Family & Community Special Communities
Special Education

New Data Collection Activities Required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA)

The purpose of this notice is to inform school districts of new data collection activities required by IDEA. IDEA-2004 requires states to develop a six-year strategic State Performance Plan (SPP) that evaluates each state's efforts to implement the requirements and purposes of IDEA. In the SPP, each state is required to provide baseline data, establish performance targets, and outline improvement activities that respond to 20 Indicators identified by the Federal Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). In addition, for each Indicator, the state is required to publicly report data at both the state and district levels.

As noted in the February 22, 2006 Commissioner's Update, the Massachusetts SPP (MA SPP) was submitted to OSEP in December 2005. For the majority of the Indicators data is already available through SIMS or other existing data collection activity. However, I write today because there are five Indicator areas for which the Department must collect additional data in order to measure performance and report the data. The areas are:

• Indicator #7 - Early Childhood Outcomes: Percent of preschool children with IEPs who demonstrate improved a) positive social-emotional skills; b) acquisition and use of knowledge and skills; and c) use of appropriate behaviors to meet their needs;
• Indicator #8 - Parent Involvement: Percent of parents with a child receiving special education services who report that schools facilitated parent involvement as a means of improving services and results for children with disabilities;
• Indicator #11 - Initial Evaluation Timelines: Percent of children with parental consent for initial evaluation, who were evaluated and eligibility determined within 45 days;
• Indicator #13 - Secondary Transition Planning: Percent of youth aged 16 and above with an IEP that includes, as appropriate, coordinated, measurable, annual IEP goals and transition services that will reasonably enable the student to meet post-secondary goals; and
• Indicator #14 - Post-School Outcomes: Percent of youth who had IEPs, are no longer in secondary school, and who have been competitively employed, enrolled in some type of postsecondary school, or both, within one year of leaving high school.

In order to view the full SPP report and read the specific requirements for each of these Indicators, go to http://www.doe.mass.edu/sped/spp/. Because of the nature of these five Indicators, local data collection activity is necessary.

To ease the data collection activity for districts, the Department has divided the state into four cohorts and will collect and report data on these Indicators based on a four-year cycle (2005-06 through 2008-09). We are working hard to make the required data collection as simple as possible and will, in many cases, sample a period of time or a selected group of students so that each data collection activity is manageable. Several districts are currently participating in pilot data collection activities to ensure that the data collected is accurate and that the burden on districts is minimal. Annually, each cohort will participate in data collection activities for one or two of these Indicators.^* Over a four-year period, every district in the state will have participated in the data collection activities for all five Indicators. The data will be reported publicly each year for the districts that have participated in the collection activity as well as the districts that participated in prior years for each of the four-year cycles.

Attached is the District Cohort Assignment list, the Data Collection Schedule for the Indicators identified above, and an Activity Overview by Cohort. Districts will receive a letter within the coming months providing more detailed information on the data collection requirements for the Indicator areas to which the district is assigned during the 2006-07 School Year. If you have any questions or require additional information, please contact the Special Education Planning and Policy Development Office at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (781-338-3375).

• District Cohort Assignment List

• Data Collection Schedule for Indicators #7, #8, #11, #13, and #14

• Activity Overview by Cohort
  • Cohort 1
  • Cohort 2
  • Cohort 3
  • Cohort 4
  
  
  

^* Boston has an average daily membership of greater than 50,000 students. Therefore, it must participate in data collection and reporting activities for all five Indicators every year in order that the annual data is representative of the state as a whole. The Department will work with Boston to identify four cohorts so that the data collection for Boston is also simplified as much as possible.