Office of Special Education Updates School Improvement Conference June 25, Mississippi Department of Education Office of Instructional Enhancement and Internal Operations/Office of Special Education

Vision To create a world-class educational system that gives students the knowledge and skills to be successful in college and the workforce, and to flourish as parents and citizens Mission To provide leadership through the development of policy and accountability systems so that all students are prepared to compete in the global community 6/24/15School Improvement Conference2

All Students Proficient and Showing Growth in All Assessed Areas Every Student Graduates High School and is Ready for College and Career Every Child Has Access to a High-Quality Early Childhood Program Every School Has Effective Teachers and Leaders Every Community Effectively Using a World-Class Data System to Improve Student Outcomes 6/24/15School Improvement Conference3

Monitoring (Common Findings from Year 1) 4

Thirty-five LEAs participated in the on-site compliance monitoring for year 1 ( ). The Priority Areas for the Compliance Monitoring are: Child Find process; Delivery of services and alignment with IEPs; Least restrictive environment (LRE) decisions; Discipline; and Fulfillment of IDEA Part B fiscal requirements. 56/24/15School Improvement Conference

 COMMON FINDINGS Self-review consistent with OSE findings; Inconsistent/insufficient district policies and procedures for Child Find, LRE and Discipline Delivery of Services – Revisions to IEPs, missing components, not meeting the unique needs of the students, Secondary Transition services. 66/24/15School Improvement Conference

 COMMON FINDINGS (Child Find) A review of the district’s Child Find policies indicate the policies are inconsistent with State Board Policy 7219 and do not specifically address each of the following special populations: homeless children, wards of the state, private school children, children advancing from grade to grade, and highly mobile and/or migrant children. 6/24/15School Improvement Conference7

 COMMON FINDINGS (Child Find) WPN or evaluation report not provided within 7 calendar days of the MET meeting to determine eligibility; MET did not include the parent; Initial evaluation was not completed within 60 calendar days of receiving written parental consent. 6/24/15School Improvement Conference8

 COMMON FINDINGS (Delivery of Services) All required components of the Present Levels of Performance not addressed; Annual goals not stated in measurable terms; 6/24/15School Improvement Conference9

 COMMON FINDINGS (Delivery of Services) Transition planning elements of the IEP are noncompliant with criteria on the National Secondary Transition Technical Assistance Center (NSTTAC) Indicator 13 Checklist. Indicator 13 Checklist can be located at 6/24/15School Improvement Conference10

Appropriate measurable postsecondary goals are included in the areas of training, education, employment, and where appropriate, independent living skills. Postsecondary goals are updated annually. Measurable postsecondary goals are based on age appropriate transition assessments. Transition services will reasonably enable the student to meet his or her postsecondary goals. 6/24/15School Improvement Conference11

Transition services include courses of study that will reasonably enable the student to meet postsecondary goals. Annual IEP goals are related to the student’s transition service needs. The student was invited to the IEP Committee meeting where transition services were discussed. 6/24/15School Improvement Conference12

If appropriate, there is evidence a representative of any participating agency was invited to the IEP Committee meeting (with the prior consent of the parent or the student who has reached the age of majority). 6/24/15School Improvement Conference13

 COMMON FINDINGS (Least Restrictive Environment) There is no evidence to indicate placement decisions were made by a group of persons including the parents, who are knowledgeable about the child, the meaning of the evaluation data and the placement options. 6/24/15School Improvement Conference14

 COMMON FINDINGS (Least Restrictive Environment) The IEP did not include an explanation of the extent to which the child will not participate with nondisabled children in the regular education classroom. 6/24/15School Improvement Conference15

 COMMON FINDINGS (Discipline) The district failed to conduct a manifestation determination to determine if the violation of the code of conduct (the behavior) was a manifestation of the student’s disability. No evidence services are provided to a student following the 10 th day of removal for disciplinary reasons. 6/24/15School Improvement Conference16

Special Education Task Force Updates 176/24/15School Improvement Conference

Forty-four (44) members comprised of legislators, district administrators, principals, parents, special education teachers, general education teachers, parent advocate groups, nonpublic agencies and post-secondary representatives. Engaged in collaborative dialogue for the purpose of improving Mississippi’s educational system and to offer quality learning and employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. 6/24/15School Improvement Conference 18

Charged with: prioritizing issues and determining which issues are most likely to improve results for students with disabilities. examining the State’s disaggregated data for students with disabilities and focusing attention on the priorities that were identified as likely to improve results. 6/24/15School Improvement Conference19

Preliminary report presented to the State Superintendent on December 16, Preliminary report presented to the State Board of Education at the January 2015 board meeting. 6/24/15School Improvement Conference20

Priority A: Access to the General Education Curriculum in the General Education Environment Priority B: Increase the High School Graduation Rate and Decrease the Drop- Out Rate Priority C: Increase the Post-Secondary Enrollment Rate and Work-Force Readiness Skills Mississippi Department of Education Office of Instructional Enhancement and Internal Operations/Office of Special Education School Improvement Conference6/24/15

Priority A: Access to the General Education Curriculum in the General Education Environment Problem Statement: “While many students with disabilities have physical access to general education classrooms, the achievement gap suggests they are not accessing the general education curriculum at an acceptable level.” School Improvement Conference226/24/15

Strategy 1: Increase awareness of “Inclusion” and “Access” by providing a common definition Strategy 2: Increase the supports provided to students with disabilities in the general education setting Strategy 3: Increase supports to all students through a multi-tiered support system (MTSS) Strategy 4: Increase transparency of special education accountability Strategy 5: Increase the capacity of all educators and administrators 6/24/15School Improvement Conference Mississippi Department of Education Office of Instructional Enhancement and Internal Operations/Office of Special Education

Think of access as one’s opportunity to learn. Offer the same amount of instruction on the same content standards in the same general education classroom to students with disabilities as is offered to nondisabled students. Increase teachers’ ability to grasp techniques of Universal Design for Learning. 6/24/15School Improvement Conference24

School Improvement Conference25 Priority B: Increase the Graduation Rate and Decrease the Drop-Out Rate Problem Statement: “When comparing the graduation data of students with disabilities to nondisabled peers, there is a discrepancy between students with disabilities that graduate with a standard high school diploma and nondisabled peers.” 6/24/15

School Improvement Conference26 Strategy 1: Increase awareness of requirements for graduation, graduation options, and how to raise test scores Strategy 2: Increase awareness of outcomes for students with disabilities to inform IEP (Individualized Education Program) team decisions Strategy 3: Increase student access to kindergarten and high quality pre-kindergarten programs 6/24/15

Priority C: Increase the Post-Secondary Enrollment Rate and Work-Force Readiness Skills Problem Statement “Based on post-secondary data, students with disabilities are not exiting school with the skills necessary to be college and career ready.” 6/24/15School Improvement Conference27

Strategy 1: Improve the Mississippi Occupational Diploma (MOD) Strategy 2: Increase the number of transition specialists available to provide services to students with disabilities Strategy 3: Increase the awareness for students with disabilities to develop post-secondary goals Strategy 4: Improve communication with Institutions of Higher Learning regarding State initiatives, trainings, and webinars Mississippi Department of Education Office of Instructional Enhancement and Internal Operations/Office of Special Education School Improvement Conference6/24/15

Subcommittees were formed. Completing background research and developing the activities for the action steps for each strategy to present to the State Superintendent. 6/24/15School Improvement Conference29

Subcommittees will complete work for Strategies to present at the next Task Force meeting (end June/July). Additional teachers are currently being recruited to provide guidance on specific content areas. Subcommittees will prepare some of the Strategies for the next legislative season. As these initial recommendations reach full implementation, the Task Force will advise on additional strategies and action steps. The Task Force will continue to serve as one of the stakeholder groups for the State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP). 6/24/15School Improvement Conference30

State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP) 316/24/15School Improvement Conference

Comprehensive, multi-year plan Focuses on results for students Results-Driven Accountability Will be measured by a new Indicator (Indicator 17). Submitted to OSEP on April 1, /24/15School Improvement Conference32

The Special Education Advisory Panel (SEAP) The Mississippi Special Education Director’s Workgroup The Special Education Task Force The MDE Internal Stakeholders’ group 6/24/15School Improvement Conference33

In which results areas are students with disabilities performing below expectations? Of these low performing areas, what is the area of most concern? Why is this low performance occurring? What programs, strategies or practices can be expanded or developed to improve results for students with disabilities in the identified results area? 6/24/15School Improvement Conference34

Strategies, supports, and accommodations available for learning and living must NEVER by limited to the strategies, supports, and accommodations that can be used during assessments. Scaffolds, supports, and accommodations provided during instruction should be available during assessment as long as they do not violate the constructs (invalidate the assessment). 6/24/15School Improvement Conference35

Connect to students and what they need instructionally. Simply having something doesn’t improve outcomes. Having something that works for you can improve outcomes. 6/24/15School Improvement Conference36

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The state will increase the percentage of third grade students with Specific Learning Disability and Language/Speech rulings in targeted districts who score proficient or higher on the regular statewide reading assessment from 32 percent to 68 percent by FFY /24/15School Improvement Conference48

The MDE, with support from internal and external stakeholders, developed coherent improvement strategies that are based on the State’s data and infrastructure analysis. 6/24/15School Improvement Conference49

Collaborate with other offices in the MDE, to provide literacy professional development for all educators to support the delivery of high quality, evidence-based literacy instruction for students with disabilities. Increase the number of special education teachers who participate in Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) Offer additional professional development for special education teachers in targeted schools in a language- based, multi-sensory reading methodology 6/24/15School Improvement Conference50

Provide professional development on inclusive practices for teachers and administrators in targeted schools 6/24/15School Improvement Conference51

Collaborate with other offices in the MDE to align efforts and resources to support the delivery of differentiated technical assistances to targeted districts to improve high quality, evidence-based literacy instruction for students with disabilities. Fund literacy coaches in targeted districts to support teachers in providing evidence-based reading instruction in targeted districts; Re-purpose the technical assistance unit in the OSE to focus on the provision of differentiated technical assistance with a focus on literacy; and Collaborate with the Office of Curriculum and Instruction to revise the Response to Invention (RtI) process to a multi-tiered support system (MTSS) that includes academics and behavior. 6/24/15School Improvement Conference52

Revise State Board Policy 4300 to provide comprehensive supports, including instructional strategies (Universal Design for Learning) and behavioral interventions, to ALL students through MTSS. Provide training for administrators and teachers to support a coherent continuum of evidence based system-wide practices to support a rapid response to academic and behavioral needs, with frequent data- based monitoring for instructional decision-making to empower each student to achieve high standards. Develop and monitor an accountability structure to ensure fidelity for implementation of MTSS for all students. 6/24/15School Improvement Conference53

Develop and disseminate resources to support districts in implementing inclusive practices: A common definition of “Inclusion” and “Access” should be developed and provided to districts and parents via MDE website, social media, and in MDE supported trainings. An online resource will be developed similar to the Florida Inclusion Network at on the MDE website to include strategies, and webinars parents, para-professionals, general education teachers, special education teachers, and school and district administrators. 6/24/15School Improvement Conference54

A self-assessment similar to the Best Practice for Inclusive Education will be developed that will be completed with the district’s project application and utilized in monitoring visits. This self- assessment tool and process is used to identify and prioritize areas of need for inclusive practices that enable all students with disabilities to achieve their highest potential. The purpose of the self- assessment is to lead the development of district improvement goals that increase effective inclusive practices in all schools. Develop a differentiated (tiered) results-focused monitoring system that is aligned with other MDE monitoring activities and targets improved outcomes for students with disabilities, with a focus on reading. 6/24/15School Improvement Conference55

Priority enrollment for all special education teachers to participate in Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) Priority enrollment for all special education teachers who have completed LETRS in a professional development academy focused on a language-based, multi-sensory reading methodology such as Orton Gillingham Funding for half the salary of a literacy coach to support teachers in providing evidence-based reading instruction and data analysis In district training for teachers on Universal Design for Learning, Differentiated Instruction, Inclusive practices, PBIS, and development of a Multi-Tiered System of Supports 6/24/15School Improvement Conference56

In district training for principals and administrators on how to conduct learning walks that address inclusive practices, Universal Design for Learning, and differentiated instruction Participation in a results-focused monitoring system that targets improved outcomes for students with disabilities, with a focus on reading to assist districts with identifying areas of need and growth that will drive additional technical assistance activities provided by MDE 6/24/15School Improvement Conference57

Alignment with Other Driving Forces School Improvement Conference586/24/15

State Board of Education Strategic Plan State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP) 6/24/15School Improvement Conference59

Strategic Plan Special Education Task ForceSSIP Priority A Access to Curriculum Priority B Graduation Priority C Post- Secondary & Workforce Readiness Increase proficiency of 3rd grade students Goal 1- Growth in Proficiency XX X Goal 2- Everyone Graduates Ready XXXX Goal 3- High Quality Early Childhood X X Goal 4- Effective Teachers & Leaders XXXX Goal 5- World Class Data Systems X X 6/24/15School Improvement Conference60

Contact Information Gretchen Cagle State Director Office of Special Education School Improvement Conference616/24/15