Monitoring Accommodations in South Dakota

1
Monitoring Accommodations in South Dakota

• Linda Turner
• Special Education Programs

2
Accommodation Practices in PlacePrior to Peer
Review

• IEP Technical Manual
• Directions on selecting and documenting
  assessments and accommodations
• Special Education onsite monitoring
• Documentation of accommodations on IEP
• Appropriate accommodations for students

3
Accommodation Practices Developed During Peer
Review

• Accommodations Manual
• Adopted from CCSSO template
• Train the Trainer model
• 29 Trainers
• 21 workshops held, 850 participants
• Flowchart for Assessment Determination
• Decisions on assessment and need for
  accommodations

4
Accommodation Issues from Peer Review

• Peer review Fall 2005
• A plan for conducting reliability studies for the
  scores of subpopulations and studies related to
  accommodated test situations to ensure that they
  are instructionally appropriate and that the
  scores yield valid and reliable results

5
Accommodation Issues from Peer Review

• Peer Review Spring 2006
• Results of studies or a concrete plan and
  timeline for student accommodations that examine
  the degree to which the IEP and the
  accommodations are congruent

6
South Dakotas Journey

• Based on accommodations issues
• RFP issued to conduct Accommodation study
• Study to answer
• Evaluate the congruency among the accommodations
  received during assessment to those identified on
  the IEP for assessment and instruction
• Evaluate the congruency among the accommodations
  identified on students IEPs for instruction and
  assessment

7
South Dakotas Journey

• Collection of Evidence for study
• Online survey
• Conducted K-12 on student instructional
  accommodations documented on IEP
• Stratified sample selected from grades 3-8 11
• Accommodation demographic information from
  statewide assessment
• Student IEPs
• Stratified sample selected from previous sample
• Used as a validity check for online survey and
  demographic information collected

8
South Dakotas Journey

• Study results
• High level of congruence overall
• 93 math
• 92 reading
• Specific accommodations and disability categories
  with low congruence
• Ex. read aloud accommodations, high number of
  students received it for assessment but not
  instruction

9
South Dakotas Journey
10
South Dakotas Journey

• Test administration training and materials
  updated
• List of accessibility options available to all
  students
• Test security agreement/affidavit includes
  provision and documentation of accommodations

11
South Dakotas Journey

• Test Security Agreement/Affidavit

12
South Dakotas Journey

• Revision of Special Education Monitoring
• Review team monitors IEPs for
• Accommodations documented appropriately
• Assessment determination matches accommodation
  selection
• Expanded to include
• Disability and needs support accommodations
• Assessment accommodations have been used for
  instruction
• Assessment accommodations were provided

13
South Dakotas Journey

• Revision of Special Education Monitoring
• Districts selected for monitoring based on State
  Performance Plan data
• All districts selected include the accommodation
  review
• Ensure all districts will be reviewed in a 5 year
  period

14
South Dakotas Journey

• Special Education Monitoring
• Districts found out of compliance place on an
  improvement plan
• Review current policy/procedure to determine why
  discrepancies are occurring
• Develop a process for the documentation and
  provision of accommodations for state assessments
• Staff training on the procedures/process by
  Accommodations Trainer.
• Implement procedures and collect data to verify
• Analyze data

15
South Dakotas Journey

• Revision of Onsite Testing Visits
• Visits included
• Verification of the process to track
  accommodation needs
• Process by which staff is informed of
  accommodations
• Expanded to include
• Collection of randomly selected IEPs and 504
  plans
• Verification of individual student accommodations
• Classroom visits if testing during visit

16
South Dakotas Journey

• Revision of Onsite Testing Visits
• Plans collected will be used for verification
  checks against demographic accommodation
  information from testing
• Districts can be flagged for special education
  review
• Sanctions followed as appropriate

17
South Dakotas Journey

• Submitting final evidence of for accommodation
  provision in June
• State has been receiving technical assistance in
  cooperation with federal DOE
• Developed a timeline and implementation plan with
  federal DOE
• Final approval expected