Special Education Program Monitoring

1
TUSDStandards Based Quality Review

• Special Education Program Monitoring

Holly CluffEducation Program Specialist Arizona
Department of Education Exceptional Student
Services
Lorrane McPherson Executive Director
TUSD Exceptional Education
Mary Neale Accountability
Coordinator TUSD Exceptional Education
2
ADE GOALS For the PEA to increase To focus
on student need

• Commitment to process
• Ownership of findings and corrective action
• Knowledge of state and federal requirements
• Improvement efforts that focus on qualitative and
  compliance elements

• What do we want students to know and be able to
  do?
• What kinds of learning experiences will produce
  these outcomes?
• What systemic support is needed to produce
  desired student outcomes?

3
TUSD GOALS

• Increased knowledge of federal and state laws
  regarding the education of SWD
• Increased understanding of the importance of
  implementing appropriate practices and policies
  for SWD.
• Increased compliance with procedural requirements
  to improve IEPs and student achievement

4
LEVELS

• 1 ADE organizes monitoring District employees
  assist where appropriate/possible
• 2 District and ADE Teams plan and implement
  monitoring together
• 3 District and ADE Teams plan together District
  takes leadership role in process
• 4 District plans, organizes and implements
  monitoring process in consultation with ADE

5
Level 3 is also referred to asCollaborative
Compliance Program Review (CCPR)

• Website Link
• http//www.ade.az.gov/ess/ESSHome.asp
• Go to Resources then Special Education Monitoring

6
Team Members and Support

• TUSD
• School Psychologists
• Classroom teachers
• Special Education teachers
• Related Service Providers
• EE Compliance Techs
• EE Program Specialists

• ADE
• Holly Cluff
• Christine Opitz
• Joan McCabe-Kern
• Hugh Pace
• Diane Mignella

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FOCUS AREAS

• Child Identification
• Evaluation/Re-Evaluation
• IEPs
• Delivery of Services
• Procedural Safeguards

8
HOW IS DATA COLLECTED?

• Surveys
• 74 Principals
• 155 SE Teachers
• 53 Reg. Teachers
• 93 Related Service
• 36 Parents
• Information from Annual Data Collection

9
HOW IS DATA COLLECTED?

• Interviews/Observations
• 18 Classrooms
• 30 Student Interviews

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HOW IS DATA COLLECTED?

• File Review
• 300 Files
• 150 People
• 2.5 days
• 8 days of Data Entry by 8 compliance technicians

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HOW IS DATA COLLECTED?

• Additional Sources
• Special Education Administrator Survey
• Verification of Administrative Regulations and
  Board Policy
• Verification of Required Practices under IDEA
  and FERPA

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Completion

• When all of the data has been collected and put
  into the databaseReports are generated
• Summary of Findings (SOF)
• Corrective Action Plan (CAP)
• 45-day items
• On-going review

13
DEFINITIONS

• In Compliance TUSD meets compliance standards
• High Partial TUSD should be able to meet
  compliance standards quickly
• Low Partial TUSD needs more intensive
  intervention to reach compliance standard
• Out Lack of compliance is unacceptable

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TUSD RESULTS 2004
Area Intent of Law Compliance
CHILD FIND Yes Low Partial
EVALUATION and RE-EVALUATION Yes Low Partial
IEPs Yes Low Partial
SERVICE DELIVERY Yes High Partial
PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS Yes Low Partial
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STRENGTHS

• TUSD provides a wide range of services to a large
  special education population
• Teachers are eager to meet compliance and learn
  required procedures
• Parents report satisfaction with programs and
  student success

16
STRENGTHS

• Collaboration between special education and
  general education supports good programming
• Teachers provide a caring and supportive
  environment
• Instruction is based on the Arizona Academic
  Standards

17
STRENGTHS

• TUSD has no outstanding corrective action from a
  formal complaint
• TUSD has no due processes involving special
  education

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CONCERNS

• There is a need for increased professional
  development and training in the areas of
• Legal compliance
• Pre-Referral Interventions
• Increased Parent Participation
• Suspension/Expulsion under I.D.E.A.

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CONCERNS

• General and Special Educators need planning time
  together to collaborate on the IEP implementation
• Child Find Activities need to be addressed
• Public Awareness
• 45 day Screening Procedures

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CONCERNS

• The Multidisciplinary Evaluation Team (MET)
  process needs to document the teams review of
  existing data in a more consistent way
• IEP development needs improvement and
  clarification in the areas of
• Extended Year Services
• Transition

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CONCERNS

• More consistency is needed in sending parents the
  required documentation of how their student is
  progressing toward IEP goals and objectives on a
  quarterly basis.

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Reflection

• Evaluation of the process and participant feedback

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Corrective Action

• Revise Forms
• Revise and Improve Written Procedures
• Provide Professional Development and Follow up
  Training

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Corrective Action

• Conduct additional file reviews during the school
  year to ensure continued compliance
• Provide school teams with updates regarding the
  status of IEP compliance

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Many Thanks To

• Cathy Taylor
• Leila Williams
• Terry Midkiff
• Sandy Marschinke

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Many Thanks To

• Joe Villa
• Carmen Quintero
• Shelley Sykora
• Nancy Edwards
• Reina Robles
• Exceptional Education Compliance
  Technicians

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Many Thanks To

• Elaine House
• Catalina High School

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

• ADE
• Christine Opitz
• Joan McCabe-Kern
• Hugh Pace
• Diane Mignella
• Sean Boggess

• SOF Team
• Linda Perry
• Lisa South
• Pam Smith
• Pat Ranjel
• Linda Facinelli
• Diane McCaw
• Judy Harper
• Bibi Benitez

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Arizona Department of EducationExceptional
Student Services

• Holly CluffEducation Program Specialist(520)
  770-3061hcluff_at_ade.az.gov

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Tucson Unified School District

• Mary Neale
• Exceptional Education
• Accountability Coordinator
• [phone]Mary.Neale_at_tusd.k12.az.us