Mid-Year Coordinators’ Meeting KWL: “W” What do you want to learn today? Write your “W” on the notecard and turn in to the front.

Agenda Welcome District Updates Compliance Hot Topics Services versus Compliance Present Levels of Performance CPR Chance to reflect Reminders Excent Spring/Summer 2014 Planning Closing

Re-introductions

Our Job

All kidding aside...

UPDATES

Updates OEC on-site monitoring Visit last fall with 24 folders pulled initially; all IEPs from 2 schools (total of 39 IEPs) Noncompliance identified 14/24 AGs not related to disability 11/20 other issues with AGs 19/24 PWN incorrect 8/12 transition not included on Notice 9/24 no disability statement 8/24 PLPs noncompliant 8/24 no progress reports 100% noncompliant from 2 schools

OEC on-site Passed Prong 1 with individual student corrections (19 students were still active) on 1/8/14 Prong 2 requested 8 additional files to verify systemic correction (2 preschool, 2 elementary, 2 middle school, 2 high school); submitted 1/14/14

OEC on-site This will be a snap! Took most of the day to find 8 compliant IEPs

Complaints Complaint resolutions Reviewed all IEPs at the school 95% of IEPs were noncompliant Correction actions Hiring outside sp ed consultant Professional development/trainings Written procedures Working with regional coordinator Random review of IEPs showed compliance and complaint closed on 12/16/13

As of today, Thursday, January 16, 2014 at 10:30am, there are no open complaints or due process hearings pending in the District. This could change before we get to lunch.

ISSUES

Issues Services versus Compliance

Compliance: Services IEP is written appropriately, but services are not being delivered as written in the IEP No OT services for 3 months because OT quit Accommodations not being provided

Compliance – additional Additional issues: Progress reports not being provided Every nine weeks minimum More substance than “may meet goal....” ESY deferred so not determined annually Go ahead and take care of this at the annual review for 95% of your students Save yourself two meetings

Compliance – additional Additional Issues: Notification of IEP meeting for 12 year olds and older do not include “transition services.”

Compliance – NON-NEGOTIABLE Expired Annual Review

BIG COMPLIANCE ISSUE

Compliance IEP is not written to be even minimally compliant No baseline data Sections left blank No link between accommodations and PLPs No disability statement No strengths and weaknesses within each area of disability

If there are no baseline data, annual goals are not measureable.

1. Where is the student right now? (PLPs/Findings) 2. Where do we want him to be by the end of the IEP? (AG) 3. How are we going to get him there? (accommodations and services)

Everything hinges on the Present Levels

PLPs PLPs are a description of the student What his disability is, How it affects his access and progress in the general curriculum (including strengths and weaknesses within each disability area), Sets up the need for accommodations and services

Findings Baseline data (numbers) How many words can he read a minute? What percentage of math word problems does he typically get correct? How many correct word sequences does he typically write? In a week’s time, what percentage of his assignments does he turn in?

Findings For initial placements, you can use standardized test scores (GE, AE, SS) as descriptors in the PLPs, but not for baseline data in the Findings since you cannot re- administer these standardized measures to monitor progress. You may have to administer some type of CBM or other assessment during the evaluation process so you will have baseline data if the student is found to be eligible.

Annual Goals If you want him to read 118 words per minute correctly from a 5 th grade passage by the end of the year, how many words can he read correctly now in a 5 th grade passage? If you want him to turn in 95% of his assignments on time by the end of the year, what percentage does he turn in now?

Accommodations Why does he need oral administration of assessments? How do you know he needs to have notes provided to him? The answer IS NOT because he came in with that.

Accommodations So what should the PLPs say about accommodations? NOT – he needs to have the accommodation because That’s a team decision. He continues to struggle with his reading comprehension, however, when the passage is read to him, he’s able to demonstrate mastery with his other subjects.

Highlighter test Start with the AG and highlight the ending measure (where do you want him to end) Turn to PLP/Findings and highlight the baseline data (where is he starting) Start with the accommodations (what does he need) Turn to PLP/Findings and highlight the weakness that creates the need for the accommodation (why does he need it)

The $64,000 Question How do you know… he needs oral admin or she needs 50 minutes of reading a day or she needs OT weekly or he will be able to read 87 wpm by the end of the IEP or he needs to improve the percentage of assignments he turns in

… because in the Present Levels, it says… EVERY QUESTION about ANYTHING related to the IEP should be answered with the above quote. Test me.....

Group Activity

Solutions District staff will be spot checking randomly-pulled IEPs Communication will begin with you and your regional coordinator School-level staff should review all IEPs to ensure compliance Complete IEP review tool An opportunity to correct problems will be provided

Solutions Next communication will be with school leader Lack of compliance/correction will result in possible sanctions for the school

Corrections Discuss issues with your regional coordinator If the issue is procedural, you may just need to correct it Send a corrected Meeting Notice Send a corrected PWN Complete the section left blank (but discussed at the meeting) on the IEP and send a corrected copy to the parent

If the issue is service-related, you will need to have a special review to discuss a possible denial of FAPE and determine the need for compensatory services. If there was a denial of FAPE, the team will need to develop a plan to deliver the compensatory services that will include another IEP meeting at the conclusion of the provision of compensatory services to review progress.

Possible denial of FAPE Where is the student now? Based on his typical rate of progress, where does the team think he would have been if he had received the services as described in his IEP? What will it take to get him back to that point?

Compensatory Services Amount needed Person providing Location Measure of progress Documentation of provision of services IEP meeting to discuss progress data and conclusion of compensatory services

COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM REVIEW

CPR Feedback

CPR Purpose 1) To help schools develop a written process for the different aspects of their special education programs before it gets too late. 2) Specifically pinpoint areas where other schools have struggled.

CPR Evidence Proof Indications Confirmation

Examples of Evidence Log of service provision Documentation of accommodations Log of indirect service provision School’s Policies & Procedures IEP Review Tool Excent Reports Comparable services forms

Cliché Documentation: “If it’s not written, it didn’t happen!”

REMINDERS

Agreement to Amend Parent agrees to amend IEP without a meeting Discuss changes to be made and complete Agreement to Amend an IEP form Make the agreed upon changes in the IEP in Excent; this will be listed as a Special Review with the same date as the Agreement to Amend form so this changes the IEP Implementation date Notify all team members of the changes Send parent a copy of the IEP with the changes Remember you cannot amend an IEP without a meeting for an annual review

Direct and Indirect services Direct services - usually refer to hands-on, face-to-face interactions between the teacher and student Indirect services - may involve teaching, consulting with, and/or directly supervising other personnel (including paraprofessionals and parents) so that they can carry out appropriate activities.

Indirect services are not provided directly to a child. Instead, a special education teacher or related service professional provides these services to others who are working directly with a child.

Indirect services could include activities such as staff consultation with a regular education teacher on situations resulting from a child’s disability, modifying curriculum or environment for a child, observing a child, monitoring a child’s progress in a specific area, or monitoring equipment or assistive technology used by a child.

The type of service provided depends upon the individual needs of the student and his or her educational goals. Decisions about direct or indirect service delivery, therefore, are made on an individual, case- by-case basis.

You would need to be able to provide documentation of the indirect service provision Logs Contact sheets If a student’s IEP calls for 100 minutes a week of indirect services, you must be able to provide documentation of how those minutes are provided each week.

PROGRESS REPORTS

Progress reports are due as per IEPs, but at least every 9 weeks (can run report in Excent) Progress reported must be based on data Must have data to backup why you’ve said “May meet annual goal by end of year”

CONFIDENTIALITY

Confidentiality Be careful of teacher lounge conversations Be careful in discussions with parents about other children Use the “need to know” approach Remember all s are subject to FERPA requests

EVALUATIONS AND REEVALUATIONS

Continue sending new referral packets to your regional coordinator

All initial referrals and all reevaluations have the following: Team meeting to review existing information (complete Sections I-IV of report) Team meeting to determine eligibility/continued eligibility (complete Sections V-VII and sign report) Report gets signed when eligibility/continued eligibility decision is made (when the process is completed)

Evaluation “Evaluation” is defined as the gathering of information (review of records, interviews, observations, testing/assessment) to answer specific questions. The evaluation is complete when all observations, rating scales, assessments, interviews, forms (like the OHI form from the doctor), outside evaluations,… have been gathered, scored, and interpreted.

Evaluation timeline The evaluation (testing, observing, rating scales, getting other info from outside folks, scoring, and interpreting) must be completed within 60 calendar days of receiving the signed parent consent. The team then has 15 business days to determine eligibility.

If the student already has an IEP (even if it’s “speech-only”), it’s a reevaluation, NOT a new referral; you do not need to gather a referral packet. You simply schedule a reevaluation planning meeting with the required team members. The key is the answer to the question: – Does the student already have an IEP.

Reevaluations All reevaluation determination meetings will also be a Special Review Meeting Notice will include To review existing info and develop reeval plan To conduct special review To discuss findings of recent eval/reeval and determine continued eligiblity To discuss transition (if age- appropriate)

Reevaluations The PLPs should change for all reevaluations to reflect the information discussed at the meeting. The Findings may change to reflect any current progress monitoring data that has been gathered.

ALL DECISIONS ARE MADE BY THE IEP TEAM (except revocation of consent)

EXCENT

Changes are a-coming

Enrich “As indicated in our memorandum dated October 3, 2013, the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE), Office of Exceptional Children (OEC), is pleased to announce that Excent® and the OEC will be rolling out the new individualized education program (IEP) system, Enrich IEP, so that it will be in place for the 2014–2015 school year.”

EXCENT: INDICATOR 11

Initials There will be two actions Action 1: code in today’s date under “action date” State and District Action types (referral/referral) Date the school physically received the consent to evaluate (not the date they signed) Yes – 60 days No – conclude 60 days

Action 2: Code in today’s date under “action date” “Team meeting date” is the date the eligibility meeting took place State/District action type (eligibility review) Program model LRE Status (result of the determination meeting) Initial Date (date of meeting) Eligibility/Reevaluation determination date Date Comprehensive Eval Complete (NOT the date of the meeting) Date parent consent received (same as action type 1) Yes 60 days Yes Conclude Any notations (i.e attempts to schedule, responses from parents)

Quick Check for Dates Receipt of signed consent to eval triggers first entry in Excent Date is the date of the eval planning meeting Date of eval completion is date all info has been gathered, scored, and interpreted Date of eligibility/initial placement is date team determines child is eligible

Dates Date of initial IEP meeting is date IEP developed Date of IEP implementation may be different from date of meeting if parent does not leave with PWN Date EFA classification changed in PS is date of implementation

Excent Please do not upload forms page-by- page Upload only essential forms (no work samples or MAP scores)

ACCOMMODATIONS

State-Wide Testing We’re approaching several state-wide testing windows. Please make sure your testing coordinator has an accurate and up to date list of each student’s accommodations for state-wide testing. Make sure you’ve worked with your testing coordinator to train your staff on the provision of accommodations on state- wide testing.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITY

Roles and Responsibilities District Staff Regional Coordinators School Leaders School Special Education Coordinators

LOOKING AHEAD

Spring 2014 Planning CPR Follow-up/Round 2: -March 2014

Summer 2014 Planning 1. Table 2 Due: 1/20/ June 2014: 1. ESY 2. Table 5 (discipline) 3. COSF 3. July Table 4 (exit) 2. Indicator 11 (60-day timeline) As you can see, there are reports due in the summer... You need to make sure you’re available.

WRAP-UP

Questions?