1. CASEMIS 101 for Non-CASEMIS People Presented by Corey Stacy
SPP APR 2014
11/17/2018
CASEMIS 101
for Non-CASEMIS People
Presented by Corey Stacy
Riverside County SELPA
CALPADS Network Meeting
May 23, 2018
Shyloh opened up presentation
James Johnson – FMTA 3 – Disproportionality
Allison Greenwood
Joanna Lagordia - Dashboard

2. What is CASEMIS?
Essentially, CASEMIS is the system we have used for a very long time to submit Special Education data to CDE during required reporting periods. CASEMIS stands for California Special Education Management Information System. However, increasingly over the years, CASEMIS has come to mean the data that is submitted as much as the system that is used to submit that data. We talk frequently of CASEMIS reports, CASEMIS data, CASEMIS clerks, CASEMIS fields in SEIS. Because it is older technology that has been in place for many years, the CASEMIS fields we report to CDE are cryptic in name, using old computer naming conventions. We have often been accused of “Speaking Special Ed” instead of English, which many of us do. There is also a subset of the “Special Education language” known as speaking CASEMIS which is a weird combination of codes and short cut words such as fedset, % of time, DOR, PlanType30,etc. As you have heard, the system for reporting Special Education data to CDE is changing away from CASEMIS and will be reported instead via CALPADS. This change is rocking our Special Education world because this means that much of the foundation of how we do things will be altered.

3. What Makes Special Education Special?
Before we begin, there are a few points I need to make.
Special Education staff, for the most part, are program centered people – not data centered.
Even people like me who deal with data all day long, are at heart program centered.
We see the data we report as the way in which we quantify the programs we run and the students we serve.
We do not look at our IEP system as data, we look at it as telling the story of our students and our LEAs.
The data we report comes entirely from IEPs (Individual Education Plans) that are written for each student in Special Education.
These IEPs are written by the case manager for the student, then the data we need to report pulls from that document directly into our reporting system.
This means that we have hundreds of users entering data into our reporting system in Riverside County SELPA alone.
Also, due to the nature of IEP meetings, this data can be updated at any time by holding a new IEP meeting or Amendment to an IEP.
All this means that we have a system that by its nature means that we have a large, diverse group of users entering data into the system, with few monitors to make sure that data is accurate.

4. What Makes Special Education Special?
Something else that makes Special Education different in the way we operate is that in California, we have SELPAs involved.
SELPA stands for Special Education Local Plan Area. California is divided up into more than SELPAs, some of which consist of only one LEA, others consist of multiple LEAs.
In Riverside County, Moreno Valley, Riverside, Corona-Norco, and Temecula are single district SELPAs. Everyone else belongs to Riverside County SELPA.
The SELPA has specific responsibilities regarding its member LEAs as specified by CA Education law. One of these is that all CASEMIS submissions are done on a SELPA basis and that the SELPA director must certify this data.
This is why we have to certify the Special Education discipline submissions to CALPADs, and have to certify all official submissions of Special Education data to CDE.
I compare the SELPA/LEA/CDE relationship to that of the counties/cities/state government. The SELPA serves as a go-between in many instances, helping the LEAs where we can.

5. Today’s Discussion
I had to think hard about the best way to broach the subject of CASEMIS to this group today. The subject is immense and difficult to describe without understanding all the components that go into it. I tell CASEMIS technicians when they come into the job that they need to expect a 2 year learning curve. They won’t know everything at the end of 2 years – not by a long shot! They will just begin to understand how everything fits together and have a better idea of what they should know and what is more unusual and they should check on. In addition, Special Education is known for its unusual situations and my favorite answer to give when asked a question is, “It depends.” That is because it really does depend on a whole long host of circumstances, any of which will change the answer I give. For today I have decided to tackle this differently than I would do for a technician entering this field. Instead of establishing a foundation, then building on it slowly, I am going to work with you on showing you the big picture, and then focusing where necessary on the details that go into that big picture. Let’s first cover the basics of Special Education.

6. Special Education – In a Nutshell
Special Education services are given to eligible students between the ages of 0 – 22 years of age. For school districts, responsibility begins at the age of 3. Infants and toddlers 0 – 2 years who qualify for Early Start services can receive services from Regional Centers, County Offices of Education, or rare school districts that provide infant services. In order to qualify for Special Education, besides meeting age/grade requirements, a student must have one of 13 qualifying disabilities AND that disability must hamper the student’s ability to access the regular education curriculum. When a student is referred for Special Education assessment, an Assessment Plan is signed by the parent, giving the LEA permission to assess the student. Once all assessments are completed, and within a 60 day timeline, an IEP team will meet for an Initial IEP to determine the student’s eligibility. The IEP team consists of a Special Education teacher, a Regular Education teacher, the parent, a LEA Administrator, Psychologist and/or any other assessors or related service providers. Each of these team members has a role to play in the meeting. The idea is to look at the whole student and make determinations based on the strengths and weaknesses of the student. If the student qualifies for SpEd, goals are written and then placement is determined that will allow the student to achieve those goals.

7. Special Education – In a Nutshell
Special Education offers a continuum of services which range from low intervention to very high. At the low end are related services such as Speech or Adaptive PE. At the high end exists out of state placement in a residential facility. The philosophy of Special Education is to offer the lowest amount of services necessary for the student to meet his/her goals while focusing on exposing the student to regular ed peers to the maximum extent possible. This is known as Least Restrictive Environment or LRE and is closely monitored by CDE. Once a student has started receiving SpEd services, Annual IEPs are held each year by the one year mark of the most recent IEP. These meetings again look at how the student is functioning in multiple areas as of this date, then will determine new goals for the upcoming year, and adjust services as appropriate for those goals. At the three year mark from the Initial IEP (and every three years the student remains eligible), a revaluation is conducted to determine if the student continues to remain eligible for SpEd. This meeting is called a Triennial. In the year a Triennial is due, the Annual and Triennial are held simultaneously.

8. Special Education – In a Nutshell
If a meeting is necessary between Annual IEP meetings, an Amendment IEP can be held. This meeting changes the existing IEP. Beginning when students are 15 years of age, a Transition Plan must be included in the IEP process. It is required that Transition Plans are in place the day the student turns 16. The Transition Plan helps the student and IEP team to determine the student’s goals for adulthood after school and the IEP becomes a pathway to assist the student in identifying and gaining skills necessary to pursue his/her chosen training/schooling, career path, and plan for independent living. Students exit Special Education by graduating with a diploma, aging out at 22, or no longer qualifying as shown by assessment. Students can also exit SpEd by having a parent revoke consent for SpEd placement. A student who has been exited from SpEd in this way is considered a regular ed student. If the parent later wants SpEd services again, the student goes through the Initial referral process again. We report our status with assessing and serving students for SpEd twice a year. This is our CASEMIS report. Currently those reports are pulled December 1st and June 30th. December is a snapshot of a typical day in that year, while June is a compilation of the whole year.

9. CASEMIS Submission Process NOW

10. How CASEMIS Has Worked
CDE releases error checking software before the scheduled data pull. This software is typically 1 – 2 months prior to the pull date. A CASEMIS report is generated in our IEP system (SEIS) daily and that report is run through the CDE software, generating a list of errors and warnings. The final CASEMIS report can be submitted to CDE with warnings, but all errors must be cleared before final submission. The list of errors is uploaded into SEIS and a correction list is automatically provided to each case manager. (specific to SEIS) Corrections are made in the IEP system and are reflected on the new report generated the next day. Some corrections will require IEP meetings to be held to make the corrections, others do not. On the date of data pull, a report is pulled for the last time from the live system and the report is stored for continued clean up until the SELPA submits the report to CDE. Clean up of incorrect data continues on the report until it is ready for submission. The final December submission is due in early January. The final June submission is due mid-August. At that time the report is uploaded to CDE using a secure portal.

11. Special Education Compliance
What are the results of those CASEMIS submissions? This is when we get to begin the discussion of Compliance. Compliance is not a new concept for Special Education. We have been working with one form or another of compliance components for as long as I have been in Special Education. What is new is the number of ways in which CDE is monitoring compliance, the timelines and methods for collecting the data used, and the acceptable percentage of non- conformance. The other thing this has been changing is the move to tie the Special Education compliance monitoring into the monitoring going on for all of CA education – LCFF, LCAP, and the California School Dashboard. The 2017/18 school year has seen a marked increase in the types of Special Education monitoring by CDE and efforts to connect these to one another.

12. Performance Indicator Review (PIR) Data Identified Noncomplaince
(DINC)
Disproportionality
Specialty reviews (data, preschool, fiscal)
Large district Comprehensive
Review
Small District Comprehensive Review
Critical Incident Review

13. SPP Indicators
Much of our compliance discussion begins with the SPP Indicators. IDEA requires each state to develop a State Performance Plan (SPP) and an annual performance report (APR) that evaluates the state’s efforts to implement the requirements and purposes of the IDEA and describes how the state will improve its implementation.
In California, the data submitted to CDE via CASEMIS, CALPADS, and other avenues are analyzed and fit into certain formulas to determine how each LEA is performing in 14 different indicator areas.
LEAs are measured against specific targets to determine if they are compliant with requirements of IDEA.
The reports look like this:

14. SPP Indicators

15. SPP Indicators

16. SPP Indicators

17. SPP Indicators

18. SPP Indicators

19. Specialty reviews (data, preschool, fiscal)
Lets take it apart
Large district CR
Small District CR
CIR
DISPRO
Specialty reviews (data, preschool, fiscal)
More monitoring
Fiscal consequences
PIR
DINC

20. Disproportionality
Disproportionality means that the LEA has been found out of proportion for certain student groups based on race/ethnicity in specific categories.
Rates of Suspension & Expulsion (SPP Indicator 4)
Placement in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) (SPP Indicator 5)
Overall Disproportionality in Special Education Identification (SPP Indicator 9)
Disproportionate by Disability Category (SPP Indicator 10)

21. Significant Disproportionality
If a LEA is found Disproportionate in 3 out of 4 years, they become Significantly Disproportionate.
Significant Disproportionality has serious consequences, including financial.
Once determined Significantly Disproportionate, many LEAs find it difficult to do all the work necessary, and produce the improvements needed to get out of Significant Disproportionality.
Part of this is due to the 3 out of 4 year requirement.

22. Disproportionality is Based on District of Residence (Responsible district)
This is often incorrectly given. The most common districts for District of Residence are:
The district where the student resides
The district where the parent resides if the student is placed out-of- home district through IEP process
The district receiving student under inter-district transfer
The district or county office authorizing a charter school

23. Which fields? CASEMIS A- Ethnicity A- Race 1 Race/Ethnicity A- Race 2
A-43 Disability
A-7 District of Residence
CALPADS
Suspension
Race/Ethnicity for all Students

24. The Calculation Key DQ Point: Ethnicity and Race1, Race2, Race3
Very simply….*
# of students with disabilities in a specific race/ethnicity category
# of all students in a specific race/ethnicity category
Key DQ Point: Ethnicity and Race1, Race2, Race3

25. CASE STUDY: A student has one race/ethnicity in CASEMIS and a Different one in CALPADS
# SWD HS
All HS
# SWD WH
All WH
# SWD MU
All MU
# SWD AA All AA
# SWD Asian
All Asian AA
HIS
CASEMIS
CALPADS

26. A student has left the race/ethnicity field blank in CASEMIS but the clerk at the school made a visual determination for CALPADS
# SWD Asian
All Asian
# SWD HS
All HS
# SWD WH
All WH
# SWD MU
All MU
# SWD AA All AA
Blank WH
CASEMIS
CALPADS

27. Specialty reviews (data, preschool, fiscal)
Large district CR
Small District CR
CIR
Specialty reviews (data, preschool, fiscal)
DINC
Student corrections
Additional monitoring
PIR
DISPRO
More submissions

28. DINC – Data Identified Non-Compliance
This compliance measurement expects 100% compliance in 5 different areas:
IEP Meetings held within one year of the last one.
Triennial revaluations held within three years of the last one.
Initial Referrals to Special Education have an Initial IEP held within 60 days of receiving parent consent for assessment. (SPP Indicator 11)
Students 16 years old and older have 8 important elements of the transition plan (transition to adulthood) in place on the IEP. (SPP Indicator 13)
Students who have received Early Start Infant/Toddler services MUST have an Initial IEP by the 3rd birthday. (SPP Indicator 12)

29. DINC – Data Identified Non-Compliance
There are a very few exceptions allowed to the 100% compliance rule. If a student is not compliant in 4 of the areas mentioned (transition plan not included), but falls within one of these narrow exceptions, a delay reason can be entered for the student that excuses the LEA. The LEA would not be considered non-compliant for that student.
If a delay reason is used, however, the LEA must have documentation to support the delay reason used. CDE does request further documentation on a random 10% of all delay reasons submitted.

30. Which Fields? DINC CASEMIS Trans_Reg 1-8 Transition Elements
LastIEP (IEP Dates)
District of Service
Last_Eval (Triennial)
Delay Reasons
Plan Type
Infant Init_Eval

31. Specialty reviews (data, preschool, fiscal)
Large district CR
Small District CR
CIR
PIR
Plan Development
Specialty reviews (data, preschool, fiscal)
Data Analysis
More monitoring
DINC
DISPRO

32. PIR – Performance Indicator Review
The PIR is a new compliance measurement. It is looking at how a LEA holds up in terms of many of the SPP Indicators:
Indicator 1, Graduation Four Year Rate
Indicator 2, Dropout Four Year Rate.
Indicator 3, Statewide Assessments.
Indicator 4, Discipline Overall.
Indicator 5, Least Restrictive Envioronment.
Indicator 8, Parent Involvement.
Indicator 14, Post School Outcomes.

33. Federal School Setting
Which Fields?
CASEMIS
Parent Involvement
Percent of time in regular class
PIR
Federal School Setting
Post School Outcomes
Exiting
CALPADS
Graduation
Assessment
Suspension

34. The 2018/19 Monitoring Calendar
August – September – June Data based DINC
Dashboard comes out in November – notification for all LEAs for all monitoring activities in alignment with Dashboard release (17/18 data) We just are getting 16/17 … but will receive 17/18 in fall!! THIS IS A BIG
March-April – Disproportionality will be posted in the Spring – Spring/Summer/Fall to complete reviews – Sig Dis will go out at the same time
Will continue to provide SELPA previews

35. Levels of Support
California’s Statewide System of Support includes three levels of supports to LEAs and schools to promote continuous improvement.
Quickly review eligibility criteria for each level
Make connection to MTSS/RTI

36. SWD Student Group
163 LEAs of the 213 identified for Differential Assistance were because of outcomes for the SWD student group.
CDE does not think this is a Special Education problem, this is a system problem.
CDE is aligning some practices to the dashboard to make this more coherent for LEAs.
Typically Special Ed Compliance reporting fell significantly later than the dashboard reporting, often 1 – 2 years behind.
As a result, of this new alignment, LEAs are having to do multiple years worth of compliance work within the same school year.

37. Thank you!!
Any Questions??