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Special Education:
Balancing Student Achievement with
IDEA Compliance
CERA Conference
December 1-2, 2011
Anaheim, California
Pamela McCabe
Marion Miller
WestEd.org
Getting to know YOU
•
•
•
•
What’s your name?
Where do you work?
What is your role?
How are you involved in IDEA
compliance?
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Balancing Compliance with
Achievement Outcomes
• Explore procedures to streamline
IDEA compliance monitoring
• Become familiar with key
practices that influence
achievement for students with
disabilities
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Something Has Got to Change:
Rethinking Special Education
Aligning Management Skills with
Responsibilities:
• Student Learning
• Special Education Daily Operations
• Student Social and Emotional Needs
• Finance and Operations
Levenson, N. 2011
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$50,000
Average cost of a due process
hearing
$90 million
Annual expenditure for conflict
resolution
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It’s Hard
723
Number of compliance items
monitored by CDE in 2010-11
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More than half of the states fail to
ensure full compliance with:
• Transition
• Free appropriate public
education
• Procedural safeguards
• Least restrictive environment
National Council on Disability
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What happens when you’re
out-of-compliance with IDEA?
• The Superintendent of Public
School can apply sanctions
• At risk for family disputes
• Student consequences
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“Clearly, we must improve how we work
together as parents, teachers, and
administrators – and focus on constructively
resolving our differences in a way that allows
us to focus our best energies and the bulk
of our resources on securing positive
outcomes for our students.”
Fred Balcom, Director
California Department of Education
Special Education Division
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Least Restrictive Environment
In General Education Classroom
80% or more
80
68
70
60
57
52
50
40
30
20
10
0
National Average
CA Target
CA Average
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California Achievement Gap - 2011 AYP
All Students and Students with Disabilities
70
60
58.4
56.2
50
40
36.2
34.4
All Students
Students with Disabilities
30
20
10
0
ELA
Math
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Thirteen Disability Categories
CA: Dec. 2010
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Improving Outcomes for SWD
Research Says . . .
INCLUSION
University of Massachusetts
AIR California Schools
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A Study of Achievement and Promising
Practices in Urban Special Education: A
Summary of Field Research Findings
• Study conducted by Donahue
Institute in October 2004
• Districts were selected using
statewide achievement data
• Interviewed administrators,
teachers and other support staff
in ten schools
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Achievement and Promising Practices in
Urban Special Education
University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute
• A well disciplined academic and social
environment
• Pervasive emphasis on curriculum alignment
with state standards
 Emphasis on inclusion and access to the
curriculum
• Effective system to support curriculum
alignment
• Culture and practices that support high
standards and student achievement
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Achievement and Promising Practices in
Urban Special Education
University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute
• Use of student assessment data to Inform
decision making
• Unified practice supported by targeted
professional development
• Access to resources to support key initiatives
• Effective staff recruitment, retention, and
deployment
• Flexible leaders and staff that work effectively
in a dynamic environment
• Effective leadership is essential
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Lessons from California Districts Showing
Unusually Strong Academic Performance
for Students in Special Education
• California Comprehensive Center
• American Institutes for Research
(AIR) – January 2011
• Identified eight unified districts in
California with unusually strong
academic performance for
special education population
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Lessons From Successful Districts
• Inclusion and access to the core
curriculum,
• Collaboration between special
education and general education
teachers
• Continuous assessment and use of
RtI
• Targeted professional development
• The use of explicit direct instruction.
(AIR, Jan 2011)
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Activity: Identify Common Themes
• Find a partner and identify
common themes from the two
studies.
• Describe to your partner your
district’s level of implementation
for each theme.
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Designing School-Wide Systems for
Student Success
Academic Systems
Behavioral Systems
Intensive
5-10%
Strategic
Benchmark
80-90%
Special Education
1-5%
Intensive
1-5%
5-10%
Strategic
80-90%
Benchmark
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Evidence Based
Intervention Programs
Florida Reading Research Center
IES What Works Clearinghouse
National Center on Response to
Intervention
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"The biggest mistake schools make
is failing to teach children how to
read,”
Peter Wright of Wrightslaw.
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Components of Inclusive Schools
Educational
Infrastructure
Instructional
School
Culture and
Leadership
Family and
Community
Partnerships
Capacity
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Educational infrastructure to
support inclusive education. The
campus is physically accessible
and classroom environments are
conducive to learning. Adequate
time is allocated for special
educators and general
educators to collaborate.
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Instructional capacity where
teachers are well prepared to
deliver standards-aligned
instruction and utilize instructional
strategies that have been shown
to be effective for a broad range
students, including students with
disabilities.
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School culture and site leadership
that shows a commitment to high
expectations for all students and
a shared ownership for all
students. The site leadership
ensures that resources are
available to support inclusive
practices.
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Family and community
participation that reflects a strong
partnership for student
achievement. The site offers
training and resources to assist
families. Students and families
actively participate in planning
and implementation of
educational goals.
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Most Effective Strategy
A Proactive Plan
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Study Your Compliance Data
• District Annual Performance Report
• Due Process History
• Results of Verification Reviews or
Self-Reviews
• Compare your LRE data with the
state average and state targets
• Check with your CDE FMTA
consultant
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Study Your Achievement Data
• Disaggregate AYP data by
disability category, ethnicity,
gender, English learner status
• Examine CST, CMA,CAPA,
CAHSEE scores
• Look at your achievement gap
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Make an Action Plan
• Use compliance and achievement
data to identify needs
• Determine which compliance items
need monitoring
• Determine achievement progress
monitoring tools
• Include professional development
plan: curriculum, progress
monitoring, collaboration, IEP
development, supplementary aids
and services
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Accountability Checks - Compliance
Quarterly
• Random IEP Reviews for specific
items related to compliance data
• Review Initial Eligibility Evaluations
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Accountability Checks – Compliance
Monthly
• Due dates for IEPs
• Initials
• Annual
• 3-year re-evaluations
• Number of suspension days
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Accountability Checks - Achievement
Quarterly
• Progress Monitoring results
aligned with interventions
• Benchmark Assessments
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Jigsaw: Beyond Compliance Toward
Improvement
• Get in groups of 4
• Number off 1-4
• Follow reading assignments from
guided notes
• Each person reports key
concepts from their section
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Best Wishes
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