January 2012 Mississippi Department of Education Office of Instructional Enhancement and Internal Operations/Office of Special Education 1 Noncompliance and Correction (OSEP Memo 09-02) January 2012

Mississippi Department of Education Office of Instructional Enhancement and Internal Operations/Office of Special Education 2 OSEP Memo Issued October 17, 2008 Two purposes of Memo:  To reiterate the steps a State must take in order to report that the previously identified noncompliance has been corrected  To describe how OSEP will factor evidence of correction into analysis of State compliance for the purposes of determinations

January 2012 Mississippi Department of Education Office of Instructional Enhancement and Internal Operations/Office of Special Education 3 OSEP Memo States must account for ALL instances of noncompliance, including noncompliance identified:  Through on-site monitoring or other monitoring activities  Through a review of data  Any other source

January 2012 Mississippi Department of Education Office of Instructional Enhancement and Internal Operations/Office of Special Education 4 Sources for Identification of Noncompliance On-Site Activities  Focused Monitoring  Investigation of Formal State Complaints  Audit Visits  Technical Assistance Visits

January 2012 Mississippi Department of Education Office of Instructional Enhancement and Internal Operations/Office of Special Education 5 Sources for Identification of Noncompliance Data Reviews  Data entered in MSIS  Data reported in the SPP/APR  Data reviewed on-site  Fiscal Data reported to the State

January 2012 Mississippi Department of Education Office of Instructional Enhancement and Internal Operations/Office of Special Education 6 Identification of Noncompliance Once noncompliance has been identified, a written notice will be issued to the LEA. This notice may be in the form of a letter or a report from the State. LEAs will have 12 months to correct noncompliance.

January 2012 Mississippi Department of Education Office of Instructional Enhancement and Internal Operations/Office of Special Education 7 Opportunity for Clarification If the source of noncompliance is from a data review, the LEA may be offered the opportunity to verify the data submitted to the State before a written finding is issued. Proof of accurate data will be required.  Example: Copy of IEP, signature sheets, etc.

January 2012 Mississippi Department of Education Office of Instructional Enhancement and Internal Operations/Office of Special Education 8 Policy, Procedure, and Practice Review When data demonstrates possible noncompliance, a review of policies, procedures, and practices will be conducted.  This may be a guided self-review utilizing a checklist provided by the State

January 2012 Mississippi Department of Education Office of Instructional Enhancement and Internal Operations/Office of Special Education 9 Improvement Plans In most cases, LEAs who receive written findings of noncompliance must submit an Improvement Plan to the State. The Improvement Plan must detail the actions the LEA will take to correct noncompliance.

January 2012 Mississippi Department of Education Office of Instructional Enhancement and Internal Operations/Office of Special Education 10 Correction of Noncompliance Noncompliance must be corrected as soon as possible, but in no case later than 12 months from the date of written notification.  Follow-up visits and/or data reviews may be conducted to ensure correction.

January 2012 Mississippi Department of Education Office of Instructional Enhancement and Internal Operations/Office of Special Education 11 The 2 prongs of Memo In order to verify correction of noncompliance, both prongs of OSEP Memo must be met:  Prong 1: Correct each individual original case of noncompliance.  Prong 2: Correctly implement the specific regulatory requirements (i.e. achieved 100% compliance), based on the State’s review of updated data.

January 2012 Mississippi Department of Education Office of Instructional Enhancement and Internal Operations/Office of Special Education 12 Prong 1 – Correcting Original Noncompliance Each case of noncompliance originally found must be corrected within 12 months.  Ex: Services provided to student, IEP revised, etc.  The only exception is when a student is no longer within the LEA’s jurisdiction.

January 2012 Mississippi Department of Education Office of Instructional Enhancement and Internal Operations/Office of Special Education 13 Prong 2 – Changing Practices Prong 2 serves to ensure that the same type of noncompliance is not re- occurring. LEAs may be required to change policies, procedures, and/or practices. An additional data review will take place to determine if prong 2 is met.

January 2012 Mississippi Department of Education Office of Instructional Enhancement and Internal Operations/Office of Special Education 14 Data Review for Prong 2 Data review will look at a similar group of students for the current school year or the most recent school year for which data is available. LEAs must exhibit 100% compliance in order to satisfy Prong 2.

January 2012 Mississippi Department of Education Office of Instructional Enhancement and Internal Operations/Office of Special Education 15 Summary In order to clear noncompliance/findings, LEAs must satisfy both prongs of OSEP Memo Ensures that individual cases of noncompliance do not become systemic problems

January 2012 Mississippi Department of Education Office of Instructional Enhancement and Internal Operations/Office of Special Education 16 Questions? Deborah Donovan SPP/APR Division Director