Special Education Listserv

Subject: State Performance Plan and OSEP's Evaluation of Missouri's Part B Program

Source: Heidi Atkins Lieberman, Assistant Commissioner

Intended Audience: Directors of Special Education, Special Education Contacts

Date: June 10, 2008

Missouri received notification on June 6, 2008, that the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) has completed its evaluation of Missouri's performance and has identified Missouri in the determination category of "Meets Requirements."  For an explanation of the Determinations process, you should review the SELS messages from last June which was the first year of Determinations.  See SELS messages dated June 11, 2007; June 20, 2007; and, June 22, 2007, by going to the SELS Archive at http://dese.mo.gov/divspeced/Listserv_Archives.html. 

To view the Determination letter to Missouri, Response Table, and Explanation of Determination go to http://dese.mo.gov/divspeced/SPPpage.html (under the OSEP and DESE Letters Section).

Missouri's State Performance Plan (SPP), required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), provided measurable and rigorous targets for Missouri in the area of 20 required indicators identified by OSEP.  On February 1, 2008, Missouri filed our Annual Performance Report (APR) with OSEP; this reported the state's performance on the indicators and targets.  Go to our website to view:

SPP - http://dese.mo.gov/divspeced/DataCoord/PDF/MOPartBSPP.pdf    

APR - http://dese.mo.gov/divspeced/DataCoord/PDF/MOPartBAPRfinal408.pdf

I encourage you to be familiar with these documents as the SPP drives our monitoring focus and reflects the connection between compliance and performance.

The APR of each state underwent an evaluation process by OSEP these last few months.  This evaluation involved a review of Missouri's performance on all of the indicators, as well as, a review of the state's ability to provide valid, reliable, and timely data for each of the indicators.

Thank you for all your hard work on behalf of students with disabilities and making Missouri look good.