March’s Special Education Coordinator Meeting March 12, 2013

Agenda Indicator 14 SC-Alt April’s Meeting SCDE Onsite Visit Follow-Up Evaluations/Reevaluations/Referrals Dates to Remember

Indicator 14 Post Secondary Outcomes Via SCDE contractor New procedure from SCDE: Districts ensure accuracy of information. Zenobia will send out Ind 14 pulls by the end of day on Thursday (3/14/13). Schools will need to go into Excent to make the corrections to the cells that are highlighted. After ensuring all corrections are made, schools are to send Zenobia a clean pull of Indicator 14 (please send encrypted with standard password). Deadlines to Zenobia are noon on March 25 th. If you have any questions, please let Zenobia know.

SC-Alt Testing is in full-swing. Last day of testing is April 26, 2013 Royal Live Oaks still needs to pick up the testing materials New Participation Guidelines (click):New Participation Guidelines Procedures still the same: Notify Robbie prior to making an IEP team decision to move a child over to SC-Alt.

April’s Meeting There has been a change: April 9 th meeting canceled Rescheduled: April 10 th Face-to-Face (at District Office) 9:30am – 3:30pm

SCDE Onsite Follow-up On March 6, 2013, the district received official follow-up from the SCDE regarding their onsite visit. What was received: Individual file feedback Global feedback from pre-submission documents: Student handbooks District Policies School-Level Procedures

SCDE Onsite Follow-up Brief overview of the findings: Commendations: The SCPCSD offers choice for SWD OEC appreciates the revised language in the SC Charter School Law re: District Responsibility General education staff understands IDEA and special education Offer multiple ways of conducting meetings District professional development is articulated

SCDE Onsite Follow-Up General Area of Concerns: Procedural issues such as PWN and meeting notifications Parents may be less involved with their children’s special education programs Postsecondary transition Large number of “special reviews” that took place prior to the onsite visit

SCDE Onsite Follow-up Citations 24 out of 24 IEPs cited for noncompliance 19 out of 19 additional folders reviewed from the two schools cited for noncompliance Additional Citations: Certification: Services not being delivered by an appropriately certified and highly qualified teacher Policy/Procedures: Schools didn’t have written procedures (specific to the school) and District didn’t have their procedures (monitoring/oversight) in writing

SCDE Onsite Follow-up IEP Compliance: Top Areas of Noncompliance Are children with disabilities achieving at high levels? Q55: Severity of Disability Statement in PLOP (N=9) Q60: PLAAP (N=8) Q62: Annual Goals Relating to Disability (N=14) Q63: Other Annual Goals (N=11) Q65: Progress Measured (N=8) Q66: When Progress Reported (N=8) Q69: Nonparticipation with Nondisabled (N=13) Are youth with disabilities prepared for life, work and postsecondary education? Q34: Strengths Considered (N=7)* Q77: Meeting Notice (Transition) (N=8)* Does the District implement IDEA to improve services and results for children with disabilities? Q6: Parent Right to Assessment (N=7)* Q23: PWN Completion (N=19)

SCDE Onsite Follow-up IEP Compliance Basic Compliance *SCDE’s new interpretations: Q34: Strengths Considered (N=7)* In the present levels, a statement regarding the student’s strength IN THE AREA of the child’s disability(ies) must be evident. Bad Example: Billy’s strength is math. In the area of written expression, he’s still writing sentences that lack proper capitalization which makes it difficult to read his writing. Good Example: In the area of written expression, his strength is in the area of spelling; however, when he writes his sentences, he lacks proper capitalization which makes it difficult to read his writing. (this then becomes a FINDING which needs baseline data to properly reflect as a present level)

SCDE Onsite Follow-up IEP Compliance: *SCDE’s new interpretations: Q77: Meeting Notice (Transition) (N=8)* For all kids age 12 and up, for every meeting, this needs to marked on the letter of notification: “To discuss transition service needs or to develop a transition plan” Q6: Parent Right to Assessment (N=7)* During a reevaluation, when the IEP team determines that no additional data are needed, the following statement MUST BE in writing to the parents: “The parents have the right to request an assessment to determine whether the child continues to be a child with an disability, and to determine the educational needs of the child (34 CFR § (d)). The LEA is not required to conduct the assessment unless requested to do so by the child’s parents.” We are going to deal with this through adding a statement to our evaluation/reevaluation document. This form will be updated (and put on SharePoint) by Wednesday morning.

SCDE Onsite Follow-up Next Steps: School-Level Corrective Action Plans More information will be provided regarding the school-level corrective action plan. Individual File Corrections Each file cited for noncompliance must be corrected ASAP, but in no case later than November 1, We’ll talk about specifics on how to hold correction meeting and requirements at our April 10 th meeting.

Evaluations/Reevaluations/Referrals RtI/SIT/SAT/…teams – all charters address this issue These data are critical for helping the team determine whether the student’s weaknesses/low scores/poor performance is due to a disability or to a lack of intensive, differentiated, additional instruction Reevaluations – make sure you’re addressing all areas adequately and are describing the existing information upon which the team is making the continued eligibility decision.

Data Calendar Change March 19 – 20: IEPs marked complete (canceled – however still need to mark IEPs complete shortly after an IEP meeting) March 25 th (noon): Indicator 14 corrections

Dates March 19, 2013 “Writing IEPs” web- training is canceled. Rescheduled: April 11: at 2:30pm for all teachers April 11: 3:30 – 4pm (for ms and hs teachers) April 10, :30am – 3:30pm District Office