Special Education
Compliance and
the
SC Public Charter
School District
Post-Onsite Visit
April 10, 2013
Agenda




Onsite Review
Small Group Discussion
The District
The Process






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





Interventions
Referrals
Letters of Notification
Evaluations
IEP Development
Progress Monitoring
Summary/PWN
Special Reviews vs Annual Reviews
Reevaluations
Exiting
Transfers
The IEP Folder
Moving Forward



Denial of FAPE
Small Group Discussion
Corrective Action Plan
Introductions
Post-Onsite Review
SCDE Onsite Follow-up

On March 6, 2013, the district received official
follow-up from the SCDE regarding their onsite
visit.

What was received:


Individual file feedback
Global feedback from pre-submission
documents:
Student handbooks
 District Policies
 School-Level Procedures

SCDE Onsite Follow-up

Brief overview of the findings:

Commendations:
The SCPCSD offers choice for SWD
 OEC appreciates the revised language in the
SC Charter School Law re: District Responsibility
 General education staff understands IDEA and
special education
 Offer multiple ways of conducting meetings
 District professional development is articulated

SCDE Onsite Follow-Up
 General




Area of Concerns:
Procedural issues such as PWN and meeting
notifications
Parents may be less involved with their
children’s special education programs
Postsecondary transition
Large number of “special reviews” that took
place prior to the onsite visit
SCDE Onsite Follow-up

Citations
 24 out of 24 IEPs cited for noncompliance
 19 out of 19 additional folders reviewed from the
two schools cited for noncompliance

Additional Citations:
 Certification: Services not being delivered by an
appropriately certified and highly qualified
teacher
 Policy/Procedures: Schools didn’t have written
procedures (specific to the school) and District
didn’t have their procedures
(monitoring/oversight) in writing
SCDE Onsite Follow-up

IEP Compliance:
 Top Areas of Noncompliance
 Are children with disabilities achieving at high levels?
 Q55: Severity of Disability Statement in PLOP (N=9)
 Q60: PLAAP (N=8)
 Q62: Annual Goals Relating to Disability (N=14)
 Q63: Other Annual Goals (N=11)
 Q65: Progress Measured (N=8)
 Q66: When Progress Reported (N=8)
 Q69: Nonparticipation with Nondisabled (N=13)

Are youth with disabilities prepared for life, work and postsecondary education?
 Q34: Strengths Considered (N=7)*
 Q77: Meeting Notice (Transition) (N=8)*

Does the District implement IDEA to improve services and results for children with
disabilities?
 Q6: Parent Right to Assessment (N=7)*
 Q23: PWN Completion (N=19)
SCDE Onsite Follow-up
 What
us?
does the results from the previous slide tell
Many of our IEPS lack basic IDEA compliance.
Small Group Discussion

Groups:
Nichole
Peggy
Karen
Samanth
a
Pam
Mariann
Margie L.
Marlene
Tia
Roxane
Lucia
Shelia
Lisa
Marva
Leslye
Amanda
Margie P.
Jan




What are your thoughts to the results of the onsite?
Are you surprised?
What are some of the barriers you face regarding maintaining
minimal compliance at your school?
Groups will be reporting out
The District
The District

Growth:






4 school
7 schools
11 schools
13 schools
17 schools (11,500 students)
25 schools (13,500 students)
*Projected 13/14

From hand-holding to Authorizer
What is an Authorizer

Maintain High Standards:





Sets high standards for approving charter
applicants.
Maintains high standards for the schools it
oversees.
Effectively cultivates quality charter schools that
meet identified educational needs.
Oversees charter schools that, over time, meet the
performance standards and targets on a range of
measures and metrics set forth in their charter
contracts.
Closes schools that fail to meet standards and
targets set forth in law and by contract
What is an Authorizer

Authorizers (referred to as “sponsors” in South Carolina
regulations and statutes) are charged by law to determine
which charter schools should open and which ones should
close. They monitor the progress of charter schools and
support accountability and achievement while protecting
school autonomy. Authorizers are not accountable for the
success or failure of the charter schools it sponsors. Rather,
they are responsible for holding charter schools accountable
for their outcomes.”

The primary role of the SCPCSD is to authorize high-quality
charter schools and to monitor the operation of the schools to
ensure quality outcomes. A secondary role is to support the
district’s charter schools as a local education agency (LEA)
and to provide limited programmatic assistance to these
autonomous schools.
It goes beyond “we’re an authorizer.”
Other Things to Note
 SC
Charter School Law
 LEA Status
 Federal Funds Mandated Responsibilities

 In
Subrecipient Monitoring
the SCDE’s Eyes
 Corrective Action Plans
 It’s the Law . . . IDEA is a federal law.
District Corrective Action Plan







District creates and implements a district-wide monitoring plan
that includes a formal compliance process and sanctions
(8/15/2013).
Provide staff training on the evaluation process/IEP
Compliance.
Require schools to submit monthly updates to District regarding
evaluations in process
Provide tailored and specific technical assistance to individual
charter schools through the creation and assignment of a
regional coordinator.
Create an IEP compliance checklist that is used at the school
level for peer review.
Individual Student Corrections (10/15/2013).
Develop a process to verify certification/qualifications of all
service providers.
Next Year
 What

should you expect:
Regional Coordinator
 School-Specific
Development
 Regional TA

Tailored Support and
Accountability Rubric/Monitoring
Framework
The IEP Process
From Referral to Exit and all stops in-between
Interventions
Before the referral
 Adequate


instruction in reading and math
What instruction has happened in addition
to, on top of, and besides the general
instruction that all children get?
How has the student responded to this
additional instruction?
 Progress
monitoring data (CBMs, behavior
tallies, anecdotal records)
Interventions by any other
name smell ….
 All
schools’ charters say that you have
some sort of intervention, student
assistance, RtI process.
 It’s
not a special education issue; it’s part
of just plain good teaching.
 If
the student is achieving at a low level,
how do you know it’s because of a
disability?
 RtI




gives you that info
Determine where the student is now
Set a goal for him
Monitor his progress
If he isn’t making progress (3 – 4 data points
below the goal line), then make a datadriven decision
 Academics

Reading, math, writing
 Behavior

Behavior plan to address the issues
DATA, DATA, DATA
Referrals
Child Find
 Part
C (BabyNet)
 Parent
 School official
Responsibility
 If
anyone at the school has reason to
suspect the child may be “a child with a
disability” as defined by IDEA, you have to
refer even if the parent does not want
you to
 If anyone at the school has reason to
suspect the child may be “a child with a
disability” as defined by IDEA, you cannot
delay the referral to put the child through
an RtI process.
 Do
not ever say:
“We can’t refer him until
we’ve done RtI”
Evaluations
32
Purposes of Evaluation

To see if the child is a “child with a
disability”
as defined by IDEA 2004

To gather information that will help
determine child’s educational needs

To guide decision making about
appropriate educational program for
the child
33
 Does
the child have a disability that requires the
provision of special education and related services
in order for the child to receive a free appropriate
public education (FAPE)?
 What are the child’s specific educational needs?
 How does the child’s disability affect his/her
academic achievement and functional outcomes?
 What special education services and related
services, then, would be appropriate for addressing
those needs?
34
All areas related to the suspected
disability, including (if appropriate):





The “What” of
Evaluation



health
vision
hearing
social and emotional status
general intelligence
academic performance
communicative status
motor abilities
35
Comprehensive Equals…
Identifying all of the child’s special education and
related services needs, whether or not commonly
linked to the disability category being considered
for the child:

If eligible, this information = PLAAFP

If not eligible, this information helps to determine
appropriate supports needed in general education
36
Initial Evaluation and Eligibility
Two prong test
Is
this child a “child with a disability”
as defined in IDEA? AND
If so, does the disability create the
need for special education and
related services in order for the
child to access and progress in the
general curriculum?
37
Initial Evaluation:
Two-Prong Process
Does the child have a disability AND
by reason thereof,
Does the child need special education and
related services?


To answer these questions, the team must:



must determine present levels of academic
achievement and functional performance
focus on child’s needs in general education
curriculum
Consent to evaluate
 Consent


must be informed
Parent is told what he/she is giving consent for
What additional information/in what areas is being
requested
 Consent
must come after the evaluation planning
team determines what additional information is
needed
 Consent
is not a “blanket” consent, but is consent
to gather the information the team has determined
is NEEDED/NECESSARY in order to determine
eligibility
Timeline
 ALL
information requested by the team
MUST BE gathered within 60 calendar
days of receipt of the PPT
 Develop a system to ensure you’re
following up with all people involved in
gathering the additional information
 OT
 PT
 SLT
 School
 Nurse
 Parent
psychologist
 Teachers
 ……..
Reevaluations
Questions to be answered by a
reevaluation
1.
2.
3.
4.
Does the student continue to have a
disability or to have an additional
disability?
Does the student continue to need sp
ed?
What are the student’s present levels of
education need?
Do any changes need to be made to
the IEP?
Reevaluation team reviews
existing information

The IEP team schedules a reeval meeting


Same requirements as for any other meeting
(Excent Notice, contacts, …)
The IEP team reviews existing information and
determines what, if any, additional data are
needed to determine continued eligibility and
answer the other 3 reeval questions




What do we already know about the student?
Where is he currently functioning?
What services is he currently receiving?
Has anything significant changed since the last
evaluation/reevaluation?
No additional data needed to
answer all 4 reeval questions
 PWN
to propose evaluation, to notify parents that
no additional information is needed to determine
eligibility, and to give reasons for that decision given
to the parent BEFORE these things can be done
PWN
also notifies parents of
their right to request an
assessment
Additional data ARE needed
 PWN
to propose reevaluation, to describe
what additional information is needed to
answer all 4 reeval questions, when it will
be collected (completed by…), and who
will collect it given to the parent BEFORE
these things can be done
 Parent consent to reevaluate obtained
 Once
the info is gathered, the team
meets to review the info and answer the 4
reeval questions
 If the student is determined to continue to
be eligible and to need sp ed services,
the team reviews and revises, if necessary
the existing IEP based on the data
collected
 PWN is given to the parent BEFORE the
changes are initiated
Reevaluations
 Must
be completed by the due date
(whether it’s the triennial date or the date
set by the team for an “out of cycle”
reeval)
 Completed means




Existing info reviewed
Any additional info collected
Additional info reviewed
Continued eligibility determination made
Initial Evaluations and
Reevaluations
 The
school-level special education coordinator is
responsible for coordinating all initial evaluations and
reevaluations and ensuring that the evaluations and
reevaluations are completed within time lines

This means coordinating any outside assessments the
team has requested (OT, speech, doctor’s
documentation for OHI)
 Staff
assigned to gather additional information as
part of initial evaluations and reevaluations are
responsible for notifying you as soon as he/she has
gathered his/her assigned information
Develop a system to
ensure you’re following
up with all people
involved in gathering
the additional
information
Letters of Notification
Letter of Notification
 IEP
meeting notifications must include the
purpose, time, and location of the
meeting and who will be in attendance.
This is why an email asking the parent to
attend a meeting doesn’t suffice (even if
they attend).
Letter of Notification

So there has to be documentation that a formal invite that
included all of the above was provided.

Which one shows that proper notification was provided:
 “Email”
 “Email with invitation attached?”

Does this make sense? One notification method that says
“phone.”
 What if the parent does not attend and one of the two
notifications were “phone?”

Even if the parent attends, the meeting could be determined
null and void if proper notification wasn’t provided.
The IEP Process
The following slides were adapted from a
presentation conducted by the SC
Department of Education, Office of
Exceptional Children.
Four Goals for Meeting the Needs of
Students with Disabilities
1.
2.
3.
4.
Provide access to the general education
curriculum
Provide involvement and participation in the
general education environment
Implement individualized interventions
Show progress in the educational standards of the
general education curriculum to the greatest
extent possible
IEP Section I
Student Information
 The
percent of time the student spends in
the regular education environment auto
populates from Placement History.
IEP Section I
Student Information

“Date of IEP Meeting” reflects:
 Date of Initial IEP meeting or;
 Date of Annual Review

“Date of Special Review” changes whenever additional meetings are
held throughout the school year

Remember that the IEP Initiation Date is either the first day of the
following school year (If Not Birthday IEP) or reflects a change during
the school term and you MUST provide PWN to explain the reason for
the change
IEP Section I
Parent/Guardian Information
 This
section of the IEP is updated through
Power School
 Check
frequently to ensure that
Parent/Guardian Information is current
and accurate
IEP Section I
Transition

Check Yes for any student that:



will reach the age of thirteen during the active dates of the IEP;
or
is age 13 to 21 during the active dates of the IEP
The student must be invited to the first transition meeting as
well as to all subsequent IEP meetings

and “to discuss transition services” must be checked on the
Letter of Notification
IEP Section I
Student Interests and Preferences
 Global
statement describing the “student’s”
interests and preferences
 Interests
and Preferences can be derived from:

Formal and informal (documented) interviews
Formal and informal interest inventories

NOT just a copy/paste from the previous IEP

IEP Section I
Student Interests and Preferences
Example
IEP Section I
Post Secondary Goal(s)

A Post Secondary Goal is:






Articulation of what the student would like to achieve
after high school phrased in the form of a measurable
goal
Based on age-appropriate transition assessment
Based on student’s strengths, preferences and interests
Written for both education or training and employment
When appropriate, written for independent living
Education or Training must be separate from Employment
IEP Section I
Post Secondary Goal(s)

Post Secondary Goals are:

“Measurable”

Based on an outcome and not an activity or process

Do not use action verbs like “seeks”, “pursues”,
“continues”, “learns” and “applies” as these terms are
processes and not outcomes
IEP Section I
Post Secondary Goal(s)
“Helpful Formula”
IEP Section I
Post Secondary Goal(s)
Example
Non-Example
IEP Section I
SC Career Cluster



School can use up to sixteen clusters for reporting
purposes but may modify these clusters (for
example, Arts and Humanities in place of Arts,
Audio-Video Technology, and Communications).
ONLY put a cluster (cluster combination) that your
school offers)
The sixteen state clusters are the same as the sixteen
federal clusters



Defined Program Grades 9-12
Regulation No.: R43-234
http://www.careertech.org/careerclusters/glance/careerclusters.html
IEP Section I
Course of Study

For any student who is, or who will reach the age of transition, the
Course of Study provides a description that is:

Driven by the student’s interest and;

Linked to the selected SC Career Cluster

The only options in our District:




Standard Course of Study towards a HS diploma
Modified/Functional Course of Study towards a district attendance
credential
Standard Middle School Focus
Modified/Functional Middle School Focus
IEP Section I
Course of Study
Example
Non Example
IEP Section I
Transition Services



If any Transition Service is selected there must be a
corresponding goal.
It is possible for one goal or goal and objectives to
support multiple Transition Services
At a minimum, “Instruction” is checked. Let’s talk about
“development of Employment and Post School
Objectives when we talk about transition assessment.
IEP Section I
Diploma/Certificate

If District Attendance Credential, the IEP team must ensure
that the parent(s) and the student understands that this is not
a State High School Diploma

When Regular State High School Diploma is selected, the
Anticipated Date of Graduation can be updated by the IEP
team as appropriate

We do not offer:

Occupational credential, State Certificate, or N/A for GED
Program
IEP Section I
Age of Majority


Be sure to inform any student that will, or has
reached age of majority, of his or her rights
under IDEA.
This must be completed not later than one
year before the child reaches the age of
majority under the state law.

This notification form is on SharePoint
IEP Section II
“The Foundation”
This is the basis from which
all other Individualized
Education Program (IEP)
components are
developed
IEP Section II
Academic and Functional Strengths and
Needs
 Describing
Academic and Functional Strengths
and Needs provides an overview of factors
that impact performance and the
development of services and programs
designed to meet the student’s unique
learning needs
IEP Section II
Academic and Functional Strengths and Needs
Example
Questions




What is Josephina’s area of weakness?
What is Josephina’s area of strength?
What type of Present Levels of Academic Achievement and
Functional Performance might be developed?
Might Josephina require any instructional accommodations?
IEP Section II
Academic and Functional Behavior
 If
a Functional Behavioral Assessment is
warranted, this must take place as part of an
evaluation or reevaluation of the student unless
it is the practice of the district to conduct a
Functional Behavioral Assessment for any
student to include students without disabilities.
IEP Section II
Present Levels of Academic Achievement and
Functional Performance (PLAAFP)
 The



(PLAAFP)
Identifies Educational Need
Serves as a baseline or starting point
Is directly connected to goals and services
IEP Section II
Present Levels of Academic Achievement and
Functional Performance (PLAAFP) Example
 Recalling
Josephina’s description of
Academic and Functional Strengths
and Needs, does the PLAAFP address all
areas identified?
IEP Section III
Accommodations to the General Curriculum

Accommodations :





Do not reduce learning expectations
Provide access by enabling the student to participate more fully
in instruction and assessment
Permit the student to better demonstrate skills
Must be part of daily instruction
Should never be introduced for the first time when a student is
participating in state-wide or district assessments
IEP Section III
Modifications in the General Curriculum
 Modifications:


Change learning expectations
Must be clearly described
IEP Section III
Supplementary Services

Supplementary Services:


Aids services and supports that can be provided in
general education, education-related settings and in
extracurricular and nonacademic settings
Supplementary Services:

Might include parent training, providing the student
with a one-on-one assistant, or providing staff with
professional development to assist in meeting the
unique needs of the student
IEP Section IV
IEP Goals and Objectives

Annual Goals must:


Directly link to the Academic and Functional Strengths and Needs,
PLAAFP and when applicable, the Transition needs of the student
Annual Goals tell us:


What we expect the student to learn or be able to do in 1 year; and
How we will know when the student has learned or demonstrated
that he can do it
IEP Section IV
IEP Goals and Objectives



The essential characteristics of IEP Goals are that they
must be measurable and be measured
If an IEP Goal is not measurable it violates the IDEA
and may result in the denial of a Free Appropriate
Public Education (FAPE)
If a Goal is not measured that violates the IDEA and
may result in the denial of FAPE

Bateman & Herr, 2006
IEP Section IV
IEP Goals and Objectives
 Every


Measurable Goal Must:
Allow a clear yes or no determination of whether or
not it has been achieved
Pass the “stranger test” (IEP Team Members can agree
if the goal has been achieved)
IEP Section IV
IEP Goals and Objectives
 Objectives/Benchmarks


“Spell out” what the student will need to do to
complete the annual goal.
Are the same skill in each benchmark with
degree of proficiency to which the student
performs the skill changing from benchmark to
benchmark
Measurable Annual Goals
Critical Components





Behavior – clearly identifies the performance being
monitored; “Jeremy will read aloud”
Condition – describes what must be present for the
student to demonstrate the skill or behavior at the
expected level of performance; “when presented
with a passage from the 2nd grade curriculum”
Level of Proficiency – how many, how often, to
what standards the behavior must occur; “48
words per minute with less than 2 errors”
Measurement – as measured by; “as measured by
weekly one minute oral reading fluency probes”
Timeframe –may be included; “In 36 weeks”; “by
the end of the 2012-2013 school year”
IEP Section IV
IEP Goal Example
In 36 weeks, when presented with a passage from the 2nd
grade reading text, Jeremy will read aloud from 38 to 48 words
per minute with less than 2 errors as measured by weekly one
minute oral reading fluency probes.
Location of Services
Special Education Classroom
Virtual Special Education Classroom
Not “virtual classroom”
IEP Section IV
IEP Goal and Objectives
 Remember,
for any student that participates
in the SC-Alt (Alternate Assessment), the IEP
team must develop goals AND objectives for
any area of need identified in the PLAAFP.
IEP Section V
Time
 Special
Education and Related Services
must be denoted in MINUTES
 Subtract the total MINUTES in special
education and related services from the
total amount of minutes in the school
week
IEP Section V
Related Services

Related Services are:




Supportive services provided to students with disabilities to
assist them in benefiting from Special Education
Like the need for special education, determined on an
individual basis as part of the IEP process
Connected to other parts of the IEP to include, Functional
Strengths and Needs and the PLAAFP
Accompanied by measurable annual goals that are
denoted in section IV IEP Goals and Objectives
IEP Section V
Related Services

The IDEA regulations contain a list of related services
IEP teams can consider and they include:

Audiology, Counseling Services (including rehabilitation
counseling), Early Identification and Assessment of
disabilities in children, Interpreting Services, Medical
Services, Occupational Therapy, Orientation and
Mobility Services, Parent Counseling and Training,
Physical Therapy, Psychological Services, Recreation,
School Health Services and School Nurse Services, Social
Work Services in Schools, Speech-language pathology
services and Transportation
IEP Section VI
Participation in Statewide Testing

Consideration for the
use of
Accommodations
and/or Modifications
for Statewide Testing
should:


Be based on
individual student
need and;
When selected, must
be clearly reflected in
IEP Section III –
Accommodations to
the General
Curriculum
IEP Section VIII
Special Factors The Team Must Consider In The
Development of the IEP
IEP Section IX
Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)
 LRE

Considerations
The team must
document the extent, if
any, that the student
WILL NOT participate
with non-exceptional
students in the general
education classroom
IEP Section IX
Reporting to Parents



The IDEA requires every IEP to include a description of
how the child’s progress toward annual goals will be
measured and when periodic reports will be provided.
If your district chooses to send reports home, determine
how often they will be sent and be sure to adhere to
this timeline
Many districts report on progress for students with
disabilities at the same time they report progress for
general education students (quarterly).
IEP Section X
Team Members
Summary and PWN
Meeting Summary

Required per District Policy




Not meant to be a transcription
Purpose is to capture the gist/flow of an IEP meeting
Purpose is to discuss requests/disagreements
Every parental request needs to have closure


Common mistakes noted:



Parent asked for a in-home teaching assistance. The team discussed
and determined that based on present level data, the child is able to
receive FAPE through the proposed services of virtual services.
Wrong date of the meeting
Not noting proper meeting membership
Tips for Taking Notes – See Handout
PWNs

Top 5 things found on PWNs:
We considered sending the kid back to his
home school.
 We considered nothing.
 We considered discontinuing services.
 We prosed to conduct an annual review.
 Meeting letter says “invite to special review,”
but PWN says conducted annual review.”
 We made changes to the present levels
(nothing in section C checked).
 Considered but rejected requiring the child to
take medication.

PWNs

Let’s talk about what these questions mean:

As a result of the IEP/Staffing meeting, the IEP/Staffing Team
proposes or refuses to.

Explanation of why the school district/agency proposes or refuses to
take this action.

Description of each evaluation procedure, assessment, record, or
report the school district used in deciding to propose or refuse the
action.

Description of any other choices that the IEP team considered and
the reasons why those choices were rejected.

Description of any other reasons why the school district proposed or
refused the action.
PWNs

The parent MUST have a copy of the PWN prior to implementing the
IEP.

If the parents attends the meeting and does not leave with a copy
of the PWN, the IEP cannot be implemented until after the PWN has
been sent.

If parents did not attend, the IEP cannot be implemented until after
the PWN has been sent to the parents.

What does this mean?


Give the PWN at the meeting (along with the IEP)
Wait 5 – 7 days after the meeting to initiate the proposed FAPE


Initiation date must reflect this on the cover page of the IEP)
Cannot extend past the expiration date of the IEP to “wait” to give the
PWN.
Progress Monitoring
Progress Monitoring
 Using
the PM report in Excent
 Documenting progress towards each
annual goal
 Provided to parents on the schedule
dictated in IEP

At least as often as gen ed, but not less
than every 9 weeks
Purpose
“When the cook tastes the
soup, that formative; when
the guests taste the soup,
that’s summative.”
Robert Stake
“As the cook, or teacher, we need to stop
and taste the soup before we move
forward with instruction. We need to design
instruction so students can press the reset
button and go back to learn what they
missed the first time. We can use many
techniques to assess student achievement
and understanding.”
 If
you wait until the end of the year to
monitor progress, you have run out of time
to change instruction.
 Collecting progress monitoring data
drives/guides instruction.
Examples
 Updates



of baseline data from PLPs
CBMs
Data sheets for time on task, assignments
completed
Discipline referrals
 Description
of progress (more than
“progressing”)
 Answer the question “Where is Robbie
now?”
Special Review vs Annual Review
Special Review vs. Annual Review
Special Review



Can be done with an
agreement to amend
an IEP
Only update certain
areas of present levels
Something needs to be
changed (updated)
for EVERY special
review (most likely in
the PLOP)
Annual Review
 Updated
100% of
the present levels
with CURRENT
present level data
Exiting
Services & Students
Exiting = Reevaluation
Unless the student is graduating with a
regular high school diploma or aging out at
age 21, he/she can only be exited through
a reevaluation.
Transfers into the District
Written, school-level procedures




How to you identify newly-enrolled students
who have IEPs?
How/who requests records?
What happens if you don’t get records
within 5 days?
Once you get records, what happens?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Comparable services meeting
Comparable services form and transfer
IEP uploaded into Excent
Communication with general and
special education teachers about
comparable services
IEP meeting w/i 30 days to either


Adopt the transfer IEP (on our forms)
Write your own IEP based on new data
collected
 “Comparable”
services

Not going from 1950 minutes of special
education services to 60

Not dropping the behavior/counseling goal
because “we don’t do that here”

Not dropping the fine motor goal because
“we don’t have an OT”
30-day IEP meeting
Team can only
make changes if
there are new data
to support making
changes
30-day IEP meeting
 Treat
as a special review (typically)
 Update PLPs
 Make any changes, BASED ON NEW
DATA, that are needed in the goals,
accommodations, services,…
The IEP Folder
The IEP Folder



Simply put, EVERY CHILD who has/had an IEP
at your school needs to have an IEP folder.
These files need to be kept for 5 years after
the child exits.
Things that are embarrassing:


2 years in and the only file in the folder is a
meeting notification from 18 months ago.
The only files are non-signed IEPs.
IEP Folder
What happens with the “signed IEP” (hand
written one with markups)?
What happens to your signature page?
Moving Forward
Citations

IEP Compliance:
 Top Areas of Noncompliance
 Are children with disabilities achieving at high levels?
 Q55: Severity of Disability Statement in PLOP (N=9)
 Q60: PLAAP (N=8)
 Q62: Annual Goals Relating to Disability (N=14)
 Q63: Other Annual Goals (N=11)
 Q65: Progress Measured (N=8)
 Q66: When Progress Reported (N=8)
 Q69: Nonparticipation with Nondisabled (N=13)

Are youth with disabilities prepared for life, work and postsecondary education?
 Q34: Strengths Considered (N=7)*
 Q77: Meeting Notice (Transition) (N=8)*

Does the District implement IDEA to improve services and results for children with
disabilities?
 Q6: Parent Right to Assessment (N=7)*
 Q23: PWN Completion (N=19)
District Corrective Action Plan







District creates and implements a district-wide monitoring plan
that includes a formal compliance process and sanctions
(8/15/2013).
Provide staff training on the evaluation process/IEP
Compliance.
Require schools to submit monthly updates to District regarding
evaluations in process
Provide tailored and specific technical assistance to individual
charter schools through the creation and assignment of a
regional coordinator.
Create an IEP compliance checklist that is used at the school
level for peer review.
Individual Student Corrections (10/15/2013).
Develop a process to verify certification/qualifications of all
service providers.
Denial of FAPE Meetings
Denial of FAPE
 For
anytime a potential denial of FAPE
took place (i.e. services didn’t happen as
they are written, procedural compliance),
an IEP TEAM needs to meet to discuss
what, if any, negative impact took place.
 How not to decide this:


The principal says we’ll provide two make
up sessions
We missed 3 sessions so we’ll make up 3
sessions
Denial of FAPE cont.
 How

this is decided?
Two questions:
 What
is the child’s present levels (IN ALL
AREAS)?
 Based on data, previous progress, and
parental input, what does the IEP team think
the child’s present levels would look like if the
A, B, and C compliance issues never took
place.
Denial of FAPE cont.

What if the scales are tipped (where the child should be versus
where the team thinks the child should be)?

A negative impact took place:

Develop a Compensatory Service Plan






Where/How this is documented?


amount of services needed to make up the deficit
location of services
person providing services
measurement of progress
documentation of provision of services
SERIOUSLY . . . . NO SHORTCUTS WITH THIS!
Sample Meeting Agenda, Summary and PWN: See
Handout
Small Group Discussion
 As
you think about your next steps at your
school (i.e. a corrective action plan):



What do you do with the information you
receive? How do you share your wealth of
knowledge?
How are you going to ensure compliance
within your own staff (teachers)?
How are you going to ensure compliance
for your related service providers (contract
providers)?
Corrective Action Plans

Sample Plan

School Action Plans

Action Plan Components:
Area of Non-Compliance
 Root Cause
 Corrective Action Plan
 Personnel Responsible
 Date for Completion


Due Date: April 30, 2013

ALL SCHOOLS