Improving Special Education Services (ISES)

Stakeholders Meeting

Discussion Group Recommendations

December 9, 2011

Performance Data/SPP Indicators Discussion Group Notes

• What additional data and hypotheses are needed?

• General
• Make district’s data, which is sent to the State, more reliable
• Successful districts share data collecting/reporting process possibly via Webinars
• Identify sources of indicator data
• Ongoing assessments needed & used
• Need for data meeting/sharing across agencies – clearing house for data collection
• More TA for districts/ schools - Re: Special Ed data (Best practices)
• Is there a way data systems can speak to each other?
• Visual depiction of data a must.
• What outcomes are students with disabilities getting regardless of placement settings?
• What information is the Individualized Education Program (IEP) team utilizing in their decision-making process to ensure the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) compliant placement decisions?

• Indicator 3
• Disaggregate by all proficiency levels by school and district, make data available
• Accessing data

• Indicator 5
• Why are the LRE benchmarks not being met?
• Indicators 6-8
• Reliable data from State and Federally-funded Pre-K programs for children with disabilities and report in user-friendly ways

• Indicator 13
• Train how to integrate timely & measurable transition goals into the IEP
• Are transition competencies aligned with secondary transition training needs?
• What is the definition of “Competitively employed” and “Higher Education”, e.g. What is the minimum hours worked and pay earned?; What is the minimum number of units earned to be considered “higher education”?

• Indicator 14
• Disaggregate by disability

2. Based on trend data review, what needs and priorities surfaced?

• Targeting LRE (Indicators 5 and 6)
• Reliable data                 
• Do something with the data

• ELA & Math Proficiency –all levels, especially high school
• Secondary Transitions
  • Data related to IEP
• School to career
• IEP exit plan
• Sharing consistent and valid data across agencies
• At school and district level, TA & Professional Development for all administrators and teachers: general and  special education
•  Data collecting systems
• Analyzing own data
• Utilizing the data
• Disproportionality
•  African American students
• Clear definition of suspension & expulsion
• Under-represented
• Cultural competence throughout all indicators –
• What does data show?
• What do we do about it? (RTI may be a solution. Who do the students belong to – Special Education only?
• Start early & sustain through to high school
• At school and district level, TA and Professional Development to teach collaborative skills re: RTI

3.  What kind of improvement activities do you suggest?

• LRE is driving force
• Data Process
• Identify sources
• Collect (consistent and reliable)
• Analyze
• Utilize data to improve instruction and learning
• TA in all levels of systems – State, SELPA, LEA, school
• Using Best Practices
• TA needs to model
• Systematic and integrated process
• Sustained Focus  
• Resources needed – focused, time, materials, staff
• Professional Development for ALL staff:
• Teachers: General Education and Special Education
• Administrators
• Higher Learning – CTC, Universities, Community colleges
• Train on Frequent not calculated (NC)’s data
• Statewide IEP document to reduce NC
• Publish list of frequent NC
• Review school climate survey (Special Education supports module)
  

Compliance Discussion Group Notes

• What additional data and hypotheses are needed?

• Need to disseminate noncompliant findings to general education

• Break out data by:
• Year, grade (e.g. elementary, secondary, preschool), placement
• Monitoring forms categories (e.g. school age, preschool, English Language Learners, secondary transition) 
• Analysis data:
• English Language Learners
• Evaluation of change by cause, population size, and district size
• Review data from the California School Climate Survey

• Based on trend data review, what needs and priorities surfaced?

No comments recorded.

• What kind of improvement activities do you suggest?

No comments recorded.

Consumer Discussion Group Notes

• What additional data and hypotheses are needed?
• Synthesize data to help make sense of it all
• Use qualitative data – how to effectively use it?]
  • How might we better capture anecdotal information about positive experiences that families and children have?
• Parent surveys:
• Who did not receive the surveys?
• Who are we not hearing from?
• If gaps, how to get better representation?
• We do not have a random stratified data sample. Why? Do we need it?
• Combine data from different surveys to see if there are similarities in compliance complaints Parent Training and Information Centers (PTIs), Family Resources Centers (FRCs), etc.
• Describe the process for moving from data-informed identification of focus areas for State Performance Plan (SPP). We have data and then what?
• Create summary of what surveys are distributed listing audience and purpose.
• Create chart on surveys listing top three findings
• Based on trend data review, what needs and priorities surfaced?
• What kind of improvement activities do you suggest?
• Display data results from surveys in a user-friendly, easily understood manner
• Develop feedback system to the families that participated in a survey so those families would be more likely to participate in the future. This strategy could increase survey completion rates.