Transcript BRC Template (v15) - Education Industry Association

Dr. Jovan Jacobs
Compton USD, CA
and
Dr. Philip E. Geiger
“Special Education – Responding
to the Changes”
Prepared for:
EdVentures
July 17, 2014
Dr. Jovan Jacobs
Workshop Goal
The goal of this session is to provide an
understanding of the needs and continuum of
services with special education
in order to explore the wide array of business
opportunities available to innovators and
entrepreneurs.
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Dr. Jovan Jacobs
Objectives
Participants will understand a basic understanding of:
 IDEA 2004
 IEP process (referral, assessment, documentation, and
implementation)
 Continuum of programs and services
 School Districts expectations from venders and services
Participants will explore opportunities for products and services:
 Finding ways to reduce special education costs
 Improving performance of special needs students
 Monitoring and using data
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What is the Status of Things?
 South Dakota Gov. Rounds – “next year worst
budget scenario ever seen” – 50% of state budget
goes to education – “spending will need to be
flexible”
 North Carolina DPI cutting $117M - $59M from
districts, $58 from lapsed positions and travel
 Montana Gov. said next two years are going to be
bad
 Guilford County, NC halts school construction
 California sold bonds to close cash shortage
 South Carolina cut education spending 3%
 California cut education funding $2.4 B
 Rhode Island cut $1M from School for the Deaf
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What is the Status of Things Now?
 Hawaii raised school lunches from $1.25 to $2
 LAUSD cut $200M-$400M by early retirements,
layoffs, larger class sizes, unpaid furlough days
 Hartford, CT froze school spending
 DeKalb, GA cut $20M and laid off 127 teachers,
cutting signature bus service
 25% of the school budget goes to 12% of the
students – SPECIAL EDUCATION
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What Are The Issues
Impacting Education Funding/Spending?
 National Economic Crisis
 State Budget Deficits
 Taxpayer Fear
 80 Million Baby Boomers
 Competing for health care
 Social Security
 Medicare – School Based Claiming
 Fewer than 1:5 households have kids in school
 Infrastructure Decay
 High Enrollments Now; Decline Forthcoming
 Lack of Confidence in Schools (other people’s)
 New School Funding Plans
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What Are The Issues
Impacting Education Funding/Spending?
 Equity Issues
 Competition – Charters (including online),
Private, Religious, Home Schooling
 New School Funding Plans
 Public Employee Pensions and GAP
Accounting
 Significant High School Drop Out Rate
 Fade into Postsecondary Education
 Technology in the Classroom
 Technology to Improve Efficiency and
Productivity
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Dr. Jovan Jacobs
Compliance: IDEA Federal Law
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) includes:
 Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)
 Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) is to have the special
education Student’s educational program serviced as much as
possible in the general education setting based on the disability
 Eligibility for Special Education Services
 Supports: accommodations, modifications
 Conflict: Alternative Dispute Resolution, Mediation, and Due
Process
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Dr. Jovan Jacobs
Responsibilities
Principal Responsibilities
 Ensure that special education teachers know all the goals for the
students with disabilities
 Ensure that teachers are providing appropriate modifications
and accommodations
 Ensure that teachers are providing differentiated instruction
 Monitor compliance and process for students with special needs
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Dr. Jovan Jacobs
Teacher Expertise
General Educators bring to the team:
– Expertise on the general curriculum
– Knowledge of how the student is progressing in the general curriculum
– Ideas about positive behavioral interventions
Special Educators and Related Service Providers bring to the team:
– Expertise on disabilities, evaluations, and assessment
– Provide, design, and/or supervise special education services
– Ability to accommodate and/or modify instruction
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Dr. Jovan Jacobs
Continuum of Programs and Placements
Placements options
A. Regular Education Classes/Inclusion
B. Individual/Small Group Setting (Tutoring)
C. Resource Room
D. Separate Facility
E. Home Instruction
F. Institutions and Hospitals
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Dr. Jovan Jacobs
Continuum of Services
Related Services are support services needed to allow children with disabilities
to benefit from special education. These include:
Adapted Physical Education Services
 Aide Services
 Audiological Services
 Behavior Consultant
 Braillist
 Interpreter Services
 Occupational Therapy Services
 Orientation & Mobility Services
 Physical Therapy Services
 School Psychological Services
 Speech and Language Services
 Transportation
 Vision Specialist
 Work-Study/Transition Services



Other Support Personnel/Programs
Counseling Services
Nursing Services
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The 9 Driving Forces
1. Culture
2. Out-of-District Placements
3. Professional Development
“Culture is not the most important thing in organizational functioning.
It is the only thing that is important…” Peter Drucker
 The more conversant the Superintendent was in Special Education issues, the lower the cost and
more satisfactory the performance
 Open and transparent systems = less cost and higher satisfaction
 The further removed district leadership was from complete and routine appreciation of the data, the
higher the costs and the less satisfaction with performance
 Real costs of out-of-district placements:
1) financial 2) organizational 3) equal opportunity 4) educational
 Districts uniformly did not invest in professional development
 Districts routinely spent more than 80% of the school budget on salaries; but less than 1% on
training
 District-wide routine and broadly inclusive training/mentoring = lower costs and greater satisfaction
with outcomes
 Broader view of professional development than just contract compliance = mentoring/coaching;
blogs; conference calls; and study groups
The Response to needs of School
Districts
 Professional Development
 Coaching
 Case Management Software
• Data Management
• Compliance
• Parental Engagement
• State and District Reporting
 Attention to the Autism Spectrum–1:85 students
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MAXIMUS TIENET
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The 9 Driving Forces (continued)
4. Therapists and Clinicians
5. Utilization of Paraprofessionals
 Districts without consistently strong and tight management had a higher
incidence rate of self-referral, higher costs, and less satisfactory outcomes
 An absence of electronic monitoring
 Management issues: 1) schedules 2) discharges 3) entrance and exit criteria
4) 3 year IEP review 5) inclusion 6) stakeholder awareness 7) transparency
Districts tended to focus on numbers/costs rather than utility/success
 Management issues: 1) absence of entranced and exit criteria
2) disproportionality 3) personal versus professional decision making
 Districts without tight management had higher costs and less satisfactory
performance
The Response to needs of School
Districts
• Outsource Clinical Services
– Psychologists
– Occupational Therapists
– Speech Therapists
– Physical Therapists
• Outsource Professional Services
– Teacher Aides
– Home Instructors
– Nurses
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The 9 Driving Forces (continued)
6. Pre-Referral Performance
 Districts that assigned this as a Special Education responsibility had a
higher cost than districts assigning this leadership to regular education
(RTI and IDEA)
 Leadership less conversant with the data had higher costs and less
satisfactory performance
The Response to needs of School
Districts
• Response to Intervention
–
–
–
–
Software (TIENET RtI)
Professional Development –
Instructional Material
Performance Probes
• Early Childhood Programs – PreSchool 3-5
• Childcare - Infant - 5
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The 9 Driving Forces (continued)
7. Team Leaders
 The more routine and compliance focused the function, the higher
the cost
 The greater the focus on case management skills, the lower the
cost and the more satisfactory the performance
The Response to needs of School
Districts
 More Data Collection
– Expectations for More Performance Data for Special Education
Students
– Comparisons of Special Needs Student Performance with Cohort and
General Student Population
– Federal Demands for Performance Data for Special Needs Students
 Professional Development
 Specialized Curriculum Material for Special Needs Students
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The 9 Driving Forces (continued)
8. Mental Health and Behavioral Issues
 The most significant increase of incidents in Special Education service
demands and the least accepted and recognized
 The less the district invested in core capability of addressing mental
health and behavioral issues, the higher the cost and more exclusive
the service
The Response to needs of School
Districts
 Collection of Behavioral Information
• Integrated Software with SPED Case
Management and SIS
 Recommended Strategies for Addressing
Behavioral Issues
• Professional Development
 Short Online Videos and Vignettes
• Software Programs for if this, then that
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The 9 Driving Forces (continued)
9. Money and Span of Control
 Districts appear to already be spending the money; use “district-related
groups” as an indicator of measurement tool
 Districts where the Superintendent and Director of Special Education
were conversant with all costs and % of children receiving services, the
lower the cost and the greater perception of success
 Most districts do not spend Special Education dollars efficiently or
effectively; decision making is often characterized by response to crisis
needs creating a system of “patchwork quilt” of add-ons
 Districts utilizing resources to provide in-district programs attracting
admissions from neighboring districts have lower costs
 Districts attending to rethinking and reorganizing the delivery system
had more stable costs
Predicting The Future…

There will be one!

More Professional Development

More Data Collection (analysis, prescriptive, resources)

More Specialized Curriculum Material

More Outsourcing of Specialized Services

Greater Consideration of the Autism Spectrum

Effort to Reduce the Number of Special Needs Students – RtI, Equity

Effort to Re-Direct More $ to General Ed

More on Line Instruction

More Technological Content

Greater Synergy between K-12 and Postsecondary

Demand for Greater Financial Transparency

Salaries will reflect demand

Consolidation of Back Office Functions
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Contact Information
Dr. Philip E. Geiger, Senior Vice President
MAXIMUS K-12 Education, Inc.
1891 Metro Center Drive, Reston, VA 20190
703-251-8508 (Direct)
703-251-8240 (Fax)
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Contact
Dr. Jovan Jacobs, SELPA Director of
Compton Unified School District
Email: [email protected]
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