Family & Community Special Communities
Special Education

Special Education Annual Report
December 1, 2002

This report provides an overview of activities related to special education for the period beginning November 1, 2001 and ended November 30, 2002. This report responds to Budget Section 432, Chapter 159 of the Acts of 2000, and FY 2002 Budget, which reads, in part:

Section 432. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education shall annually, on or before November 1, report to the general court on the implementation of the provisions of this act. Such report shall include a description on the progress made by school districts in implementing the federal standard, cost increases or savings in cities or towns, the degree of success in providing students with special services within the district or commonwealth, the extent of the development of educational collaboratives to provide necessary services, the increase or decrease of the number of children served, federal non-compliance issues and other such matters as said department deems appropriate. Such report shall be filed with the clerks of the House of Representatives and the senate who shall forward the same to the joint committee on education, arts and humanities and the house and senate committees on ways and means...

Special Education Activities and Programs:

Overview. The Department, through its Office of Special Education Planning and Policy Development (SEPP) herein describes its progress in its mission and its degree of success in ensuring the appropriate provision of special education to eligible students in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for the past year. This report covers selected federal and state-mandated activities planned, communicated, conducted and reviewed during the past year. Topical headings are presented in bold letters for easy reference.

Administrative Advisories. Ten administrative advisories were issued during the period under review. Beginning with the most recent advisory, they include: Administrative Advisory SPED 2003-1: Changes to Massachusetts Special Education Law; Administrative Advisory SPED 2002-5: Special Education Contracts Between School Districts and Out-of-District Programs [603 CMR 28.06(3)(f)]; Administrative Advisory SPED 2002-4 - REVISED: Special Education Students in Out-of-District Placements - Participation in MCAS Testing and High School Graduation Standards; Administrative Advisory SPED 2002-3: Vocational Educational Services for Students with Disabilities; Administrative Advisory SPED 2002-2: Requirement to Review Refusals to Evaluate for Special Education Eligibility; and Administrative Advisory SPED 2002-1: Guidance on the change in the special education standard of service from "Maximum Possible Development" to "Free Appropriate Public Education" ("FAPE") - effective January 1, 2002.

Informational Forums. From November 1, 2001 to November 30, 2002, Program Quality Assurance (PQA) sponsored statewide informational and educational meetings throughout the Commonwealth. In twenty-three (23) discussion groups/meetings held during this review period, 470 Special Education Administrators, Directors of Collaboratives and/or Private School Directors attended. All participants received and provided information on policies and procedures related to special education to ensure ongoing current information for all school districts, collaboratives, and approved special education schools.

SEPP conducted spring conferences in April and May of 2002 related primarily to writing appropriate and responsive IEPs. Over 500 participants (special education administrators, teachers, related service providers and agency and higher education representatives) attended the spring conferences. Additionally, the Department sponsored parent trainings across the Commonwealth through a contract with the Federation for Children with Special Needs. Such trainings occurred in all regions and covered topics such as parental rights in special education, understanding transition requirements of special education and building effective partnerships with schools.

Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS). In the spring of 2002, more than 500,000 Massachusetts students participated in the fifth administration of the MCAS. A total of twelve MCAS tests were administered and three tests were administered as pilots, across seven

grade levels. The Department continued to make every effort in 2002 to identify and bring on line all schools, including those out-of-state that are providing publicly funded special education services to Massachusetts's students. As of FY 2001, the MCAS and the Alternate Assessment test results for students in out-of-district programs have been included in the results for Massachusetts's school districts.

The MCAS results for all students, including students with disabilities are presented on the Department's website in detail. The following two two charts show, first, the performance of general education students on the MCAS tests in school year 2001-2 and second, the performance of special education students on the same tests. For ease of reference, the special education chart shows the number of students in increments of 1,000, while the general education chart shows the number of students in increments of 100,000.

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