Special Education Compliance 4th Cycle Monitoring Q&A
General Monitoring Questions
- How does a school district find out where they currently stand with their special education status? What do they need to know to address areas of concern if there are any?
- How are SPP targets determined?
- Which SPP indicators do K-8 school districts have to address? Are there any indicators that do not apply to K-8 districts?
- Will the number of files to be submitted be adjusted for a K-8 school district?
- Do improvement plans need to be part of CSIP?
- What web-based systems are going to be the most compatible with the IMACS system?
- For AYP, why isn’t “BASIC” included with Proficient and Advanced when calculating the students that meet proficiency standards?
- Will DESE’s future expectations, stating annual percentages of students who must be proficient in order for schools to meet AYP, be the same for students with learning disabilities and mental retardation as the non-disabled student?
Individualized Education Program (IEP)
- Must transportation be addressed on every IEP?
- Can the excusal form be used only for IEP meeting participants, or may it be used for the review of existing data (RED) meeting and eligibility determination meeting?
- Is it permissible to use goals from the bank of goals provided in the SEAS IEP program? Are they written correctly?
- Are independent living skills activities only required for students with severe disabilities?
- If a student indicates he wants to join the military after graduation, but changes his mind after graduation, is the school responsible if the post-secondary goal is not met?
Evaluations
- For initial evaluations, do you count weekends over holiday breaks for timelines exceeding the 60-day timeline?
- How can you prevent being out of timelines when a vision exam (permission, appointments, glasses, etc.) all take time during the evaluation?
- Would a student being evaluated for a new eligibility category be considered an initial evaluation or a reevaluation?
- Must eligibility reports be provided in the native language if other than English?
Notices of Action (NOA)
- Must parents sign a Notice of Action to waive 10 days in order to start earlier with the implementation of an IEP?
- Is a Notice of Action needed for an annual IEP review if services and placement remain the same, but there are changes in modifications or accommodations?
- When completing a Notice of Action for ineligibility, do you check “proposed” or “refused?”
- If a student has already been placed in special education without signed parental consent, how can the problem be corrected?
General Monitoring Questions
1. How does a school district find out where they currently stand with their special education status? What do they need to know to address areas of concern if there are any?
The best tool is the district’s special education profile which can be accessed through the Web Application Login on the DESE website. This document will indicate whether a district has “met” or “not met” selected State Performance Plan (SPP) indicators. Districts can use the information in their profile to direct their improvement planning efforts. Keep in mind that district profiles only give “met/not met” ratings to some of the SPP indicators and every “not met” will not necessarily trigger a required improvement plan. For example, districts undergoing MSIP reviews this year were only required to write improvement plans for Assessment Data if their MAP achievement scores for grades 3-5 in communication arts was a “not met.” A district having MSIP this year could have had a “not met” on SPP 3c, but was not required to write an improvement plan because students in grades 3-5 “met” the target in communication arts.
Districts will be able to log on and use the Improvement, Monitoring, Accountability and Compliance System (IMACS) to find out which SPP indicators are “met” or “not met” and which “not mets” require improvement planning. IMACS is available for voluntary use to districts that are not using it to submit documentation and Improvement Plans for their MSIP monitoring.
2. How are SPP targets determined?
In proposing targets for the next six years, the Division of Special Education gathered data on the indicators which require targets and looked at three to five years of historical data for students with disabilities and compared that to data for all students where applicable. Logarithmic trends were then applied to the historical data. A logarithmic trend line is a best-fit curve that is used when the rate of change in the data increases or decreases quickly and then levels out as is the case with many types of performance data. Along with the historical and projected trend data, DESE considered other pertinent information, including compliance requirements and evidence-based practices that have already been implemented at the state or local levels. Finally, DESE held public hearings and obtained input from stakeholders before deciding on targets.
3. Which SPP indicators do K-8 school districts have to address? Are there any indicators that do not apply to K-8 districts?
K-8 districts do not have to address SPP Indicator 1, graduation rate; SPP indicator 2, drop-out rate; SPP Indicator 14, post-graduation follow-up; or SPP Indicator 13, postsecondary transition, unless they have students with IEPs who will be sixteen years old before their next annual IEP review and revision.
4. Will the number of files to be submitted be adjusted for a K-8 school district?
Yes, the number of files requested will be based on the December 1 child count. K-8 districts will not be required to submit files for postsecondary transition or graduation.
5. Do improvement plans need to be part of CSIP?
The Missouri School Improvement Program, Comprehensive School Improvement Plan (CSIP) handbook, version 1, outlines the purpose and requirements related to the district’s CSIP. The CSIP directs the overall improvement of its educational programs and includes goals, outcomes, or objectives in sufficient detail to direct the improvement efforts of the district for at least a five year period. The CSIP may incorporate the special education issues from the MSIP report (Standard 7.1) and other portions of the MSIP report as well. The handbook also points out the CSIP serves as the Corrective Action Plan (CAP) for addressing areas of non-compliance in the district’s special education program and can serve as a planning component for the State Personnel Development Grant (SPDG). There is not a requirement that the Improvement Plan required either as part of the special education MSIP monitoring process or completed as the application for a State Personnel Development Grant be incorporated into the district’s CSIP. Some districts may have a required format for developing their improvement plans that become part of the CSIP and some address these improvement plans in more detail than others in the CSIP. The DESE is considering ways to help integrate improvement plans, applications and reports that districts are required to complete to assist districts in the future with the coordination of these processes and to help DESE streamline their review/approval process as appropriate.
6. What web-based systems are going to be the most compatible with the IMACS system?
Any system with PDF file format capability will be compatible with IMACS.
7. For AYP, why isn’t “BASIC” included with Proficient and Advanced when calculating the students that meet proficiency standards?
There are four possible levels of performance when students are given the MAP tests: Below Basic, Basic, Proficient, and Advanced. The DESE publication Missouri Assessment Program: Guide to Interpreting Results is available on the DESE website and explains the quality of skills needed at each level. In the publication, it states that scores at the Proficient and Advanced levels are considered to meet the standards required. At the Basic level, the student is learning the assessed skills, but he/she still requires help to meet the standards in that area. Basic is not considered to be the average or at grade level range.
8. Will DESE’s future expectations, stating annual percentages of students who must be proficient in order for schools to meet AYP, be the same for students with learning disabilities and mental retardation as the non-disabled student?
DESE currently does not differentiate in performance expectations for students with disabilities and non-disabled students. The State Performance Plan (SPP) indicators for special education set goals as percentages for students with disabilities for each year that mirror the expectations for non-disabled students. These expectations increase each year. The SPP indicators and goals can be viewed on the DESE website. The goal for achievement on statewide tests is titled “Proficiency on Statewide Assessments.” Students who are receiving special services may have accommodations during testing if the IEP team determines accommodations are necessary for them.
Individualized Education Program (IEP)
9. Must transportation be addressed on every IEP?
Yes. Transportation must be addressed as a related service. The IEP team must document in the IEP their decision as to the child’s need for transportation.
10. Can the excusal form be used only for IEP meeting participants, or may it be used for the review of existing data (RED) meeting and eligibility determination meeting?
Members should not be excused from Review of Existing Data meetings or eligibility meetings. The circumstances involved in an IEP team member being excused are very specific. Those circumstances do not pertain to the RED meeting or eligibility meetings. IEP team attendance, including the circumstances when IEP team members may be excused can be found in federal regulation 300.321(e). Required members for eligibility teams are listed in federal regulation 300.306: “…a group of qualified professionals and the parent of the child.” The eligibility team for a specific learning disability must include “(a)(1)the child’s regular teacher, or (2) if the child does not have a regular teacher, a regular classroom teacher qualified to teach a child of his or her age; or (3) for a child of less than school age an individual qualified by the SEA to teach a child of his or her age; and (b) at least one person qualified to conduct individual diagnostic examinations of children, such as a school psychologist, speech-language pathologist, or remedial reading teacher.”
11. Is it permissible to use goals from the bank of goals provided in the SEAS IEP program? Are they written correctly?
The DESE does not monitor or endorse the IEP goals written by SEAS or any other privately owned organization serving as a special education resource. Each school district is responsible for developing IEPs based upon the individual needs of their students. If a district has questions about writing IEP goals, they can visit our website at: http://www.dese.mo.gov/divspeced/Compliance
12. Are independent living skills activities only required for students with severe disabilities?
No. Think about any of the skills that adults use every day to successfully do the things that we need to do. Consider whether a particular disabled child is prepared to do the things that he or she needs to do to manage their own welfare. Whether a child needs independent living goals, and what they are, will be very different for each individual. An example is a child who is learning disabled in basic reading and may need assistance to pass the written exam to obtain a driver’s license. Without a license he or she may not be able to commute to and from work because public transportation is not available. This could be a major obstacle in getting and keeping a job. This illustrates why quality transition planning is so important.
13. If a student indicates he wants to join the military after graduation, but changes his mind after graduation, is the school responsible if the post-secondary goal is not met?
According to IDEA (34 CFR 300.43 (a)(1)) the school district is responsible for providing transition services that are “focused on improving the academic and functional achievement of the child with a disability to facilitate the child’s movement from school to post-school activities.” If the school district has provided transition services that were based on the child’s needs, taking into account the child’s strengths, preferences, and interests, and has prepared him to reach the postsecondary goals in his IEP, the school district cannot be held responsible if he changes his mind about what he wants to do after he has graduated. Quality transition planning that begins early in the child’s academic career and uses age appropriate transition assessments to guide transition planning, and which routinely checks and reassesses the child’s postsecondary goals is vitally important. A key part of the process should be providing the child with a rich variety of community experiences that allow him to learn first-hand about several vocations that he may have interest in pursuing to help him narrow his focus as graduation draws nearer.
Evaluations
14. For initial evaluations, do you count weekends over holiday breaks for timelines exceeding the 60-day timeline?
The weekend days do not count if they are in the middle of a holiday break. Be sure to document dates especially if an extension of the 60 days is necessary.
15. How can you prevent being out of timelines when a vision exam (permission, appointments, glasses, etc.) all take time during the evaluation?
During the 30 days after parent referral, you need to look at information you already have to determine if you suspect a disability. If so, you need to do a review of existing data. If a vision screening/evaluation is needed, that becomes part of your evaluation plan, and you have 60 days to complete it. If the vision testing is not complete, you must finish the evaluation and eligibility determination with the information you have at that time. If new information becomes available after the 60 days, you may need to begin a reevaluation by looking at existing data you now have. Inability to complete the evaluation because of doctor appointments is not a valid reason to extend the timelines.
16. Would a student being evaluated for a new eligibility category be considered an initial evaluation or a reevaluation?
Conducting further evaluation to determine whether to change the identification category of disability for a student already eligible for special education services is a reevaluation.
17. Must eligibility reports be provided in the native language if other than English?
The only documents required under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in the native language of the parent are Procedural Safeguards and notices of action (NOA).
Notices of Action (NOA)
18. Must parents sign a Notice of Action to waive 10 days in order to start earlier with the implementation of an IEP?
A parent’s signature documents their consent to initiate any change requiring prior written notice. If, however, the parent has agreed to such a change through addendum and a signature has not been obtained, the school district should document the date agreement was obtained.
19. Is a Notice of Action needed for an annual IEP review if services and placement remain the same, but there are changes in modifications or accommodations?
Yes, if the modifications or accommodations change, the parent must be given a Notice of Action. It could be noted as “Other” on the state Notice of Action form.
20. When completing a Notice of Action for ineligibility, do you check “proposed” or “refused?”
If using the state sample form for Notice of Action, it is appropriate to check “proposed” if you are also checking that the Notice is for “ineligibility for services,” since that is the action being proposed. However, it can also be appropriate to check “refused” if the evaluation was triggered by a parent request for eligibility or IEP. More importantly, the body of the Notice should contain the required information and clearly communicate to the parent the action taking place.
21. If a student has already been placed in special education without signed parental consent, how can the problem be corrected?
This cannot be corrected retroactively because IDEA requires signed parental consent before a child is placed and receives special education services. You should, however, give the parent a Notice of Action for initial placement and get their written consent now, and include the documentation in the child’s special education record.