Assessment/Accountability
Program Quality Assurance Services
Compliance and Monitoring

Methods used in reviewing programs include:

• Review of documentation about the operation of the charter school or district's programs.
• Interviews of administrative, instructional, and support staff across grade levels.
• Interviews of parent advisory council (PAC) representatives and telephone interviews as requested by other parents or members of the general public.
• Review of student records for special education (and for student accommodation plans under Section 504), English learner education, and career/vocational technical education. The Department selects a representative sample of student records for the onsite team to review, using standard Department procedures, to determine whether procedural and programmatic requirements have been implemented.
• Surveys of parents of students with disabilities and parents of English learners. Parents of students with disabilities whose files are selected for the record review, as well as the parents of an equal number of other students with disabilities, are sent a survey that solicits information regarding their experiences with the district's implementation of special education programs, related services, and procedural requirements; parents of English learners whose files are selected for the record review are sent a survey of their experiences with the district's implementation of the English learner education program and related procedural requirements.
• Observation of classrooms and other facilities. The onsite team visits a sample of classrooms and other school facilities used in the delivery of programs and services to determine general levels of compliance with program requirements.

Note on collaborative programs and services. Where the district is a member of a collaborative approved by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and is a site for programs or services operated by the collaborative within the district's schools, interviews, student record review, and observation of classrooms are conducted for those particular collaborative programs.

Content:
Ratings. The onsite team gives a rating for each compliance criterion it reviews; those ratings are "Commendable," "Implemented" (meaning at least substantially implemented), "Partially Implemented," "Not Implemented" (meaning at least substantially not implemented), and "Not Applicable."

Findings. The onsite team includes a finding for each criterion that it rates "Commendable," "Partially Implemented," or "Not Implemented," explaining the basis for the rating. It will also provide a narrative statement explaining the designation of "Not Applicable."

Where criteria are found "Partially Implemented" or "Not Implemented," the district or charter school must propose corrective action to bring those areas into compliance with the relevant statutes and regulations. This corrective action plan will be due to the Department within 20 business days after the issuance of the Final Report and is subject to the Department's review and approval. Department staff will offer districts and charter schools technical assistance on the content and requirements for developing an approvable CAP.

Department staff will provide ongoing technical assistance as the school or district is implementing the approved corrective action plan. School districts and charter schools must demonstrate effective resolution of noncompliance identified by the Department as soon as possible but in no case later than one year from the issuance of the Department's Final Program Review Report.

Methods used in reviewing special education programs include:

Self-Assessment Phase: This is a requirement for all districts participating in the web-based monitoring system and is completed in the year prior to the onsite review.

• District/school review of special education documentation for required elements including document uploads. Upon completion of this portion of the district/school's self-assessment, it is submitted to the Department for review.
• District/school review of a sample of special education student records selected across grade levels, disability categories, and level of need. Additional requirements for the appropriate selection of the student record sample can be found in Appendix II: Student Record Review Procedures of the School District Information Package for Special Education. Upon completion of this portion of the district/school's self-assessment, it is submitted to the Department for review.

Desk Review Phase: The chairperson assigned to each district/school reviews the district's responses to questions regarding the critical elements for appropriate policies, procedures, and practices, as well as actual documents and data submissions by criteria. The district's student record review data and explanatory comments are examined by focus area and by criteria. The outcome of this review, along with Indicator data collected by the Department and 3-year trend data from the Problem Resolution System, is used to determine the scope and nature of the Department's onsite activities.

Onsite Verification Phase: This includes activities selected from the following:

• Interviews of administrative, instructional, and support staff consistent with those criteria selected for onsite verification.
• Interviews of parent advisory council (PAC) representatives and other telephone interviews as requested by other parents or members of the general public.
• Review of student records for special education: The Department selects a sample of student records from those the district reviewed as part of its self-assessment to verify the accuracy of the data. The Department also conducts an independent review of a sample of student records that reflect activities conducted since the beginning of the school year. The onsite team will conduct this review, using standard Department procedures, to determine whether procedural and programmatic requirements have been implemented.
• Surveys of parents of students with disabilities: Parents of students with disabilities whose files are selected for the record review, as well as the parents of an equal number of other students with disabilities, are sent a survey that solicits information regarding their experiences with the district's implementation of special education programs, related services, and procedural requirements.
• Observation of classrooms and other facilities: The onsite team visits a sample of classrooms and other school facilities used in the delivery of programs and services to determine general levels of compliance with program requirements.

Note on collaborative programs and services: Where the district is a member of a collaborative approved by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and is a site for programs or services operated by the collaborative, interviews, student record review, and observation of classrooms are conducted for the collaborative.

• Review of documentation about the operation of the charter school or district's programs such as Civil Rights (CR), English Learner Education (ELE), and Career Vocational Technical Education (CVTE).
• Interviews of administrative, instructional, and support staff across all grade levels.
• Telephone interviews as requested by other parents or members of the general public.
• Review of student records for English learner education and career/vocational technical education. The Department selects a representative sample of student records for the onsite team to review, using standard Department procedures, to determine whether procedural and programmatic requirements have been implemented.
• Parents of English language learners are sent a survey, in the language of the home, of their experiences with the district's implementation of the ELE program and related procedural requirements, if their student's record was selected for review by the onsite team.
• Observation of classrooms and other facilities. The onsite team visits a sample of classrooms and other school facilities used in the delivery of programs and services to determine general levels of compliance with program requirements.

Content of Final Report:
Ratings. In the Final Report, the onsite team gives a rating for each compliance criterion it has reviewed; those ratings are "Commendable," "Implemented," "Partially Implemented," "Not Implemented," and "Not Applicable."

Findings. The onsite team includes a finding in the Final Report for each criterion that it rates "Commendable," "Partially Implemented," or "Not Implemented," explaining the basis for the rating. It will also provide a narrative statement explaining the designation of "Not Applicable."

Where criteria are found "Partially Implemented" or "Not Implemented," the district or charter school must propose corrective action to bring those areas into compliance with the relevant statutes and regulations. This corrective action plan (CAP) will be due to the Department within 20 business days after the issuance of the Final Report and is subject to the Department's review and approval. Department staff will offer districts and charter schools technical assistance on the content and requirements for developing an approvable CAP.

Department staff will provide ongoing technical assistance as the school or district is implementing the approved corrective action plan. School districts and charter schools must demonstrate effective resolution of noncompliance identified by the Department as soon as possible but in no case later than one year from the issuance of the Department's Final Program Review Report.