Strategic Problem Solving Committee Report Progress during the School Year SPECIAL EDUCATION

Committee Charge The SPED Strategic Problem Solving Committee was created to assist the Special Education Department in developing a shared understanding of issues and needs. The committee was given the charge to: 1.provide special education staff with a channel to communicate on topics important to special education and 2.work as a “collaborative problem solving group” to analyze input and make recommendations to Special Education administration.

Committee Membership The committee is composed of special education teachers from across the district with a wide range of experience, having been in the district from 5 to 32 years. Each of the committee members brings unique experiences and serve in different buildings and age levels.

COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP School/Program Representatives Kristen BadenECSE/ Birth – 2Karen JonesAdams Steve CzechPathwaysJen KetteringAnoka Middle School Kim DeutschEval TeamJudy Klein-PellsECSE/ 3-5 Laura FristadSp/LanguageShelly RoseneRTLC Shelly HedstromCBPA Ellen SurbrookTransition Plus John HolgrimsonDAPEScott ZinkenBlaine High School SPED Admin and Support Staff Rebecca Chileen3 rd Party BillingBill UnderwoodTALS Rachel WickTALSMary ClarksonSPED Director Melissa Hayes SPED SupervisorTricia HughesSped Supervisor Cherie PetersonSPED Asst. Dir.Vickie PitneySPED Supervisor

COMMITTEE PROCESS The committee: Met three times during the year. After establishing group norms, the committee developed a survey that was sent out to all special education professional staff on October 23. The original intention was to keep it open for one week, but only 99 people responded. Reminders were sent out, some additional surveys were sent to work experience coordinators and the survey remained open for an additional week. A total of approximately 600 surveys were sent with a total of 170 final responses. With the assistance of Research, Evaluation and Testing Staff, the responses were analyzed to determine priorities.

Major Themes The surveys identified the following as the major themes concerning staff. Paperwork Collaboration Caseload Transition between levels Level of staff knowledge about next age level Time Issues Due Process Concerns Communication

Consensus Through a consensus process the committee identified paperwork as the highest priority. The team then spent time reviewing all paperwork requirements, IEPs from other districts and related district processes to develop specific recommendations.

Recommendations and Actions

Recommendation I: Eliminate any portion of the IEP not required by State or Federal Law The district will move to the State Recommended Forms to accomplish this recommendation. Starting August 30, 2013 the Student Plans (DPRS) system will be converted to the State IEP forms. To assist in the transition, you will be able to “copy” the information from the last IEP into the new forms. The changes should be fairly intuitive to those that have used DPRS in the past but there will be a number of helpful resources.

DPRS Resources As in years past, you will find information about DPRS trainings on the main DPRS screen once you log in. In addition, there is a link available to the resources directly from your any of your DPRS screens. You can find it at the bottom of the blue menu bar on the left of your screen. Just click on the link to go to the resources.

Resources- continued Video: "Here's what's changed in DPRS” Document with directions on copying the current IIIP to an IEP DPRS class for building leads/contacts to learn about the changes. Full day DPRS classes for new teachers and seasoned teachers who need the full DPRS process. Support via phone and . There is no need to change to the new form until there is a need to create a significant change or new IEP.

Recommendation I: Eliminate any portion of the IEP not required by State or Federal Law What will be different? Following sections will be eliminated: –Identification on the first page of the IEP about type of plan –Special Considerations section –Special Transportation section on IEP

Recommendation I: Eliminate any portion of the IEP not required by State or Federal Law What will be different? Description of Child/ Present Level of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance: –This section will be greatly reduced to one section. Staff will have access to templates and can address the PLAAFP in a more concise manner. –Other service providers will be able to draft PLAAFP sections.

Recommendation I: Eliminate any portion of the IEP not required by State or Federal Law What will be different? The Parent/Family Strength and Concerns section and the Age Appropriate Progress section will be removed. This information should be reflected in the PLAAFP. For staff convenience, the old IEP information will be copied into the new PLAAFP section.

Recommendation I: Eliminate any portion of the IEP not required by State or Federal Law What will be different? Least Restrictive Environment –Other service providers will be able to draft LRE information.

Recommendation II: Simplify ESY determination process What will be different? The process for documenting a determination of “no need” has been simplified. The criteria checklist will be simplified. The committee will consider other changes in process this coming year.

Recommendation III: Develop way to pull test scores from Viewpoint into the IEP and ESR This is currently under development but will not be in place at the start of the year.

Recommendation IV: Remove Requirement to complete an IEP Agenda A specific IEP agenda will no longer be required, however there will continue to be a requirement that notes are taken at the IEP meeting and maintain the notes in the student file. Staff may choose the process or form that they find most effective. A number of agendas can be found on the SPED Staff Resources section on the District Website

Recommendation V: Simplify the Restrictive Procedures Documentation Form This process has been completed. The form has been significantly simplified to document the use of an emergency restrictive procedure. In addition, staff may use the form for Critical Incidences that did not require an restrictive procedure.

Recommendation VI: Simplify the Child Study Checklist Document Process The Child Study Checklist has been significantly simplified and made electronic much like the process used for the I-team process. Further information will be provided during the presentation on the SLD Manual.

Recommendation VII: Continue access to Due Process Labs Based on feedback, 10 Due Process Labs will be scheduled during the school year. At least one lab will be scheduled each month. Staff will be able to access a total of 18 hours of Due Process lab time. Some staff development classes will also be offered on the night of the labs. You can register for Due Process Labs on My Learning Plan.

Recommendation VII: Continue access to Due Process Labs- schedule Labs have been scheduled from 2:30 to 8:00 PM on: 10/09/ /29/ /20/ /05/2013 1/30/2014 2/20/2014 3/20/2014 4/30/2014 5/07/2014 5/27/2014

Recommendations A number of other recommendations were made that are currently not possible but may be with further revisions within Student Plans (DPRS). The district will continue to pursue these improvements.

Next Steps The committee accomplished an amazing amount of work this year. At the end of the year they determined that, during the school year they would concentrate on streamlining the ESY process, pre-referral process and the evaluation process. The committee will also continue to collect feedback from staff to identify additional ways to improve the work of our special education staff.

Concerns or Input If you have a concern or would like to provide further feedback or input, please feel free to contact one of the committee members or one of the special education administrators. We really value you input and are ready to take notes on ideas, questions or concerns you may have during the remainder of this session.

SPED Staff Resources A copy of this presentation will be stored on the SPED staff resources website