ACSIP – Special Education Trigger Rubric
2009-2010
District:
Building:
Date Reviewed:
Reviewed by:
Approved:
List District Special Education Triggers:
additional information needed (AIN)
Yes
No
AIN
1. The plan contains a special education priority
Comments and Examples:
List special education priority on district and building plans
Examples:
One: Special Education: Identification
Two or More: Special Education: Identification and Disability Category
2. The school collects & analyzes data related to the special education
priority:
a. sources of data (one must be Special Education Focused Monitoring
Data [SEFMD])
Comments and Examples:
1. The district plan must have three years of Special Education Focused Monitoring Data listed
in the data section of the plan as well as other data that relate to contributing factors
associated with the trigger at district and school building levels. (See building level data
analysis handout for examples of additional data at the building level for the trigger on
disproportionality.)
2. Data must be analyzed with regard to contributing factors for each district trigger area.
b. data analysis identifies school/district weaknesses in triggered
area(s):
 identification
 disability category
 least restrictive environment
 discipline
Comments and Examples:
1
Yes
No
AIN
Data need to be analyzed with regard to contributing factors (weaknesses) as to why the
district may have triggered in a particular trigger area. This is done for each trigger area.
Data gathering and analysis should begin at the building level and be summarized in the district
plan.
It is important to gather and analyze building level data and analyze data as to possible
contributing factors at that level before including data in the supporting data section of the
special education priority area in the district level plan.
Following the analysis of building level data with regard to contributing factors analysis, a
hypothesis (tentative cause or causes for why the district triggered in a specific area) is
agreed upon by the district level committee as to why the district triggered in a particular
area.
Example: Identification - Building Level Data Analysis:
Does the data analysis indicate whether or not the building level population is characterized by
a disproportionate ratio of white to African American students receiving special education
services? Have possible contributing factors such as student mobility, pre-referral and
referral policies and practices, and or general instructional environments responsive to
students at risk for failure in those environments been identified?
Based on this analysis, interventions are identified to reduce the disproportionate ratio of
white to African American students receiving special education services at the building level.
3. Goals have been determined for each trigger.
Comments and Examples:
A goal is stated for each special education trigger area separately. If the district is triggered
in two areas such as, discipline and LRE, there should be a separate goal for each area listed
under the Goal section of the protocol.
The goal for Identification should be stated in terms of the relative proportion of American
students to white students, not in percentages or numbers of African American students.
(See following Comments and Examples)
4. Benchmarks for each trigger have been determined & are linked to
goals.
Comments and Examples:
2
Yes
No
AIN
A benchmark is stated for each special education trigger Goal. If the district is triggered in
two areas such as, least restrictive environment and discipline, there should be a separate
benchmark for each area listed under the Benchmark section of the protocol.
The benchmark should include achievement and time criteria.
Examples:
LRE: The school district will perform within one standard deviation of the state average in the
percentage of its special education students receiving 80% or more of their education in
general education settings by the end of the 200X-200X school year.
Discipline: The school district will perform within one standard deviation of the state average
in the number of special education students it suspends/expels compared to its general
education students by the end of the 200X-200X school year.
Identification: The school district will reduce the relative proportion of African-American
students and white students receiving special educations services to within one standard
deviation of the state average by the end of the 200X-200X school year.
5. Scientifically based research intervention(s) have been determined for
each trigger.
Comments and Examples:
An educational intervention is a description of a set of procedures/activities for positive
change in academic, behavioral, and social learning environments for all students that
incorporates collaboration of:
 School resources, which may include: principals, teachers, counselors, academic
coaches, nurses, custodians, cafeteria workers, and bus drivers, home and community
resources.
 Home resources which may include: parents, grandparents, siblings and other
significant others.
 Community resources, which may include: churches, parents groups, school board, PTA,
libraries, local civic organizations, county health and mental health organizations, and
local government administration.
Intervention(s) selected for inclusion into the school improvement plan to address the special
education trigger should be based on the building level school improvement committee’s data
analysis re contributing factors to the identified trigger area (s).
Intervention(s) chosen to be implemented at the building level should be documented with
research related to the effectiveness of the intervention regarding the special education
trigger with which the intervention is associated.
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Yes
No
AIN
Some example of interventions that might be used in addressing trigger areas of
Identification, LRE, and Discipline are:
Co-teaching model
Differentiated instruction model
Cross-age tutoring
Positive behavioral supports model
Problem-solving teams (Examples)
 Teacher Assistance Teams
 School-Based Pre-referral Intervention Teams (SPRINT Team)
School and community mentoring program
School Based mental health program
In-school and after academic tutoring programs
Review of pre-referral, referral, evaluation, and placement procedures
It is important to note that the above are only few examples of many different
interventions that are appropriate in addressing special education trigger areas.
6. For each intervention, actions are written in multiple, sequential steps
of sufficient detail to describe the implementation & maintenance of the
interventions.
Comments and Examples:
Actions are associated with each intervention. Action statements should be of sufficient
detail to describe the implementation, maintenance, and evaluation of the effectiveness of the
intervention with regards to the trigger area with which they are associated.
Example: Preferral Intervention
1. All district administrators will attend an overview of School-Based Pre-referral
Intervention Teams
2. Faculty who are members of building level and grade level teams will receive training in
functional assessment data based problem solving using the RQC problem-solving
process.
3. Teams will be provided weekly meeting time, receive onsite TA, and be given the
opportunity to demonstrate collaboration skills necessary for implementing the problem
–solving process model through case study practice and mentoring feedback.
4. Building level teams will meet weekly for 45 minutes. TA will be provided as requested.
5. Building level teams will prepare written reports (for each case referred) that include
documentation of the problem-solving process, interventions, and outcomes as they
relate to the initial reason for referral to the team. From end of year audit of cases,
staff will identify most common referral problems and successful interventions.
Action Type: Collaboration
Action Type: Prof Development
4
Yes
No
AIN
Action Type: Evaluation
Action Type: Special Education
7. Evaluation of intervention(s)
a. Formative evaluation is a way of tracking progress toward outcomes
and therefore should be done at specified intervals during the year
rather than waiting until the end of the year.
(1) actions specify formative evaluation procedures
(2) actions specify what will be measured or evaluated (data sets)
(3) actions specify when or how often progress will be evaluated
(4) actions specify how evaluation results will be used (ex. Will they use
results to make changes to the intervention?)
b. Summative evaluation is a way of measuring whether projected
outcomes for the intervention were achieved.
(1) actions specify summative evaluation procedures
(2) actions specify when summative evaluation will occur
(3) actions specify how summative evaluation will be done
Comments And Examples:
The description of actions for each intervention should include information on formative and
summative evaluation with regard to the effectiveness of the intervention in the remediation
of the trigger condition. Formative evaluation is important also in documenting that the
intervention was implemented with integrity.
In the above example of the pre-referral intervention formative and summative evaluation is
referenced in the following underlined statements:
Formative: Teams will be provided weekly meeting time; receive onsite TA, and be given the
opportunity to demonstrate collaboration skills necessary for implementing the problem-solving
model through case study practice and mentoring feedback. Building level teams will prepare
written reports (for each case referred) that include documentation of the problem-solving
process, interventions, and outcomes as they relate to the initial reason for referral to the
team.
Summative: Building level teams will prepare written reports (for each case referred) that
include documentation of the problem-solving process, interventions, and outcomes as they
relate to the initial reason for referral to the team. From end of year audit of cases, staff
will identify most common referral problems and successful interventions.
8. Allocation of resources
Yes
No
N/A
5
Yes
No
AIN
Comments and Examples:
Funds should be allocated at the district and building level in accordance with CEIS guidelines
and with actions that are implemented to address the trigger area.
Follow-Up Activities:
These are a list of actions that the reviewer will do in providing feedback to the school
district regarding the district and building level school improvement plans.
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