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Special Education: Balancing Student Achievement with IDEA Compliance

CERA ConferenceDecember 1-2, 2011Anaheim, California

Pamela McCabeMarion Miller

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Getting to know YOU

• What’s your name?• Where do you work?• What is your role?• How are you involved in IDEA

compliance?

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Balancing Compliance with Achievement Outcomes

• Explore procedures to streamline IDEA compliance monitoring

• Become familiar with key practices that influence achievement for students with disabilities

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Something Has Got to Change: Rethinking Special Education

Aligning Management Skills with Responsibilities:

• Student Learning• Special Education Daily Operations• Student Social and Emotional Needs• Finance and Operations

Levenson, N. 2011

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$50,000 Average cost of a due process

hearing

$90 millionAnnual expenditure for conflict

resolution

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It’s Hard

723Number of compliance items

monitored by CDE in 2010-11

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More than half of the states fail to ensure full compliance with:

• Transition • Free appropriate public

education • Procedural safeguards  • Least restrictive environment

 National Council on Disability

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What happens when you’re out-of-compliance with IDEA?

• The Superintendent of Public School can apply sanctions

• At risk for family disputes

• Student consequences

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“Clearly, we must improve how we work together as parents, teachers, and administrators – and focus on constructively resolving our differences in a way that allows us to focus our best energies and the bulk of our resources on securing positive outcomes for our students.”

Fred Balcom, DirectorCalifornia Department of EducationSpecial Education Division

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Least Restrictive EnvironmentIn General Education Classroom 80% or more

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California Achievement Gap - 2011 AYP

All Students and Students with Disabilities

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Thirteen Disability Categories

CA: Dec. 2010

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Improving Outcomes for SWD

Research Says . . .

INCLUSION

University of MassachusettsAIR California Schools

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A Study of Achievement and Promising Practices in Urban Special Education: A Summary of Field Research Findings

• Study conducted by Donahue Institute in October 2004

• Districts were selected using statewide achievement data

• Interviewed administrators, teachers and other support staff in ten schools

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Achievement and Promising Practices in Urban Special EducationUniversity of Massachusetts Donahue Institute

• A well disciplined academic and social environment

• Pervasive emphasis on curriculum alignment with state standards

Emphasis on inclusion and access to the curriculum

• Effective system to support curriculum alignment

• Culture and practices that support high standards and student achievement

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Achievement and Promising Practices in Urban Special EducationUniversity of Massachusetts Donahue Institute• Use of student assessment data to Inform

decision making• Unified practice supported by targeted

professional development• Access to resources to support key initiatives• Effective staff recruitment, retention, and

deployment• Flexible leaders and staff that work

effectively in a dynamic environment• Effective leadership is essential

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Lessons from California Districts Showing Unusually Strong Academic Performance for Students in Special Education

• California Comprehensive Center

• American Institutes for Research (AIR) – January 2011

• Identified eight unified districts in California with unusually strong academic performance for special education population

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Lessons From Successful Districts

• Inclusion and access to the core curriculum,

• Collaboration between special education and general education teachers

• Continuous assessment and use of RtI

• Targeted professional development • The use of explicit direct

instruction. (AIR, Jan 2011)

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Activity: Identify Common Themes

• Find a partner and identify common themes from the two studies.

• Describe to your partner your district’s level of implementation for each theme.

 

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1-5% 1-5%

5-10% 5-10%

80-90% 80-90%

Intensive

Strategic

Benchmark

Designing School-Wide Systems for Student Success

Sp

ecial Ed

ucatio

n

Benchmark

Strategic

Intensive

Academic Systems Behavioral Systems

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Evidence BasedIntervention Programs

Florida Reading Research CenterIES What Works ClearinghouseNational Center on Response to

Intervention

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"The biggest mistake schools make is failing to teach children how to read,”

Peter Wright of Wrightslaw.

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Components of Inclusive Schools

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Educational infrastructure to support inclusive education. The campus is physically accessible and classroom environments are conducive to learning. Adequate time is allocated for special educators and general educators to collaborate.

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Instructional capacity where teachers are well prepared to deliver standards-aligned instruction and utilize instructional strategies that have been shown to be effective for a broad range students, including students with disabilities.

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School culture and site leadership that shows a commitment to high expectations for all students and a shared ownership for all students. The site leadership ensures that resources are available to support inclusive practices.

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Family and community participation that reflects a strong partnership for student achievement. The site offers training and resources to assist families. Students and families actively participate in planning and implementation of educational goals.

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Most Effective Strategy

A Proactive Plan

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Study Your Compliance Data

• District Annual Performance Report• Due Process History• Results of Verification Reviews or

Self-Reviews• Compare your LRE data with the

state average and state targets• Check with your CDE FMTA

consultant

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Study Your Achievement Data

• Disaggregate AYP data by disability category, ethnicity, gender, English learner status

• Examine CST, CMA,CAPA, CAHSEE scores

• Look at your achievement gap

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Make an Action Plan

• Use compliance and achievement data to identify needs

• Determine which compliance items need monitoring

• Determine achievement progress monitoring tools

• Include professional development plan: curriculum, progress monitoring, collaboration, IEP development, supplementary aids and services

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Accountability Checks - ComplianceQuarterly

• Random IEP Reviews for specific items related to compliance data

• Review Initial Eligibility Evaluations

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Accountability Checks – ComplianceMonthly

• Due dates for IEPs• Initials• Annual• 3-year re-evaluations

• Number of suspension days

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Accountability Checks - AchievementQuarterly

• Progress Monitoring results aligned with interventions

• Benchmark Assessments

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Jigsaw: Beyond Compliance Toward Improvement

• Get in groups of 4• Number off 1-4• Follow reading assignments

from guided notes• Each person reports key

concepts from their section

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Best Wishes