5. Comment on Waiver Request Related to the MCAS Alternate Assessment:
The Department intends to seek an extension of its existing waiver from the federal requirement that no more than 1 percent of eligible students in Massachusetts take alternate assessments. During the 2018-2019 school year, 1.4 percent of eligible Massachusetts students took the MCAS-Alt. Anyone who would like to comment on DESE’s request for a waiver can submit their comments via email to mcas@doe.mass.edu until Saturday, August 15.
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6. DESE Resource Corner:
Students with IEPs Ages 6-21 Edwin Report: The Department is pleased to announce the creation of a new special education Edwin report, entitled SP601: Students with IEPs Ages 6-21, that is now available to school districts. The new report allows users to customize a list of individual students ages 6-21 who have individualized education programs (IEPs). This list contains demographic information, special population data, and state assessment results data. Searches can be expanded across multiple years and narrowed by a wide range of search criteria related to student demographics and/or district and school information.
The SP601 report is available in Edwin Analytics in the DESE Security Portal. For any questions about this report, please contact the Office of Special Education and Planning and Policy Development at specialeducation@doe.mass.edu or by calling 781-338-3375.
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7. Autism Insurance Resource Center:
The Autism Insurance Resource Center (AIRC) at UMass Medical School is a comprehensive resource for information related to insurance coverage for autism treatments. The center assists with both MassHealth and private insurance and provides information, referral, and technical assistance to families, educators, providers and employers. School personnel are welcome to contact the center for technical assistance on insurance-related issues or refer families directly.
The resources on the center’s website at https://massairc.org/ include a fact sheet library with translations in Spanish, Vietnamese, Portuguese, and Chinese. A special section of the site has COVID-19 information for families and providers and a fact sheet with links to comprehensive resources.
The center also hosts webinars and trainings on a variety of insurance-related topics and is happy to arrange specialized trainings for school district personnel or special education parent advisory councils (SEPACs). For more information, visit them online or call 774-455-4056.
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