment level):

1. support provided within quality differentiated teaching practice
2. supplementary adjustments
3. substantial adjustments
4. extensive adjustments.

The level of adjustment is determined by teacher judgement, supported by evidence of these adjustments in the classroom, such as Disability Inclusion Profiles, Individual Education Plans, Student Support Group minutes, work programs, and similar documents. For additional guidance, the levels of adjustment viewer can be used to compare two levels of adjustment concurrently.

Categories of disability

The NCCD also collects data on the broad category of disability for which an adjustment is required. These categories are listed below, with detailed information in this categories of disability infographic (PDF):

• physical
• cognitive
• sensory
• social/emotional.

If adjustments are made for multiple disabilities, teachers and school teams should select the disability category that has the greatest impact on the student’s education and is the main driver of adjustments to support the student at school.

Evidence requirements

To determine whether a student is eligible to be included, consider whether:

• there is evidence at the school that the student is being provided with an educational adjustment to meet ongoing, long-term specific needs associated with disability
• decisions have been made in consultation with the student and/or their parents, guardians or carers.

For Victorian government schools, this evidence could include:

• Disability Inclusion Profiles
• Individual Education Plans
• Student Support Group minutes
• work programs
• any other school documents showing adjustments to the curriculum or environment to support a student with disability.

The definition of ‘long-term’ for this purpose is a minimum period of 10 weeks of school education (excluding school holiday periods) in the 12 months preceding the NCCD.

The adjustments do not need to take place each and every day over the 10 weeks. The 10-week period of adjustment(s) does not need to be consecutive – it can be cumulative and split across school terms in the 12 months preceding census day.

If a student is participating in a school-based activity during the school holidays (for example, camp) where the school is providing adjustments, then this time can be included in the 10 weeks.

Where a student receives adjustments for any amount of time within a school week, that constitutes a ‘week’ for the purposes of the 10-week rule. The amount of time an adjustment(s) is provided to the student may vary from infrequent or occasional (for example, for a specific class or activity) through to all day every day of the week.

NCCD and mental health

Students receiving educational adjustments at school due to a mental health condition may be eligible for inclusion in the NCCD. Schools must apply the NCCD criteria to determine a student’s eligibility.

Disability and mental health

Schools must be satisfied that the mental health condition driving the need for the adjustment meets the definition of disability under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth).

Case studies are available on the NCCD portal that provide examples of where students receiving adjustments due to mental health challenges are eligible for inclusion in the NCCD, in the Social/Emotional disability category.

Trauma

Students’ experience of trauma may have wide ranging impacts and consequences that may or may not lead to a disability. Students affected by trauma may have diverse and complex needs. The appropriate response(s) to trauma that do not lead to a disability can differ from adjustment(s) received by a student with disability.

Students affected by trauma must only be included in the NCCD if they have a disability as defined in the Disability Discrimination Act and meet the other criteria for inclusion.

Undiagnosed (imputed) disability and Mental Health conditions

Under the national NCCD Guidelines, a diagnosis is not required to include a student in the NCCD.

Mental health conditions that are often diagnosable include depression and anxiety. In the absence of a diagnosis, schools can impute a disability where the school has reasonable grounds to make such a judgement and documented evidence to support the decision. The school must have consulted with the student’s parents/guardians and involved them in identifying reasonable adjustments to address the identified concerns.

Detailed guidance for imputing disability for the NCCD is available on the NCCD Portal.

Adjustments and mental health

The presence of a mental health condition that meets the NCCD definition of disability is not in and of itself cause for including a student in the NCCD. The school must be actively providing adjustments to support the student with the mental health condition for a minimum period of 10-weeks and collecting appropriate records, such as:

• diagnosis (when available)
• records of conversations or other communications with parents and/or allied health professionals
• other school records, for example, Individual Education Plans, Student Support Group minutes, teacher work programs and notes, Behaviour Support Plans.

Moderation to ensure accurate decision-making

It is best practice for school leadership teams to lead professional discussions with teachers through moderation meetings to ensure school teams are applying consistent considerations and approaches when deciding whether to include a student in the NCCD, including due to a mental health condition. Teachers must use the evidence collected throughout the year to make decisions that are consistent, reliable, and defensible.

NCCD and funding

NCCD data does not generate Disability Inclusion Profile funding outcomes for Victorian government schools. However, the level of adjustments captured as part of the NCCD process can be provided as one of the inputs into the Disability Inclusion Profile to assist the facilitators to make a determination.

Individualised funding

To support inclusive practice in schools the department has begun to roll out a new funding and support model for students with disability, Disability Inclusion.

Disability Inclusion introduces a tiered funding model for students with disability, providing additional funding for schools to help students with disability take part in their education on the same basis as their peers. This replaces the Program for Students with Disability (PSD).

NCCD and Disability Inclusion

The following guidance provides Victorian government schools with additional information to better understand the differences and intersections between the NCCD and Disability Inclusion.

Disability Inclusion and the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD) on school students with disability are separate initiatives that assist Victorian government schools to support students with disability to access and participate in education on the same basis as their peers. While the 2 programs use similar language and concepts, they have distinct purposes.

The NCCD is an annual process to identify school students receiving educational adjustments due to disability to access education. The NCCD provides an annual ‘snapshot’ of students with disability that enables school teams to better understand how these students can be best supported. Disability Inclusion provides increased support for students with disability through building the skills and knowledge of schools in inclusive education and introducing the Disability Inclusion Profile and a tiered funding model.

Strong school engagement with the NCCD will assist schools with Disability Inclusion Profile processes. For example, evidence collected for the NCCD can be used to support the profile meeting participants in determining the level of adjustment recorded for the student.

A Disability Inclusion Profile outcome does not determine a student’s level of adjustment for the purposes of the NCCD. However, it does provide information and evidence to support the school team's professional judgement when implementing the NCCD.

NCCD data can assist schools in making decisions regarding the spending of Disability Inclusion Tier 2 funding and identifying students that may benefit from a Disability Inclusion Profile.

All students who have undertaken a Disability Inclusion Profile must be included in the NCCD.

Resources

Professional learning on the NCCD Portal

The NCCD Portal provides information and professional learning resources for teachers, school leaders, support staff, parents and carers. The portal includes a significant amount of information and guidance to help teachers and school teams work through the steps for completing the NCCD.

Key resources

• NCCD guidelines
• NCCD quick guide
• Resources for principals and administrators
• Resources for teachers
• NCCD fact sheet for teachers (DOCX)

Other tools to assist schools with data collection

• Case studies
• Primary teachers
• Secondary teachers
• Illustrations of practice
• Student summary sheet
• Strategies to support decision making
• Moderation process
  • Moderation process professional learning webinar
• Reflection Tool
• Glossary

NCCD promotional material

• A3 poster for display (PDF)
• A4 poster for display (PDF)
• Introductory booklet on the NCCD portal (PDF)
• Sample letter for parents, guardians and carers (DOCX)

Additional information notices

• Data collection legislation
• Notice for schools and school principals
• Public information notice