1. Overview of AIR Special Education Program Review and Next Steps
Presented to the Shoreline Special Needs PTA
November 14, 2018

2. (added from Insert tab, Header & Footer icon, Fixed Date and time) 1/23/2018
Purpose of the Report
Gather and collect the perceptions and needs of staff and parents of the quality of services for students with disabilities in Shoreline Public Schools
Identify strengths
Identify priority areas
Provide recommendations
The purpose of this review was to gather and analyze staff and parent perceptions about the quality of special education  services, processes, and procedures and offer recommendations for addressing identified concerns. This report summarizes our results of SPS’s strengths and areas in need of improvement and identifies recommendations for SPS to consider as it continues its efforts to improve services for students with disabilities (students with disabilities).
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3. Quality Indicators Staffing
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Quality Indicators
Staffing
Staff Collaboration and Professional Development
Inclusive Education and instructional practices
Placement
Individualized Education Plans (IEPs)
Equitable Access
Response to Intervention/Multi-tiered System of Support and Data- Driven Decision Making
Communication
Staffing – staffing amount and staffing quality
Staff collaboration and PD:
PD Format
PD effectiveness
PD needs
Inclusive Education and instructional practices
General Education instr. practices
Special education instr. practices
Inclusion climate
Placement
Process
Practices and procedures
Equity and access
IEP Meetings
RTI/DBDM practices
RTI/MTSS
DBDM
Communication
External: parents and stakeholders outside of the school
Internal: teachers, students, school and district staff .
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4. Data Sources Focus Groups Extant data and documents Surveys
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Data Sources
Focus Groups
General education staff
Special education staff
District leadership interview
Parents of students with disabilities
Students
Extant data and documents
Surveys
Staff
Parents (English and Spanish)
Conducted across 8-month period, January 2018 and August 2018
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5. Response Rate A total of 291 personnel took the staff survey.
888 parents took the parent survey, 354 were parents of students with disabilities.

6. Review and Full Board Presentatation Slides are available on the website
In Departments and Programs Tab, select “Special Education”
In the menu on the left, select “Special Education Program Review Report”

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Priority Areas
Staff and parents believe that the current allocation and quality of staff is not adequate to support the social, emotional, and behavior needs of students with disabilities.
Many staff feel there are not enough professional development (PD) opportunities for their role, although staff perceptions of their level of preparation to teach students with disabilities vary by role.
Although most staff and parents believe students with disabilities spend an appropriate amount of time in general education, parents of some groups of students feel their children are less included in core instruction and school community.
Most students with disabilities are served in the general education setting, but the decision-making process for determining placement is not clear to parents or staff and varies across schools.
Schools are implementing some level of tiered systems of support, but the use of data within the system is perceived inconsistent, according to parents and staff.
Although most staff and families view district and school communication efforts positively, these efforts are perceived to be implemented inconsistently across families and schools.
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Recommendations
We offer four major recommendations geared towards addressing the results outlined in the report and improving supports and outcomes for struggling students and students with disabilities in SPS.
Strategic Planning. Develop a strategic plan to improve communication, staffing, instructional practices, and placement process for students receiving transition services. Develop a systematic process for communication among staff and stakeholders.
Staffing: Explore the ratio of staff to students in both general and special education classroom settings and how staff roles and responsibilities are allocated.
Professional Development. Increase capacity of general and special ed educators to effectively include students with disabilities in the general education instruction, to the extent appropriate, and in the school community.
Clear guidance. Develop clearly written guidance resources in high-need areas (such as IEP development, placement decisions, use of data, etc.) that are easily accessible to the intended user (i.e., parents and school staff).
We offer four major recommendations geared toward addressing the results outlined in this report and improving supports and outcomes for struggling students and students with disabilities in SPS.
Recommendation 1. Create a task force of stakeholders to develop a strategic plan to improve communication, staffing, instructional practices, and placement process for students receiving transition services.
Recommendation 2. Increase capacity of general and special educators to effectively include students with disabilities in the general education instruction, to the extent appropriate, and in the school community
Recommendation 3. Develop clearly written guidance resources in high-need areas that are easily accessible to the intended user (i.e., parents and school staff).
Our results suggest a need for written guidance to support schools in successfully implementing MTSS, writing quality IEPs (i.e., IEP goal writing, use of data), making appropriate placement decisions, supporting students in inclusive settings, communicating with staff and families, and implementing other special education requirements (see results 5 and 6).
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10. Next Steps Complete the charge to the committee Seek committee members
Begin the meetings in January
Time commitment and times of meetings TBD…
Will reach out to leadership of this group for support finding parent participants
I’ll be back in January with more details!
Encourage you to peruse the report

11. Thank you!!!!!