Special Education


State Performance Plan (SPP) for 2005-2012 - Revised February 2011 - Indicator 11

Overview of the State Performance Plan Development

See Overview of the State Performance Plan (SPP) Development preceding Indicator 1.

Monitoring Priority: Effective General SupervisionPart B/Child Find

Indicator 11:  Percent of children who were evaluated within 60 days of receiving parental consent for initial evaluation or, if the State establishes a timeframe within which the evaluation must be conducted, within that timeline.
(20 U.S.C. 1416(a)(3)(B))

Measurement:

(a) # of children for whom parental consent to evaluate was received.

(b) # of children whose evaluations were completed within 60 days (or State established timelines*).

Account for children included in (a) but not included in (b).  Indicate the range of days beyond the timeline when the evaluation was completed and any reasons for the delays.
Percent = [(b) divided by (a)] times 100.**

*The State’s established timelines to complete the initial evaluation and eligibility determinations is 30 school days for preschool students and 60 calendar days for school age students.

**Language in the Measurement was changed to reflect United States Education Department (USED) guidance issued in March 2009, which consolidated items (b) and (c) into one category (b) to simplify the Measurement.  This change does not affect computations of results.

New York State’s (NYS) Calculation:

In reporting baseline data for 2005-06, NYS computed its baseline data by adding “d. # of students whose evaluations were completed outside the required time line but for reasons that were in compliance with State requirements. These students were added to the numerator, so the formula was [(b+c+d) divided by (a)] times 100.

New York’s current formula for calculating results for this indicator is as follows:

  1. # of children for whom parental consent to evaluate was received (Does not include students whose evaluations were completed past the State-established timelines for reasons that are in compliance with State requirements.)
  2. # of children whose evaluations were completed within 30 school days for preschool children and 60 calendar days for school-age students.

Percent = [(b) divided by (a)] times 100.

Data Source:

NYS uses individual student data taken from the State data system.  In 2005-06 NYS collected aggregated data from sample schools using the PD-9 form.  In 2006-07 the State collected aggregated data using the PD-11 form.  Beginning with the 2007-08 year, NYS collects individual student data for this indicator via the Student Information Repository System (SIRS) and verifies these data by displaying them in a VR11 report, which was developed in the PD Data System.  SIRS is NYS’ individual student data reporting system.

NYS’ Method Used to Collect Data

NYS collects individual student data through SIRS.  School districts report specific dates when special education events occur such as the date of referral, date of written parent consent for an initial individual evaluation and the date of the Committee on Preschool Special Education (CPSE) or Committee on Special Education (CSE) meeting to discuss evaluation results.  Information is also collected regarding the number of days from receipt of parent consent to evaluate the child and the date of the CPSE or CSE meeting to discuss evaluation results. If the number of days exceeds the State established timelines, reasons for delays are collected.  Some reasons are considered to be in compliance with State requirements and other reasons are not in compliance. Each school district’s compliance rate is calculated. NYS requires documentation from each school district whose compliance rate is less than 100 percent that demonstrates each student’s evaluation was completed and that it complies with the regulatory time lines associated with timely completion of initial individual evaluations.

Overview of Issue/Description of System or Process

NYS law and regulations require the evaluation and eligibility determination of a preschool student be made within 30 school days of receipt of the parent's consent to evaluation.   The CPSE provides the parent with a list of approved programs that have a multidisciplinary evaluation component.  The parent selects the approved evaluation program to conduct the individual evaluation of his or her child and the board of education arranges for the evaluation by the service provider selected by the parent.  In addition, with the consent of the parents, approved evaluators and CPSEs must be provided with the most recent evaluation report for a child in transition from programs and services provided pursuant to title two-a of article 25 of the Public Health Law. 

For school-age students, the initial evaluation to determine if a student is a student with a disability must be completed within 60 calendar days of receiving parental consent for the evaluation, with exceptions for students who transfer to another school district after the evaluation period has begun and when the parent of a student repeatedly fails or refuses to produce the student for the evaluation.

Baseline Data for FFY 2005 (2005-06)

NYS did not collect this information prior to 2005-06. A new PD-9 form has been developed to begin collecting data on the timely determinations of eligibility for preschool and school-age students from the receipt of parental consent to evaluate to the determination of eligibility and the reasons for delays.  Baseline data will be collected in 2005-06 and reported in the February 2007 revised SPP.

Plan to Collect Baseline Data

NYS will collect data on an annual basis from a statewide representative sample of school districts in the State using a new PD 9 form.  The PD form must be submitted by October 15th annually.

Baseline data will be collected on children that meet the following criteria:

  • All preschool students (or the minimum number required in a sample) for whom parents provided consent to evaluate for special education programs and/or services anytime during the 2005-06 school year (July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2006), regardless of the source of referral; and
  • All school-age students (or the minimum number required in a sample) for whom parents provided consent to evaluate for special education programs and/or services anytime during the 2005-06 school year (July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2006), regardless of the source of referral, age, and the school students attended or currently attend.

To collect baseline data on the timeliness of eligibility determinations for children referred for preschool special education programs and/or services, the PD form will direct school districts to report the following information:

  • The number of preschool children whose parents provided consent to evaluate for special education programs and/or services during the 2005-06 school year (July 1, 2005 – June 30, 2006) and the number of school days within which eligibility determinations were made for preschool children (within 30 days or less; within 31-40 days; within 41-50 days; and more than 50 days) both for students determined eligible and not eligible for preschool special education services. 
  • The reasons when the number of children with consent for evaluation exceeds the number of children for whom an eligibility determination was made (e.g., evaluations pending; parents withdrew consent; child moved to another school district; other reason).
  • The reasons for delays in the initial eligibility determination of preschool children (e.g., evaluator not available; parent did not make the child available for the evaluation; parent canceled the scheduled evaluation and selected another approved evaluator; child transferred into the district after the initial evaluation was initiated in another school district; other reason).

To collect baseline data on the timeliness of eligibility determinations for school-age students for special education programs and services, the PD form will direct the school districts to report the following information:

  • The number of school-age students whose parents provided consent for an initial evaluation for special education programs and/or services during the 2005-06 school year (July 1, 2005-June 30, 2006).
  • The reasons for a greater number of students with consent for evaluation than the number of students with initial eligibility determinations (e.g., numbers awaiting evaluations; numbers whose parents withdrew consent to evaluate; numbers who moved to another school district before the evaluation was completed; other reason).
  • The reasons for the delays in the initial eligibility determinations (e.g., shortage of personnel to conduct the evaluation; parent repeatedly did not make the student available for the evaluation; student transferred into the district after the evaluation period began in the prior school district and the parent and new district agreed to an extended time period; other reason).
  • The number of calendar days within which eligibility determinations were made for school-age students (within 60 days or less; within 61-70 days; within 71-80 days; within 81-100 days and more than 100 days) both for students determined eligible and not eligible for school-age special education services. 

The State Education Department (SED) will conduct random data verification reviews to ensure accurate reporting.  SED will also establish procedures to require corrective action in school district that report noncompliance.

Sampling methodology

Sampling will be used to establish the 2005-06 baseline for this indicator.  One-sixth of the school districts in NYS will report data for this indicator annually until all school districts have reported data within six years.   This represents approximately 120 school districts each year.  The New York City (NYC) School District will be included in the sample each year.  It is the only school district in the State with a total enrollment of 50,000 or more students. 

NYS has distributed all school districts among six statewide representative samples. These six groups of school districts were tested with Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and there was no statistical difference among the six groups of school districts on the population variables described in Attachment 2.

For 2005-06 and 2006-07, school districts scheduled to report on Indicator 11 had a choice of reporting data on all eligible students or submitting data on a randomly selected sample of minimum number of students using the sampling guidelines provided below. 

Federal Indicator Number Eligible Population of Students From Which A Random Sample Must be Selected Minimum Number of Students in the Sample Method for Selecting Students Required Documentation
11 For all preschool and school-age students: All students for whom parental consent to evaluate was received during the school year (July 1 – June 30). Use a sampling calculator.  Require 95% confidence interval and plus or minus 2% margin of error. Random selection using a random number table. Documentation period is seven years.
Maintain list of all eligible students, copy of Random Number Table used, beginning random number for selecting students and list of all students who were selected and their number.

SED required that school districts maintain documentation as described above if they chose to report data on a sample of students. The totally random sampling methodology and required documentation would eliminate selection bias. The State would attempt to prevent missing data by first describing precisely what SED needs to collect, providing technical assistance and then following up with school districts to request missing data.  The completeness of data collection was expected to improve after the first year and continue to improve as long as requirements remain unchanged.  All issues of confidentiality are handled in accordance with the rules and procedures in FERPA.  SED guards against divulging personally identifiable information by not reporting results when there are less than five students for whom data are available or when those results can be easily calculated based on other data provided.

NOTE:  Beginning with reporting for 2007-08, the option of sampling students for Indicator 11 was discontinued.  No districts scheduled to report on this indicator, except for NYC, are permitted to sample students to report for this indicator.  See Sampling Plan, Attachment 2.

Baseline Data for FFY 2005 (2005-06

For the 2005-06 school year, 116 school districts that are representative of the State provided data to the State on the number of preschool and school-age students that were referred to the CPSE or CSE for an initial determination of eligibility for special education programs and/or services and the numbers of these children that were determined eligible and the number that were determined not eligible within 30 school days for preschool children and within 60 calendar days for school-age students. School districts also provided reasons for delays in the determinations of eligibility.  Of the 116 school districts reporting data for this indicator, 114 provided information on all eligible children and 2 provided information on a sample of students.

The following are baseline data for the 2005-06 school year. The baseline data will be re-established in the 2006-07 school year because this indicator’s timeline was revised by the USED from a measure of the number of days between parental consent to evaluate to determination of eligibility for special education to a measure of time between parental consent to evaluate to the date when evaluation was completed.

Statewide Results 2005-06
  A B C D E
Category of Students Number of Preschool and School-Age Students for Whom Parental Consent to Evaluate Was Received Number of Students Determined Not Eligible Within Timeline Number of Students Determined  Eligible Within Timeline Federal Rate Described Under the Measurement Section:
(B+C)/A		 Baseline Data: (Eligibility Decision Made in Accordance with State Requirements)
Preschool Children 5,538 266 1,244 27.3% 53.4% (includes 1,450 additional students)
School-Age Students 7,330 1,419 3,855 72.0% 78.3% (includes 462 additional students)
Total for All Students 12,868 1,685 5,099 52.7% 67.6% (includes 1,912 additional students)

 

Results by Special Education Quality Assurance (SEQA) Region:

Results in Central SEQA Region (2005-06)
  A B C D E
Category of Students Number of Preschool and School-Age Students for Whom Parental Consent to Evaluate Was Received Number of Students Determined Not Eligible Within Timeline Number of Students Determined  Eligible Within Timeline Federal Rate Described Under the Measurement Section: (B+C)/A Baseline Data: (Eligibility Decision Made in Accordance with State Requirements)
Preschool Children 253 9 43 20.6% 34.0% (includes 34 additional students)
School-Age Students 503 81 225 60.8% 71.8% (includes 55 additional students)
Total for All Students 756 90 268 47.4% 59.1% (includes 89 additional students)

Results in Eastern SEQA Region (2005-06)
  A B C D E
Category of Students Number of Preschool and School-Age Students for Whom Parental Consent to Evaluate Was Received Number of Students Determined Not Eligible Within Timeline Number of Students Determined  Eligible Within Timeline Federal Rate Described Under the Measurement Section: (B+C)/A Baseline Data: (Eligibility Decision Made in Accordance with State Requirements)
Preschool Children 525 50 134 35.0% 57.3% (includes  117 additional students)
School-Age Students 667 208 318 78.9% 83.4% (includes  30 additional students)
Total for All Students 1,192 258 452 59.6% 71.9% (includes  147 additional students)

Results in Hudson Valley SEQA Region (2005-06)
  A B C D E
Category of Students Number of Preschool and School-Age Students for Whom Parental Consent to Evaluate Was Received Number of Students Determined Not Eligible Within Timeline Number of Students Determined  Eligible Within Timeline Federal Rate Described Under the Measurement Section: (B+C)/A Baseline Data: (Eligibility Decision Made in Accordance with State Requirements)
Preschool Children 822 23 136 19.3% 47.9% (includes   235 additional students)
School-Age Students 1,322 260 467 55.0% 63.0% (includes   106 additional students)
Total for All Students 2,144 283 603 41.3% 57.2% (includes  341 additional students)

Results in Long Island SEQA Region (2005-06)
  A B C D E
Category of Students Number of Preschool and School-Age Students for Whom Parental Consent to Evaluate Was Received Number of Students Determined Not Eligible Within Timeline >Number of Students Determined  Eligible Within Timeline Federal Rate Described Under the Measurement Section:
(B+C)/A		 Baseline Data: (Eligibility Decision Made in Accordance with State Requirements)
Preschool Children 1,098 75 313 35.3% 47.3% (includes    131 additional students)
School-Age Students 1,644 511 731 75.5% 82.2% (includes   110 additional students)
Total for All Students 2,742 586 1,044 59.4% 68.2% (includes  241 additional students)

Results in New York City SEQA Region (2005-06)
  A B C D E
Category of Students Number of Preschool and School-Age Students for Whom Parental Consent to Evaluate Was Received Number of Students Determined Not Eligible Within Timeline >Number of Students Determined  Eligible Within Timeline >Federal Rate Described Under the Measurement Section:
(B+C)/A		 Baseline Data: (Eligibility Decision Made in Accordance with State Requirements)
Preschool Children 2,100 39 357 18.9% 55.6% (includes    772 additional students)
School-Age Students 2,236 220 1,471 75.6% 81.8% (includes    138 additional students)
Total for All Students 4,336 259 1,828 48.1% 69.1% (includes 910 additional students)

Results in Western SEQA Region (2005-06)
  A B C D E
Category of Students Number of Preschool and School-Age Students for Whom Parental Consent to Evaluate Was Received Number of Students Determined Not Eligible Within Timeline >Number of Students Determined  Eligible Within Timeline Federal Rate Described Under the Measurement Section:
(B+C)/A		 Baseline Data: (Eligibility Decision Made in Accordance with State Requirements)
Preschool Children 740 70 261 44.7% 66.5% (includes     161 additional students)
School-Age Students 958 139 643 81.6% 66.5% (includes     23 additional students)
Total for All Students 1,698 209 904 65.5% 76.4% (includes    184 additional students)

Reasons

Following is an analysis of the reasons reported that the school districts were not able to meet the State required timeline.  Reasons have been separated into two categories: those that are determined to be "in compliance" with State regulations and those that are determined to be "out of compliance" with State regulations. 

Some of the “in compliance” reasons for exceeding the required timeline for 1450 preschool children and 462 school-age students were as follows:

  • Parents withdrew consent to evaluate
  • Student/parent moved out of school district before the determination of eligibility
  • Parents refused or repeatedly did not make the child available for the evaluation
  • Parents cancelled the evaluation/selected another evaluator
  • Child transferred to a new district after the evaluation period began and parents and new district agreed to an extended time period.

Some of the “out of compliance” reasons provided by school districts exceeding the required timeline for 2,578 preschool and 1,594 school age students were as follows:

  • Shortages of personnel to conduct evaluations
  • Additional evaluations were needed than originally scheduled
  • Scheduling difficulties that cause untimely CPSE or CSE meetings
  • Still awaiting eligibility determination as of reporting date

Extent of Delays

Following is an analysis of the number of days past the timeline that eligibility determinations were made for preschool children. Some of these delays are for reasons determined to be "in compliance" while others have been determined to be "out of compliance".  However, NYS did not collect data in such a way as to be able to differentiate between the two types of delays:

SEQA Region (2005-06) 31-40 Days 41-50 Days 51-60 Days More than 60 Days
Central 39 36 47 57
Eastern 123 84 45 54
Hudson Valley 224 156 93 132
Long Island 344 181 68 67
New York City 465 335 216 316
Western 160 93 59 59
Total State 1,355 885 528 685

Number of Days past the timeline that eligibility determinations were made for school-age students:

Some of these delays are for reasons that are “in compliance” with State regulations and some for reasons that are “not in compliance”.  NYS did not collect data in such a way as to be able to differentiate between the two types of delays:

SEQA Region (2005-06) 61-70 Days 71-80 Days 81-100 Days More than 100 Days
Central 45 38 47 27
Eastern 49 27 25 15
Hudson Valley 80 102 189 99
Long Island 136 66 76 59
New York City 108 84 105 98
Western 50 39 41 28
Total State 468 356 483 326

Discussion of 2005-06 Baseline Data

  • NYS collected aggregate numbers of students in each school district according to the number of days past the timeline when eligibility determinations were made, so we do not have data to be able to differentiate the delays between reasons that are “in compliance”  and “not in compliance” with State regulations.
  • The baseline data provided above indicates that significantly larger percentages of school-age students’ eligibility determinations are made within the required timeline compared to preschool children’s eligibility determinations.  This is indicative of NYS’ shorter time line for determining eligibility for preschool children.
  • An analysis of the baseline data by SEQA region indicates that the overall rate for determination of eligibility within required timelines  for preschool and school-age students combined is as follows from highest to lowest:

Western: 76.4 percent; Eastern: 71.9 percent; New York City: 69.1 percent; Long Island: 68.2 percent; Central: 59.1 percent and Hudson Valley: 57.2 percent

  • Of all the delays in determination of eligibility for preschool children, 39.2% were for 31-40 days, 25.6 for 41-50 days, 15.3% for 51-60 days and 19.8% for more than 60 days.
  • Of all the delays in determination of eligibility for school-age students, 28.7% were for 61-70 days, 21.8% for 71-80 days, 29.6% for 81-100 days and 20.0% for more than 100 days.

Baseline Data for FFY 2006 (2006-07)

Federal changes in the definition of the indicator in 9/06 necessitated resetting a new baseline.  2006-07 school year data are the State’s new baseline data; they cannot be compared to prior year’s data.

NYS’ new baseline data are that 64.2 percent of all students received evaluations within the State required timeline. School age students were more likely to receive a timely evaluation at 78.4 percent compared to preschool students at 44.2 percent.  

During the 2006-07 school year, one sixth of the school districts in the State were required to report data for this indicator. The data provided below represents data from 113 school districts. All school districts except NYC provided data on all eligible children. NYC provided data for a representative sample.

Statewide Baseline, 2006-07
  A B C
Category of Students Number of Students for Whom Parental Consent to Evaluate Was Received Number of Students Whose Evaluations were Completed Within State Timelines Percent = [b divided by a] times 100
Preschool Children 4,836 2,139 44.2%
School-Age Students 6,815 5,342 78.4%
Total for All Students 11,651 7,481 64.2%

The following data is presented by the SEQA regions of the State to inform needed regional improvement activities. 

Baseline Results by Regions, 2006-07
  A B C
Category of Students Number of Students for Whom Parental Consent to Evaluate Was Received Number of Students Whose Evaluations were Completed Within State Timelines Percent = [b divided by a] times 100
Central Region
Preschool Children 580 134 23.1%
School-Age Students 877 639 72.9%
Total for All Students 1,457 773 53.1%
Eastern Region
Preschool Children 409 155 37.9%
School-Age Students 499 385 77.2%
Total for All Students 908 540 59.5%
Hudson Valley Region
Preschool Children 438 115 26.3%
School-Age Students 592 489 82.6%
Total for All Students 1,030 604 58.6%
Long Island Region
Preschool Children 806 623 77.3%
School-Age Students 836 621 74.3%
Total for All Students 1,642 1,244 75.8%
New York City
Preschool Children 1,261 501 39.7%
School-Age Students 2,133 1,738 81.5%
Total for All Students 3,394 2,239 66.0%
Western Region
Preschool Children 1,342 611 45.5%
School-Age Students 1,878 1,470 78.3%
Total for All Students 3,220 2,081 64.6%

Reasons

Following are reasons why school districts were not able to meet the State required timeline.  Reasons have been separated into two categories: those that are determined to be "in compliance" with NYS regulations and those that are determined to be "out of compliance" with NYS regulations. 

As stated in NYS’ measure for this indicator, the percent does not include students whose evaluations were completed past the State established timelines for reasons that are in compliance with State requirements.  Some of the “in compliance” reasons for exceeding the required timeline for 1,338 preschool children and 374 school-age students were as follows:

  • Parents withdrew consent to evaluate.
  • Student/parent moved out of school district before the evaluation was completed.
  • Parents refused or repeatedly did not make the child available for the evaluation.
  • Parents canceled the evaluation/selected another evaluator.
  • Child transferred to a new district after the evaluation period began and parents and new district agreed to an extended time period.

Some of the “out of compliance” reasons provided by school districts exceeding the required timeline for 2,697 preschool and 1,473 school-age students were as follows:

  • Shortages of personnel to conduct evaluations.
  • Evaluator delays in completing the evaluations.
  • Scheduling difficulties that cause untimely CPSE or CSE meetings.

Extent of Delays

Following is an analysis of the number of days past the timeline for completion of evaluations for preschool children. Some of these delays are for reasons determined to be "in compliance" while others have been determined to be "out of compliance". However, NYS did not collect data in such a way as to be able to differentiate between the two types of delays. NYS will be able to differentiate in the 2007-08 school year, when these data will be collected at the individual student level.

Number of Days of Delay in Completing Evaluations of Preschool Students (2006-07)
SEQA Region 1-10 Days of Delay 11-20 Days of Delay 21-30 Days of Delay More than 30 Days of Delay
Central 131 142 95 149
Eastern 91 85 59 68
Hudson Valley 116 99 70 71
Long Island 175 38 13 15
New York City 382 291 188 213
Western 286 257 144 156
Total State 1,181 912 569 672

Below is the number of days past the timeline that evaluations of school-age students were completed. Some of these delays are for reasons that are “in compliance” with NYS regulations and some for reasons that are “not in compliance”. NYS did not collect data in such a way as to be able to differentiate between the two types of delays. NYS will be able to differentiate in the 2007-08 school year, when these data will be collected at the individual student level:

Number of Days of Delay in Completing Evaluations of School Age Students (2006-07)
SEQA Region 1-10 Days of Delay 11-20 Days of Delay 21-30 Days of Delay More than 30 Days of Delay
Central 92 49 67 43
Eastern 38 24 38 18
Hudson Valley 63 27 23 9
Long Island 99 52 71 51
New York City 116 62 99 91
Western 147 82 96 49
Total State 555 296 394 261

Discussion of 2006-07 Baseline Data

  • The baseline data provided above indicates that significantly larger percentages of school-age students’ eligibility determinations are made within the required timeline compared to preschool children’s eligibility determinations. This is indicative of NYS’ shorter time line for determining eligibility for preschool children.
  • An analysis of the baseline data by SEQA region indicates that the overall rate for determination of eligibility within required timelines for preschool and school-age students combined is as follows from highest to lowest:  Long Island: 75.8 percent; New York City: 66.0 percent; Western: 64.6 percent; Eastern: 59.5 percent; Hudson Valley: 58.6 percent; and Central: 53.1 percent.
  • Of all the delays in evaluating preschool children, 35.4 percent were delays of 1-10 days; 27.4 percent were delays of 11 to 20 days; 17.1 percent were delays of 21 to 30 days; and 20.2 percent were delays of more than 30 days.
  • Of all the delays in evaluating school-age students, 36.9 percent were delays of 1-10 days; 19.7 percent were delays of 11 to 20 days; 26.2 percent were delays of 21-30 days; and 17.3 percent were delays of more than 30 days. 

Measurable and rigorous targets

FFY Measurable and Rigorous Target
2005
(2005-06)		 100 Percent of children with parental consent to evaluate will be evaluated and eligibility determined within State required timelines.
2006
(2006-07)		 100 Percent of children with parental consent to evaluate will be evaluated within State required timelines.*
2007
(2007-08)		 100 Percent of children with parental consent to evaluate will be evaluated within State required timelines.
2008
(2008-09)		 100 Percent of children with parental consent to evaluate will be evaluated within State required timelines.
2009
(2009-10)		 100 Percent of children with parental consent to evaluate will be evaluated within State required timelines.
2010
(2010-11)		 100 Percent of children with parental consent to evaluate will be evaluated within State required timelines.
2011
(2011-12)*		 100 Percent of children with parental consent to evaluate will be evaluated within State required timelines.
2012
(2012-13)*		 100 Percent of children with parental consent to evaluate will be evaluated within State required timelines.
*Beginning with reporting for this Indicator in the 2006-07 school year, USED guidance changed the criteria to address the timeline between receipt of parent consent to evaluate and the completion of the evaluation and dropped consideration of the timeline from parental consent for evaluation to eligibility determination.
**In FFY 2009, USED requested states to add two additional years to the SPP, including adding two additional years of targets.

Improvement Activities/Timelines/Resources:

Activity Timelines Resources
Provide incentives and professional support activities to ensure the availability of appropriately qualified assessment personnel 2005-12* Bilingual Personnel Development Center
Bilingual Special Education Personnel Preparation
Special Education Support Program (rev. 1/10)
Bilingual School Psychology and Speech and Language
Analyze reasons for delays in evaluations and provide technical assistance to school districts to address those factors that are district/regional issues. 2007-12* SEQA and Policy staff
Consider changes to State required timelines to align school age and preschool timelines with federal regulations. 2007-08 SED Policy staff
Clarify State policy to require school districts to conduct evaluations of preschool students when an approved evaluator is not available to meet the required timelines.  Issue guidance to the field. 2007-08
Completed
(See APR 2/08)		 SED Policy staff
Update and widely disseminate the guidance document: Individual Evaluations and Eligibility Determinations for Students with Disabilities and Guide for Determining Eligibility and Special Education Programs and/or Services
for Preschool Students with Disabilities 		2009-10
(dates revised 1/10)		 SED Policy staff
Ensure more appropriate referrals for evaluations by promoting a response-to-intervention process to ensure appropriate instruction prior to referral for special education.
  • Amend State policy to define the response to intervention process
  • Develop and disseminate statewide guidance on response to intervention processes
  • Provide grants to support response to intervention processes to school districts with high classification rates
  • Provide professional development to SEQA monitoring staff and Regional Special Education Technical Assistance Support Centers (RSE-TASC) staff on research-based literacy programs and response to intervention programs.
2007-12* State law/regulation amendments
OSE Policy/Program Development Staff
RSE-TASC (rev. 1/10)
*Note: Extended the end dates to 2012 coinciding with extended dates of the SPP (rev. 2/11).
Last Updated:

 

February 22, 2011 ate -->