1. Spring Leadership Meeting
Welcome
Spring Leadership Meeting
March 16-18, 2015
Wyndham Conference Center
Peachtree City, GA
11/29/2018

2. Student Success: Imagine the Possibilities “The Georgia Story”
Georgia Department of Education
Division for Special Education Services and Supports
Zelphine Smith-Dixon, Ed.D.
Assistant Director
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3. The Georgia Story
Join me as I share “The Georgia Story” about our Sweet Georgia Peaches and possibly create a template for you to share your story!
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4. And…How is that working for you?
Dr. Phil’s Test
And…How is that working for you?
Better yet…How is that working for our
Students with Disabilities (SWD)?
Dr. Zell’s Test
Even if it works for us but not for the most important one,
is it the right work?
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5. Get to the root of the problem!
In order to tell the story of your sweet peaches, you have to carve the layers down to the pit!
Collage
Portrait
Get to the root of the problem!
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6. Georgia Story Essentials Demographic Data
It’s difficult to know “what” to expect when you aren’t sure “who” to expect!
Who are the characters in your story?
Who or what is the villain?
Enrollment Data
Free/Reduced Lunch
SWD Enrollment by Disability Categories
Comparison of Graduation & Dropout Data by Subgroups
Intersection of High Poverty and Teacher Quality
Graduation Data
Dropout Data
SWD Enrollment
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7. Enrollment by Subgroups
What percent of total enrollment is SWD?
Does this create a concern for over-identification?
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8. Student Enrollment compared to SWD Enrollment
How do the racial/ethnic subgroups represented in SPED compare to Total Enrollment?

9. Does that change the perceived face of SWD in the Georgia Story?
SLD, SLI, OHI, and SDD are the highest enrollment categories!
What disability categories are more prevalent?

10. Other Health Impairment 28,294 Deaf 659 Hearing Impairment 1,183
Visual Impairment
655
Other Health Impairment
28,294
Deaf
659
Hearing Impairment
1,183
Orthopedic Impairment
865
Specific Learning Impaired
62,131
Emotional/Behavioral Disorder
12,952
Profound Intellectual Disability
656
Severe Intellectual Disability
1,401
Moderate Intellectual Disability
4,961
Mild Intellectual Disability
10,005
Significant Developmental Delay
22,201
Traumatic Brain Injury
417
Autism
14,913
Speech/Language Impairment
29,490
Deaf/Blind 23
Blind
159
Total Primary
190,965
8.9% of Total SWD Enrollment
.987% (<1%) of Total Student Enrollment
Remember, “adverse educational impact” does not equate to “Intellectual Disability!”
Of these categories, which students demonstrate significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning?
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11. Is it about equitable access (e.g., medical evaluation)?
Why might there be more white students identified OHI?
The identification of MID has more subjectivity.
Consider the differences between MOID and MID.

12. 67.65% of SWD (age 6-21) are males!
What is the distribution of males and females?

13. 2014 Total Enrollment by Grades
There are fewer students by 12th Grade!
Is this trend true for SWD?
Is dropout impacting enrollment in the higher grades?
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14. Let’s begin the Georgia Story about our Sweet Georgia Peaches by scanning the final chapter-first. Let’s begin with the end in the mind.
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15. Graduation Rate
Considering the P-12 Pipeline, what percent of “All Students” graduate with a general education diploma?
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16. How equitable are opportunities by subgroups?
Graduation Rate
How equitable are opportunities by subgroups?
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17. Student Success Club AKA “Sweet Peach Exclusive”
5,027 Sweet GA Peaches were inducted into GA’s “2014 Student Success Club” as HS Completers
36.5%
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18. Special Education Diploma
“E” for Effort Club
But Wait…There are other Sweet GA Peaches in the Completer Club who weren’t so Successful! Students who completed HS with their peers but received “Diplomas to Nowhere”
At least 1,777 SWD were inducted into GA’s 2014 “E for Effort Club” as having received Sped Diplomas
Special Education Diploma
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19. Special Education Diploma
“E” for Effort Club
1,108 males received Sped Diplomas while only 669 females received Sped Diplomas!
Special Education Diploma
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20. Special Education Diplomas Certificate of Attendance
“E” for Effort Club
Black Students with Disabilities represented over half of all SWD who received a Special Education Diploma.
Special Education Diplomas
Black Students represented over half of Total Enrollment who received a Certificate of Attendance!
Certificate of Attendance
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21. All Students Dropout Rate
If they are not graduating with a general education diploma, are they dropping out of school? Remember, we hypothesized dropout was an issue based on declining enrollment!
3.7%
(19,561)
All Students Dropout Rate
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22. Dropout Rate
5.9% (3,579) SWD Dropout Rate
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23. Walt Disney Club How is that?
Students with Disabilities who disengage but wait for age 16 to drop out of school-just like Walt Disney! Well, not exactly, ages 14 and 15 are becoming honorary members. 
3,579 Sweet GA Peaches were inducted into the “2014 Walt Disney Club” as HS Dropouts
Grades 9- 12!
n 1918, while still in high school, future Oscar-winning film producer and theme park pioneer Walt Disney began taking night courses at the Academy of Fine Arts in Chicago. Disney dropped out of high school at age 16 to join the army, but because he was too young to enlist, he joined the Red Cross with a forged birth certificate instead. Disney was sent to France where he drove an ambulance that was covered from top to bottom with cartoons that eventually became his film characters. After becoming the multimillionaire founder of the Walt Disney Company and winning the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Disney received an honorary high school diploma at age 58.
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24. Dropout Rate 2.7% (21,986) All Students
Note – There is a 7-12 Dropout Rate, and it can be quite different from the 9-12 Dropout rate. While the denominators can make the percentage smaller, the numerators could be significantly higher!
2.7% (21,986)
All Students
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25. Dropout Rate
4.1% (3,944)
SWD
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26. Phantom of the Opera Club “Middle School Dropout”
Can you believe how many of our Sweet Georgia Peaches fall in between the cracks of the P-12 Pipeline?
“ All Students “ 2,425 Grades 7 & 8
“SWD” 365 Grades 7 & 8
GA’s 4-Year Trend for All Students - 9,462
GA’s 4-Year Trend for SWD – 1,430
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27. Retained Students FY2014 Data
Note – Correlation between Dropout and Grade Retention
Is it a retention issue or a course completion issue?
Are students disproportionately retained at a particular level?
Note – 56,406 students were retained. We know at least 33,119 Peaches were retained in 9-12th grades.
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28. How might LRE influence this data?
Why is there such discrepancies when students are accessing similar environments?
65% of SWD (age 6-21) received instruction in the general education environment >80%!
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29. How can we rewrite the “beginning” of the story to get the “ending” we want? First, we have to figure out which chapters to delete next time?
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30. Pre-Kindergarten Report Card
58.13% (81,453) Pre-K Peaches Served
55.13% (44,906) of the enrolled Pre-K Peaches are At-Risk!
Beginning of the P-12 Pipeline
In Georgia, we are committed to improving the graduation rates for all students-especially students with disabilities! While districts must show improvement in this area over the next five years, we realize that graduating students with a general education diploma is a process not an event.
There are many variables that must “input” to get this “output!” It is essential for districts to examine various types of data to support the P-12 pipeline to graduation.
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31. With an increasing poverty rate, is 58.13% really enough?

32. Student Learning Data
How well are the students demonstrating what they know?
ACT and SAT Data
Benchmark Data
Universal Screening Data
GA Student Health Survey
CRCT Data
NAEP Data
EOCT
Progress Monitoring Data
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33. Is there a correlation between graduation and discipline?
Do we see any trends?
Statewide Data
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34. Considering the 2014 Cohort
What were the barriers and salient data trends?
How much of this analysis can be generalized to past and future cohorts?
How much of this analysis is specific to variables surrounding those students?
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35. Class of 2014 during the 3rd Grade Year
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36. 2009-2010 During the 8th Grade Year

37. 2010-2011 During the 9th Grade Year

38. 2014 Cohort Longitudinal Data
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39. 2014 Cohort Longitudinal Data
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40. Class of 2014 12th Grade Assessment Data
Total Performance Scores
Performance 1
“Not Meeting Standard”
Assessment Scores belonging to 12th Grade SWD
1468
952
Who were the nonperforming 12th Grade Students with Disabilities?
57.67% (549/952) were Black SWD.
70.69% (673/952) were male SWD!
40.33% (384/952) were Black Males with Disabilities!
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41. 11/29/2018

42. 11/29/2018

43. Let’s suppose Georgia does nothing different
Let’s suppose Georgia does nothing different! Considering 2014 Performance 1 Scores by Disability Categories, What can we predict for the Class of 2023?
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44. 2013-2014 Student Support Team (SST) Data
Unknown Variable – Tier 2 Students
10% Sped
2.8% Tier 3
How is it working for us?
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45. Are there discrepancies by racial/ethnic groups?
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46. Are there discrepancies by gender?
How does this trend mimic Sped enrollment?
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47. Quality & Assurance Check
800 schools across 55 LEAs reported 0 for students as having received SST!
605 schools reported 20 or fewer students!
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48. Correlation to Disproportionality
Reviewed data for a sampling of 50 districts
49 of the 50 didn’t meet the ESEA Waiver Grad Target for SWD
48% had a Disproportionality Determination (Identification, Placement or Discipline) within the past 3 years
In the past two school years (FY13 and FY14), 38 of the identified districts had noncompliance related to interventions and supports for all students!
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49. It is about teaching capacity?
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50. What a difference student growth makes…
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51. Just One Example…
Math II
Gifted
American Literature
SWD
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52. Perceptions are realities for the people who have them!
Perception Data
Perceptions are realities for the people who have them!
GAPSS Data
What perception data can be used to support the problem identification!
SACs Data
Sped Parent Survey
GA Student Health Survey
Title One Parent Survey Data
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53. SSIP Parent Survey Results
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
My child's current performance and progress toward graduation are clearly communicated.
29.8%
46.8%
19%
4.5%
My child's special education services are regularly reviewed and appropriate adjustments are made in academic and behavioral supports.
33.9%
46.3%
16.1%
3.7%
My child's teachers and administrator communicate an expectation of success that includes graduation from high school.
31.3%
48.2%
15.5%
5.1%
Partnered with Parent to Parent to poll 1,329 families with children with disabilities ages 3-21…These three statements had the lowest satisfaction.

54. Student Survey Data
Polled 452 SWD (at high schools across the state) and obtained the following perception data…
89.38% believed they were on track for graduation.
94.92% believed they understood current progress and performance for graduation.
91.37% communicated that administrators believed that they could graduate
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55. Georgia's Student Health
and Safety Survey
33.9% of students, ranging from 6th through 12th grades ( out of 587,043), answered "yes" they thought about dropping out of school. 
Won't Drop Out
387,994
Bored
72,947
Family Reasons
30,662
Being Bullied
26,276
Other
69,164
Total
587,043

56. Where the rubber meets the road…
Are you using the “Data Detail” reports?
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57. How well do we do business!
Process Data
How well do we do business!
Safety Nets for Struggling Students
Instructional Strategies
Tiered Supports for Students
Tiered Supports for Adults
Universal Expectations and Procedures
Inspecting what you Expect
Systematic Response Systems
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58. Process Data about 36 State Initiatives
State Infrastructure
Process Data about 36 State Initiatives
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59. Big Take-Away
The State is going above and beyond compliance to improve graduation outcomes for students!
These activities extend across grade bands.
The distribution of resources formed a bell curve!
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60. Big Take-Away
Unfortunately, a small percent of this work involves capacity building for district leadership team.
There aren’t continuous TA and Feedback Loops to support this work from the State to the class.
37.93% rated effective impact at the “4” to “5” levels.
41.38% rated effective impact at the “3” level.
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61. P-12 Pipeline
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62. Data Rich Information Poor
D.R.I.P.
Data Rich Information Poor
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63. The P-12 Pipeline can learn a lot from the insurance business!
Why do young adults receive the lower premium by age 25?
Statistics show, young drivers are becoming more responsible, settling into careers, moving into their own homes and starting to raise families.
All of these factors together paint a picture of behavioral maturity insurance-drop.html
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64. All of our students are at risk!
Human Brain fully develops by Age 25! Until then…some key behaviors are demonstrated coincidentally vs. consistently!
•    Decision making •    Use of appropriate judgment •    Rational thinking •   Long-term Planning
Global thinking vs. self-centered thinking
All of our students are at risk!
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65. Everything I needed to be successful, I learned during Preschool!
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66. “It was always about the ABCs!
Preschool
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67. “It was always about the ABCs!
K-12
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68. It’s still about the ABCs!
Beyond P-12 Pipeline
A large percentage of young people preparing to enter the workforce over the next two decades are significantly lacking in the “soft” skills such as teamwork, decision-making, communication, work ethics, adaptability, and critical thinking that will help them be effective employees.
America’s Promise
It’s still about the ABCs!
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69. 90% of the iceberg is under water!
Iceberg Syndrome
SYMPTONS
90% of the iceberg is under water!
UNDERLYING CAUSES
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70. Symptoms SYMPTONS Approximately 10% Graduation Data
Least Restrictive Environment Data
Low test scores
Poor SGPs
Graduation Data
Dropout Data
Behavioral Concerns
High Absenteeism
Course Completion
Enrollment
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71. Why spend 90% of your time treating 10% of the symptoms
Why spend 90% of your time treating 10% of the symptoms ? Isn’t this the educational version of malpractice?
SYMPTONS
UNDERLYING CAUSES
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72. Let’s Practice! Which should we treat?
High Blood Pressure
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73. Now, which do you treat? Struggling Academically Acting out in class
Withdrawing & Skipping School
Becoming very Angry
Demonstrating Low Motivation
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74. Is an individual case of Ebola a child issue or system issue?
Great, then why does “becoming angry, struggling to read, skipping school etc. automatically become individual issues for students and treated on a case-by-case basis? Sometimes, this is a symptom that “how you do business” needs tweaking?
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75. The Processes Data are like a “blue thread” that
Process Data
Student Learning Data
Perception Data
Demographics Data
Effective Intervention: When “usable”, they create meaningful ACCESS to the science. Rigorously-derived evidence helps us decide WHICH interventions to adopt.
Effective Implementation Methods: Creates higher fidelity EXPERIENCE of interventions. Delivery systems are changed to support full and effective USE of interventions.
Enabling Contexts: Creates supportive HOSTS of interventions. Delivery systems CONTINUOUSLY IMPROVE based on learning from experience.
The Processes Data are like a “blue thread” that
pulls all the data sets together! It brings meaning to the analysis!

76. Don’t just rely on the monitor data…Read the data on the faces of your babies!

77. “People Improvement Business”
Don’t miss the most invaluable data set, which is on the faces of the people and students you support!
You can’t get process data from a monitor!
Sometime the monitor doesn’t get it right! There could be a data lag but always read the “human data!”
Welcome to the world of processes data!
Human error is inevitable!
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78. Technical Problems Adaptive Challenges
Easy to Identify
Simple Problems
Difficult to Identify
Layered Challenges
Quick Solutions
Few Changes
Complex Solutions
Change in values, beliefs...
Expert or authority can solve the problem!
People with the problem do the work of solving it!
Are you planning to address Technical Problems or Adaptive Challenges with some Technical Fixes?

79. Barriers “It’s really an equity issue”
Access to the General Curriculum for All Students
Effective Instruction with Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
Interventions and Supports
Access to Positive School Climate for All Students
Learning environments that nurture the whole child
Access to Specially Designed Instruction for Students with Disabilities
Appropriate services and supports
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80. Barriers “How do we know this?
Access to the General Curriculum for All Students
Student Learning Outcomes such as Course Completion
Referral patterns for SST and Special Education.
Access to Positive School Climate for All Students
School Climate Ratings, Safe and Health Survey, Discipline Data, Attendance
Access to FAPE in the LRE for Students with Disabilities
One example, SLD and OHI consistently led the way for SWD not demonstrating proficient skills on assessments!
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81. Barriers “What needs to happen?
These equity access barriers for students can be directly impacted by changing adult practices. Effective Districts supporting Effective Schools supporting Effective Teachers = Student Success Imagine the Possibilities
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82. Let’s begin with the image from the end but rewrite the beginning
Let’s begin with the image from the end but rewrite the beginning! We have to change the process of how we support people to change!
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83. SLDS
Join me on Voyage Student Success! An opportunity to create equitable opportunities for all GA Peaches to redeem their membership in the “Graduate Club”
District Data Toolkit
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