February 10, 2014

MONTHLY SCHOOL SPECIAL EDUCATION COORDINATOR WEB-

MEETING

AGENDA• District Updates

– Onsite Visit– IDEA Funds– General Compliance

• Present Levels

• Spring IEP Meetings

• SharePoint Forms

• Dos and Don’t of IEP Meetings

• The “new” Excent

• Indicator 14

• SC-Alt

• Upcoming Dates

DISTRICT UPDATES

OEC ONSITE VISIT• Since the last update, where we submitted documents for “Prong

2,” we have not received any additional notifications from the SCDE.

• However, they have until March 8, 2014 (the 1 year mark) to have this closed out, so I am anticipating an update from them sometime in the next week or so.

IDEA FUNDS• Thursday evening, I notified everyone that our IDEA application

has been approved. The funds will be loaded later this week and schools may begin seeking reimbursement on them.

• There will be a one-time amendment to school budgets in March. I will send out information about this early next month.

• The above really doesn’t have anything to do with you (other than a FYI).

IDEA FUNDSWhat you should know though . . . .

1. These funds can only be spent on IDEA related activities

2. If you, or any of your staff are paid out of IDEA funds, then these employees will either need to do a certificate of time (for employees who ONLY have one job function – IDEA-related) or employees will need to do a personnel activity report (for employees who do something else in addition to IDEA related duties).

We will be sending out information about this next week.

GENERAL COMPLIANCE • We’re noticing a trend . . . . The district’s compliance is starting to

slip.

• While we’re starting to notice global issues, we’re really concerned about baseline data.

• Lack of baseline data equates to a compliance issue with annual goals (not having a measurable annual goal).

GENERAL COMPLIANCE • Just randomly pulled an IEP and here is what I found:

– Present Levels for Math: • Math-2556- At Risk (5 GL). This increased by 98 points from 3/22/12.• Strengths: Geometry (GL) and Measurement (GL)• Weaknesses: Numbers and Operations (5 GL), Algebra (2 GL), Data Analysis and Probability (5 GL)

– Annual Goal for Math:• Math/Employment: Given direct instruction in mathematics, Benjemen will carry out a procedure

to evaluate an expression by substituting a value for the variable with 80% accuracy as measured by teacher made tests prior to his annual review.

• What’s the student presently able to when it comes to “carrying out a procedure to evaluate an expression by substituting a value for the variable?”

GENERAL COMPLIANCE• What does this mean?

– Either the School’s Special Education Coordinator doesn’t understand general compliance him/herself

OR

– The School’s Special Education Coordinator isn’t holding his/her staff accountable by not having a process in place to catch issues like this.

GENERAL COMPLIANCE • What does this mean for the district/school?

We cannot afford to revert back to old habits.

State Charter School Law (59-40)Subsection 55: Sponsors PowerA) A charter school sponsor shall: (7) notify the charter school of perceived problems if its performance or legal compliance appears to be unsatisfactory and provide reasonable opportunity for the school to remedy the problem, unless the problem warrants revocation and revocation timeframes apply;

(8) take appropriate corrective actions or exercise sanctions short of revocation in response to apparent deficiencies in charter school performance or legal compliance. These actions or sanctions may include requiring a school to develop and execute a corrective action plan within a specified timeframe;

GENERAL COMPLIANCE • This is our priority . . . . .

– Options:• Informal opportunities to self-correct (with a plan created by the district)

– For isolated and small-scale findings

• Formal compliance process: – Letters of Caution• For isolated and small-scale findings that do not get corrected

• For systemic issues

– Notices of Default (formerly Letter of Probation)• For systemic issues that do not get corrected

GENERAL COMPLIANCE • What you cannot have happen . . . . Letting us stumble upon it.

– Parent phone calls (to us or to the SCDE)– CPR– District Monitoring– Data Collection

• What’s the best thing you can do for yourself and for your school?– Communicate, communicate, communicate

– Notify your regional coordinator or district staff AS SOON as a problem arises or potentially arises.

– I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: Let us know when you make a mistake and we’ll help you create a plan to rectify it.

GENERAL COMPLIANCE

IEP COMPLIANCE

ISSUES

• Failure to meet deadlines– Annual reviews– Initial evaluations (60-days)– Reevaluations (3-years)

• IEP compliance

PRESENT LEVELS

Major issue in IEPs is present levels (no/inappropriate baseline data)

If PLPs aren’t appropriate, then annual goals are not measurable or achievable and you cannot progress

monitor appropriately

PLP/AG LINK

• PLPs/Findings must be measureable, achievable, touchable, smellable, audible, visible/observable, understandable– How many, how often, what percentage, what amount,

…– Measurement used to determine PLPs will be used

again to monitor progress throughout the IEP

ANNUAL GOALS• Observable behavior

– What do you want him to be able to do by the end of the IEP?

• Conditions– Under what conditions will he be expected to do this?

• Criteria– At what level will he be expected to do this?

ANNUAL GOALS• Observable behavior

– If you can’t see/hear/feel/smell/taste it, you can’t measure it• “the student will …

• Conditions– Specific circumstances or assistance that will affect performance of the

behavior• “Given… the student will…

• Criteria– How will you measure/determine mastery• Rate, time, percentage (or a combination)• You’ll progress monitor using this

• It is important to make goals individualized to each student.

• The goals should be reasonably accomplished within one year.

• The goals must also be derived from what is stated in the Priority Educational Need.   

• Three components accomplish writing the goal: Observable Behavior, Conditions and Criteria.

• There are 3 types of criteria: rate, time and percentage.

• You choose one or a combination of criteria, so that you can collect data on the student and report progress 4 times a year.

•  Given a variety of print choices, Linda will recognize her own name in print with 100% accuracy by June 2014. PLPs should tell you how accurately she recognizes her name now. You will assess/monitor progress by giving repeated opportunities to recognize her name and recording her success rate; you will report on this progress as per the IEP (at least every 9 weeks) – PLP: L currently does not recognize her name in print (0% percent) without a visual

prompt/model. At the end of the 1st 9 weeks, L is able to recognize her name in print 2 out of 10 times without a model; she may meet annual goal by the end of the year.

• Given a clock, Phoebe will tell time to 5 minute intervals in 8 out of 10 opportunities by June 2014. PLPs should tell you how many times out of 10 (or a percentage) she tells time to 5 minute interval now. You will assess/monitor progress by giving P repeated opportunities to tell time and recording her accuracy; you will report on this progress as per the IEP (at least every 9 weeks).– PLP: P currently is able to tell time the half hour with 100% accuracy; she tells time to

the nearest 5 minutes correctly only 2 out of 10 opportunities. At the end of the 1st 9 weeks, P is able to tell time to the nearest 5 minutes with 20% accuracy; she may meet annual goal by the end of the year.

• Given an instructional group of 3-5 students, Sally will remain in her seat for 5 minutes when prompted by a visual clock by October 2014. PLPs should tell you how often on average she stays in her seat now with prompts. You will assess progress by periodically tracking how long S remains in her seat using the visual prompt ; you will report on this progress as per the IEP (at least every 9 weeks).– PLP: S currently is able to remain in her seat for an average of 15 minutes with 2 verbal prompts;

she is able to stay seated for only 3 minutes with a visual prompt alone. At the end of the 1st 9 weeks, L is able to recognize her name in print 2 out of 10 times without a model; she may meet annual goal by the end of the year.

• Given a task list written by a supervisor, Sally will independently complete assigned daily tasks in the workplace 80% of the time, by June 2014. PLPs should tell you how often she currently completes assignments independently. You will assess progress by tracking the percentage of assignments completed independently each day, each week, each class period; you will report on this progress as per the IEP (at least every 9 weeks).– PLP: S currently completes only 50% of her assignments weekly independently. She is able to

complete 100% of assignments when given extended time (1 additional day) and up to 5 verbal reminders. At the end of the 3rd 9 weeks, S is still completing only 50% of her assignments independently; she may not meet this annual goal by the end of the school year. An IEP meeting will be scheduled to review S’s progress.

PLPs• The “present levels” statement is intended to comprehensively describe

a child’s abilities, performance, strengths, and needs. It is based on, and arises out of, all the information and data previously collected and known about the child. A well-written present level will describe:– the child’s strengths and weaknesses,– what helps the child learn,– what limits or interferes with the child’s learning,– objective data from current evaluations of the child, and– how the child’s disability affects his or her ability to be involved and progress in

the general curriculum.

• A fully developed, well-written “present levels” is the foundation upon which the rest of the IEP can be developed to specify appropriate goals, services, supports, accommodations, and placement for the child.

ANNUAL GOADS• “Who?. . . will achieve?

• What?. . . skill or behavior?

• How?. . . in what manner or at what level?

• Where?. . . in what setting or under what conditions?

• When?. . . by what time? an ending date?

PROGRESS MONITORING• How will the child’s progress be measured?

• When will the child’s progress be measured?

• How well will the child need to perform in order to achieve his or her stated IEP goals (and, for some children, benchmarks or objectives)?

To answer these questions, you have to know WHERE the child is starting from (PLPs) and where

he needs to end up (AGs)

PLP/AG/PM LINKYou must be able to answer the questions:

“If you want the student be do x by the end of the year (Annual Goal), what can he

do now (PLP/Finding)?” and“How will you know if he is going to get

there/has gotten there?”

COMPLIANCE

• IEPs must be compliant

• When noncompliance is identified, it must be corrected as soon as possible

• This will be a big focus for the district

SPRING ANNUAL REVIEWS

SPRING ANNUAL REVIEWS• IEPs MUST BE REVIEWED ANNUALLY (within 364 days of the

previous annual review)

• Schools may choose when to conduct annual reviews (as long as each IEP is reviewed within 364 days of the previous annual review– Birthday ARs– Date of initial placement/enrollment ARs– Spring ARs

SPRING ARs

• If the AR date is within 4 weeks of the ending date of school, the initiation date of the new IEP can be the first day of the next school year.

• Example:– 6/1/14 end of school– AR falls on or after 5/1/14– 8/15/14 initiation date of new IEP

SPRING ARsIf the AR is outside of this 4 week window, you have 2 options:

Option 1:– Hold AR on/before the date of anticipated AR on the current IEP– Develop a new IEP at that meeting that will be implemented as soon as

possible (within a few days of the AR)– IEP ending date and next AR date become the same

• Example:– Anticipated AR is 4/8/14 with an IEP ending date of 6/5/14– Hold AR on/before 4/8/14 and develop new IEP– IEP to be implemented 4/9/14 (or as soon as possible following the

meeting)– IEP ending date is now 4/8/15 and new anticipated AR is 4/8/15

SPRING ARsOption 2:

– Hold AR on/before date of the anticipated AR – Do NOT develop a new IEP since the current IEP does not end until June– Hold another AR before the end of school (within 4 weeks of school ending)

and develop a new IEP for the next year– New IEP would begin the first day of school

• Example:– Anticipated AR is 4/8/14 with an IEP ending date of 6/5/14– Hold AR on/before 4/8/14; do NOT develop new IEP– Meet on 5/27/14 to do another AR and to develop new IEP (must meet

before 6/5/14); you would review any progress since 4/8/14– IEP initiation date would be 8/15/14; IEP ending date would be 6/5/15;

anticipated AR would be 5/27/15

SHAREPOINT

BROWSER ISSUES• With the new update of Adobe, it is not compatible with Chrome.

If you are not able to view the forms on Chrome browser, please right click on the form link and save it on the computer to use the form.

DO’S AND DON’TS OF IEP MEETINGS

WORDS TO AVOID IN IEP MEETINGS• Budget

• Maximize

• Can’t

• Full potential

• Minimum

• Best

• We don’t do that here

• We can’t afford to do that

• We want what’s best for your child

WORDS TO USE IN IEP MEETINGS• Appropriate

• Meaningful

• Individual

• Progress

• Data

• Consider

• The current IEP is appropriate

• Based on the data, …

• We will consider that request

• The current IEP meets your child’s individual needs

EXCENT/ENRICH

ENRICH• Here is what we know:

– It’s happening for real . . . Really, for real. – They are doing a “train the trainer” model.– The state is training folks in 4 different groups. We’re group 4. Our

informational session is April 10th.– It’s to be fully operational by this summer.

• Here is what we don't know.– What in Exent rolls over.– What about the attachments?

ENRICH• Once we know something, we’ll communicate it over to you

ASAP.

• Here is what you can plan for:– A lot of Enrich information beginning in late April and through the

summer.– We’re going to have some of the schools with large special education staff

attend the “train the trainer” training too. – Summer Enrich training at the District– Webinar training (summer and early August)

INDICATOR 14

INDICATOR 14 – EXIT STUDENT SURVEY• Some of you will be getting an email from Zenobia tomorrow

about missing data from our Indicator 14 data report (encrypted with standard password). The major fields that have missing data are:– Mailing address– Phone Number– Email address (if applicable)

– You’ll need to make changes IN EXCENT and have them corrected in Excent by February 18th, 2014.

SC-ALT

SC-ALT• The following schools/students are scheduled to take SC-Alt:

– Cyber* = 4 students– Lake City = 1 student– Connections* = 3 students

– If this is inaccurate, I need to know ASAP

– District TA and 2nd Rater Training• Wednesday, February 26, 2014 at 10:00am – 12:00pm at the District Office

*needs a 2nd rater on one or more students

UPCOMING DATES

UPCOMING DATES• Indicator 14

– Corrections due February 18th

• SC-Alt:– District training for the test administrators has been moved to February 26, 2014 at 10:00am.

• CPR Follow-Up– March 2014

• Next Web-Coordinator Meeting– March 10, 2014

• Accommodations: Make sure you’ve communicated your accommodations over to your school testing coordinators – HSAP: 1st week of April– PASS: March and in May

• June/July – don’t forget we have some major reports due over the summer . . . Make sure you plan accordingly. Don’t leave your school empty handed.– We’ll discuss these in detail in March