Title: Special Education Program Monitoring
1TUSDStandards 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
2ADE 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
5Level 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
6Team 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
7FOCUS AREAS
- Child Identification
- Evaluation/Re-Evaluation
- IEPs
- Delivery of Services
- Procedural Safeguards
8HOW IS DATA COLLECTED?
- Surveys
- 74 Principals
- 155 SE Teachers
- 53 Reg. Teachers
- 93 Related Service
- 36 Parents
- Information from Annual Data Collection
9HOW IS DATA COLLECTED?
- Interviews/Observations
- 18 Classrooms
- 30 Student Interviews
10HOW IS DATA COLLECTED?
- File Review
- 300 Files
- 150 People
- 2.5 days
- 8 days of Data Entry by 8 compliance technicians
11HOW IS DATA COLLECTED?
- Additional Sources
- Special Education Administrator Survey
- Verification of Administrative Regulations and
Board Policy - Verification of Required Practices under IDEA
and FERPA
12Completion
- 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
13DEFINITIONS
- 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
14TUSD 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
15STRENGTHS
- 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
16STRENGTHS
- 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
17STRENGTHS
- TUSD has no outstanding corrective action from a
formal complaint - TUSD has no due processes involving special
education
18CONCERNS
- 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.
19CONCERNS
- 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
20CONCERNS
- 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
21CONCERNS
- 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.
22Reflection
- Evaluation of the process and participant feedback
23Corrective Action
- Revise Forms
- Revise and Improve Written Procedures
- Provide Professional Development and Follow up
Training
24Corrective Action
- Conduct additional file reviews during the school
year to ensure continued compliance - Provide school teams with updates regarding the
status of IEP compliance
25Many Thanks To
- Cathy Taylor
- Leila Williams
- Terry Midkiff
- Sandy Marschinke
26Many Thanks To
- Joe Villa
- Carmen Quintero
- Shelley Sykora
- Nancy Edwards
- Reina Robles
- Exceptional Education Compliance
Technicians
27Many Thanks To
- Elaine House
- Catalina High School
28ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- 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
29Arizona Department of EducationExceptional
Student Services
- Holly CluffEducation Program Specialist(520)
770-3061hcluff_at_ade.az.gov
30Tucson Unified School District
- Mary Neale
- Exceptional Education
- Accountability Coordinator
- (520) 225-5418Mary.Neale_at_tusd.k12.az.us