1. The Changing Landscape of Special Education Data
2015 Leadership Conference
“All In: Achieving Results Together”
The Changing Landscape of Special Education Data
Mary Corey, Missouri Department of Education
Diane Murphy, Connecticut Department of Education
Tammy Pearcy, Texas Education Agency
Shiyloh Duncan-Becerril, California Department of Education

3. EdFacts: Multiple Reporting of Disability Subgroups
Exits
School Age File
Personnel
Suspension/Expulsion
LRE
Graduation
Homeless
Assessment EL
Federal EdFacts Reporting

4. The APR: Not Just Special Education !!
Drop out
Disproportionality
Compliance Indicators
Suspension/Expulsion
LRE
Graduation
Assessment
Annual Performance Report

5. Consolidated State Performance Report
Consolidated State Performance Report Different from the APR—but still includes SWDs
Graduation
Assessment
Sub Groups
Consolidated State Performance Report

6. Data presentation and Visualization
Public reporting of special education data requires the Part B Data Administrator to know and explain the data.

7. What else…

8. Pressure
Political
Legal
Fiscal

9. Results driven Accountability

10. High stakes calculations

11. State Structures and Challenges

12. California 715,000 Special Education Students 1700 Districts (LEAs)
139 SELPAs

13. California Part B Data Manager is APR author
EdFacts coordinator (for SPED only)
SSIP Co-lead
Special Education Database Administrator
Special Education Monitoring DBA
Assessment Expert for SPED
PRA Coordinator
Public Reporting Coordinator

14. Challenges
Special Education is completely separate from general education data
Intermediary Education Agencies
Lawsuit oversight
State Superintendent is elected official
No carrots—only sticks!

15. Tricks and Tools Daily access to State Director of Special Education
Strong relationships with general education data systems
Trained in SAS and all team members trained in SAS
Develop and Document processes
Training on Data Visualization
Tough Skin

16. Missouri
125,000 Special Education Students
560+ LEAs

17. Missouri Part B Data Manager is Not in the Office of Special Education
APR data provider
EDFacts coordinator (for SPED only)
HQT & Personnel for general ed and SPED
Co-manager of data collection systems for general ed
Public Reporting Coordinator
Data support/supplier for Office of Special Education
Technical assistance to LEAs on data reporting
Part C Data Manager

18. Challenges
Special Education data is collected/stored along with general education data, but not as accessible on the reporting side
Controlling/managing others’ needs to collect additional data
Time/intensity involved with developing/maintaining data systems
Limited ITSD resources

19. Tricks and Tools
Strong involvement with general education data, including ITSD prioritization team
Strong relationship with special education
Generating most 618 EDFacts files from SLDS, including Personnel files
Length of involvement with special education data
Access to other Data Managers

20. Texas 451,623 Special Education Students 1,246 LEAs
8.5% of all Student Population
1,246 LEAs
9,219 Active Campuses
20 Regional Education Service Centers (ESCs)

21. Texas Part B Data Manger is Both data an program specialist
SPP/APR/SSIP team lead and author
Public reporting coordinator and LEA notification author (LEA determinations, disproportionate, compliance letters)
Data collections manager for certain SPP data
Core team member (internal) and stakeholder coordinator (external) for supervision and monitoring systems
Responsive to PIRs, annual audits on 618 data, and technical assistance to ESCs and LEAs on data reporting

22. Challenges Legislative due to biennium schedule
major ed policy changes possible and probable affecting aspects of state data
Local control – no statewide IEP systems
Large state with large variance in populations
Districts serving 1 sped student to a district with more than 16,000 sped students
Timelines for certain 618 data reporting
Exiting in November, Child Count and Ed Environment until moved to April

23. Tricks and Tools Generate most 618 EdFacts files from SLDS
Contract for customized data collection apps not included in SLDS (SPP 7, 11, 12, 13, 14)
Strong relationship with SLDS team, and other programs/divisions within state agencies
Understanding data relationships and how to explain “it depends”

24. Connecticut 75,000 Special Education Students Approx. 200 LEAs
17 Regional Sch. Districts
8 Secondary only
9 PK-12
22 Charter Sch. Districts
4 State Districts
DOC DMHAS
DCF CTHSS
3 “Quasi-Public” Sch. Districts

25. Connecticut Part B Data Manager is a “split” position in CT:
Neither of us “sit” in the Office of Special Education
APR analyst and coauthor w/ BSE indicator managers
Analyze all data for LEA-Level APRs/Disproportionality
EDFacts file preparation (special ed files only)
TA provider regarding data analysis and reporting
SSIP Core Team Member and Analyst
Focused Monitoring Core Team Member and Analyst
SLDS Core Team Member (critical for public reporting decisions concerning SWD)
ESEA Flexibility/Accountability Analyst
Responsible for annual audit of 1% of all IEPs statewide

26. Challenges
Public Reporting Portal (EdSight is delayed – not currently publicly accessible)
Legislative Oversight and Data Collection mandates
Local Control Mindset: No statewide IEP or IEP System; multiple IEP vendors that SDE has no control over.
Too many LEAs in small state results in significant data suppression due to low “n” for any break out of special ed data. No meaningful public reporting except statewide and 7 largest cities.
Significant socio-economic gap between towns poses a challenge in implementing statewide initiatives – vastly different needs across the state.

27. Tricks and Tools
CPO with a mindset that special education is a breakout no different than gender and FRL and must exist in all reporting. Data are collected in systems designed for all students. All data is linkable via unique state assigned identifiers at the student, teacher, and school/program levels.
Strong relationships with special education – on all committees so data is part of every conversation.
Strong relationships with LEA Special Ed Directors.
Use of the word “hypothetically”

28. Questions
What are some of the challenges that you are dealing with that were not discussed here?
How is the work on the SSIP changing the work that you are doing?
How are you dealing with the changing role of data in your state?
What would you need to overcome the challenges you are facing as a data manager?