1. Staff Approval Matrix (SAM) December Count
1/14/2019
Staff Approval Matrix (SAM) December Count
December 5th, 2018

2. Purpose of Staff Data
Staff data reported in the Special Education December Count allows CDE to verify personnel licensing qualifications as defined in:
Federal Law - IDEA (The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), and
State law – ECEA (Exceptional Children’s Educational Act)
Staff data populates required Federal data reporting (EDFacts, US Department of Education). This reporting provides a comprehensive view of special education staff employed in Colorado.
Federal data reporting is summarized by:
Job Classification Code
Age level of assignment/students served (aggregated by age groups 3-5 and 6-21)
Qualified and non-qualified status 2

3. Regulations IDEA/ECEA
Qualified status for special education staff (positions requiring a CDE license) is defined by:
Federal Law - IDEA (The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act)
Requires special education staff to be appropriately licensed and endorsed.
State law – ECEA (Exceptional Children’s Educational Act)
Section 3.04 Personnel Qualifications - All personnel providing special education services to children with disabilities shall be qualified.
ECEA dictates the staff to student caseload match – Each special education teacher will serve, at a minimum, a majority of special education students with the same identified area of need as that teacher’s special education license endorsement. The endorsement level must be appropriate for the age being taught. 3

4. Qualified Status Staff are determined to be qualified by:
Holding a valid and appropriate CDE license for the assignment.
Holding an age level endorsement appropriate for the ages of students served.
Serving a majority of special education students with the same identified area of need as the staff’s special education endorsement; this is the 50% caseload match for:
JCC 202 Teacher, Special Education
JCC 238 Speech-Language Pathologist 4

5. Required Staff Director of Special Education
1/14/2019
Required Staff Director of Special Education
Each administrative unit is required to employ and report an appropriately licensed and endorsed special education director.
ECEA Rules 3.01(1)(c) Employment of a properly licensed and endorsed professional who will function at least half time as director of special education and who has the authority and responsibility to assure that all the duties and responsibilities of the AU as specified in these Rules are carried out.
Appropriate license type = ADM (administrator)
Appropriate endorsement = Director of Special Education
Job Code = 102 Special Education Director 5

6. Required Staff Child Find Coordinator
Each administrative unit is required to employ and report an appropriately licensed and endorsed child find coordinator. ECEA Rules 4.02(2)(b) Each administrative unit and state-operated program shall have one person designated as the child find coordinator who shall be responsible for an ongoing child identification process. Appropriate license type = TCH (teacher) SSP (special service provider) ADM (administrator - Director of Special Education) Appropriate endorsement = any special education endorsement (teacher, special service provider or administrator) Job Code = 330 Child Find Coordinator 6

7. Staff Report Job Class Codes 102 and 330
If no JCC 102 or 330 is reported the AU:
cannot pass all edit checks
will receive an error in the Staff Error Report
Please ensure that your AU has staff employed and reported in these two categories.
If no SPED Director or Child Find Coordinator is employed as of Dec 1st your AU must request an exception with CDE to allow you to pass edits and finalize your data. 7

8. Charter School Staff
Charter school staff who provide services to students identified on an Individualized Education Program (IEP) are reported in the Special Education December Count. Even if the Charter school has obtained a waiver for licensing requirements, the waiver does not apply to staff who provide services in special education, per IDEA regulations. Charter school staff in special education are required to hold a CDE license with an appropriate endorsement for the assignment/student caseload. 8

9. Purchased Service Staff
Purchased Service staff are those staff employed on a contractual basis.
Purchased Service staff are:
reported in the Special Education December Count
not exempt from licensing requirements
reported with Employment Status Code = 23 Purchased Services
Appropriate CDE license is required for the position/service, regardless of the amount of time, days or hours of the contract.
If the contractual agreement is valid for the period covering December 1st, position is reported regardless of whether the staff is actually “working” on December 1st
Example: A School Psychologist is contracted at the beginning of the year to conduct assessments.
No assessments were required on the annual count date of December 1st.
Position is still reported with the contracted salary amount and hours per day. 9

10. December 1st License Requirement
Special Education staff are determined to be “qualified” in December Count data validity reports by holding a valid and appropriate CDE license on the official count date of December 1st.
Licenses issued with an effective date of December 1st or prior are captured when the AU creates a Snapshot.
If staff does not hold a valid or appropriate license on December 1st:
the assignment record will fail SAM approval criteria
the position maintains non-qualified status 10

11. Staff Qualifications Reference Documents
Refer to reference documents posted in the Staff Approval Matrix (SAM) Trainings section at:
Staff Approval Matrix Training (this power point)
SAM Licensing Requirements by Job Classification
displays allowable license/endorsement types for job codes requiring a CDE license
Special Education Endorsement Qualifications by Assignment, Disability, and Age of Student
displays allowable endorsements for the placement of special education teachers (202) and Speech-Language Pathologists (238) for the 50% caseload match 11

12. Staff Approval Matrix (SAM)
SAM is an automated process in the December Count. SAM is generated at the time a Snapshot is created. SAM pulls in data from the Staff Assignment and IEP Interchange files. SAM connects staff data with Educator Licensing records. SAM determines qualified/non-qualified status for positions requiring a CDE license. SAM Warnings are generated and grouped together in the Staff Error Report. 12

13. Five Things to Know about SAM
SAM will run through the matrix process once a Snapshot is created.
SAM Warning messages are grouped together in the Staff Error Report.
SAM results change, depending on the most recent staff and student data in your Snapshot.
SAM allows opportunity for AUs to correct miscoding ensuring data validity.
SAM caseload misalignments are identified (50% endorsement to student disability category match). Primary Provider data generates the caseload. 13

14. License Types Non-Qualified Status
License types that are not appropriate for special education services include:
Emergency Authorization (1 year)
Substitute Authorization (1 year, 3 year or *5 year)
Staff positions reported with these license types will result in non-qualified status.
*NOTE: The 5 year Substitute Authorization is appropriate only for Job Code 202 Teacher, Special Education for staff who provide homebound services and who are reported with AIA Code 0032 Home/Hospital Instruction. 14

15. Review all SAM Warnings
Conduct research on all records that failed SAM approval criteria.
Connect with your Special Education Director and/or Human Resources Department for clarification of Job Codes, assignments, student caseloads, etc.
Did you report these accurately?
Job Code
Administrative/Instructional Area Code
Social Security Number
Student caseload data (generated based on EDID reported in Primary Provider field)
Correct staff data and create a new Snapshot. 15

16. Special Service Providers
Verify staff license type and endorsement prior to coding. Verify that staff positions are coded correctly in your Human Resources systems and are in alignment with job codes posted in the CDE Staff Interchange – Staff Assignment document.
Occupational Therapist = JCC 234
Physical Therapist = JCC 235
** these positions are often classified as “motor services” at the AU level with Job Codes interchanged during data reporting
Counselor = JCC 211
Psychologist = JCC 236
Social Worker = JCC 237
** these positions are often classified as “mental health services” at the AU level with Job Codes interchanged during data reporting 16

17. Instructional or Non-Instructional
Instructional staff license types:
Teacher license in special education
CDE licensed Speech-Language Pathologist
Non-Instructional staff license types:
Special Service Provider license
Administrator license in Director of Special Education
Records will fail SAM approval criteria if miscoded.
If not corrected, position maintains non-qualified status. 17

18. Instructional Job Codes
Staff holds a license as a special education teacher or Speech-Language Pathologist.
License is appropriate for the program, caseload or service provided.
JCC 107
Instructional Program
Coordinator/Supervisor
JCC 202
Special Education Teacher
JCC 238
Speech-Language Pathologist
JCC 215
Instructional Program Consultant 18

19. Non-Instructional Job Codes
Staff holds a Special Service Provider or Administrator (Director of Special Education) license appropriate for the program or service provided (e.g. School Psychologist, School Social Worker, etc.)
JCC 108
Non-Instructional Program
Coordinator/Supervisor
Special Service Providers
JCC 335
Non-Instructional Program Consultant 19

20. Staff to Student Caseload Match
Two distinct caseload match processes exist for Special Education Teachers (202) and Speech-Language Pathologists (238):
Grade Caseload Match in the Data Pipeline
happens when a Snapshot is created
grades marked “Yes” in the staff assignment record must match the grades of students in the IEP Participation file
Caseload Match in SAM
staff must hold an appropriate special education endorsement for the majority of student disabilities in the IEP Participation file 20

21. Grade Caseload Match (Data Pipeline)
Staff serving multiple grade levels must report all grades served.
Separate assignment record is required for Pre-K grade.
If Job Code is 202 or 238, K-12 grades must have multiple assignment records:
separate record for elementary grades
separate record for secondary grades
The grade caseload match records EDIDs reported in the Primary Provider or any of the Secondary Provider fields in the student IEP Participation file. 21

22. 50% Caseload Match Primary Provider (SAM)
Job Codes 202 Special Education Teacher and 238 Speech-Language Pathologist generate a student caseload.
Student caseload for SAM is based on the staff EDID reported in the Primary Provider field in the IEP Participation file.
Staff EDID reported in any one of the four Secondary Provider fields do not generate a student caseload.
Staff reported as the Primary Provider must hold the appropriate license and endorsement for the majority of student disability categories served. 22

23. Caseload Match Speech-Language Pathologist
The 50% caseload match for a CDE licensed Speech-Language Pathologist is met as follows:
The SLP is reported as the Primary Provider to students:
identified as disability 08-Speech or Language Impairment and/or
identified as disability 11-Developmental Delay
The SLP is reported as a Secondary Service Provider to students:
identified in any disability category who receive supplemental speech-language services 23

24. Report of Errors to Correct
Select SAM Warnings 24

25. 1/14/2019
Not Approved Staff 25

26. Caseload Summary
You will only see your Administrative Unit 26

27. Caseload Summary Report
Displays caseload percentages
Summary caseload data will display for all staff records (Job Codes 202/238) that passed and did not pass SAM approval criteria, except those records for staff who do not hold a valid license as of December 1st. 27

28. Personnel Status Report
1/14/2019
Personnel Status Report
Report is listed in the Cognos report menu
Report is signed, submitted and filed in the AU Compliance Tab-Attachment section in the Data Management System 28

29. Data Management System DMS
Special Education Directors will be contacted by staff in the ESSU’s Colorado Continuous Improvement Process (CCIP) team to address staff issues listed in the Personnel Status Report. Clarification is required on how the AU will rectify staff positions determined to be in non-qualified status. 29

30. Contact Information
Lauren Rossini - Staff Reporting and Qualifications Exceptional Student Services Unit Phone: Lindsey Heitman – Special Education December Count Custodian Data Services Office Phone: 30