Opportunity to Join -- Massachusetts Special Education State Performance Plan Interest Groups
The Special Education Planning and Policy Office is seeking members for Massachusetts Special Education State Performance Plan (MA SPP) Indicator Interest Groups.
The MA SPP was developed to evaluate the state's efforts to implement the requirements and purposes of the federal special education law (IDEA-2004) and describe how Massachusetts will improve in various areas over time. The MA SPP is a six-year plan that responds directly to 20 indicators identified by the federal Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). All states in the nation are developing similar plans and responding to these same 20 indicators.
Interest groups for indicator areas have been developed, and members of these Indicator Interest Groups receive e-mail updates on current work related to the Indicator area and have opportunities to provide input to help guide Massachusetts' work in each Indicator area.
Persons interested in joining an Interest Group for one or more of the Indicator areas are encouraged to contact the appropriate individual specified below from the Special Education Planning and Policy Development Office. We are seeking representation from parents, special educators, general educators, administrators, college professors, and others interested in improving results for students with disabilities in Massachusetts.
A brief description of each Indicator follows along with contact information should you be interested in joining an interest group associated with that Indicator. You are welcome to join more than one Interest Group. Additional information on each Indicator can be found at: http://www.doe.mass.edu/sped/spp/
For additional information on joining one or more of the following Interest Groups, please contact William Blackwell at wblackwell@doe.mass.edu
Graduation and Dropout
Indicator 1: Percent of youth with IEPs graduating from high school with a regular diploma compared to percent of all youth in the State graduating with a regular diploma.
Indicator 2: Percent of youth with IEPs dropping out of high school compared to the percent of all youth in the State dropping out of high school.
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Student Performance
Indicator 3: Participation and performance of children with disabilities on statewide assessments:
- Percent of districts meeting the State's AYP objectives for progress for disability subgroup.
- Participation rate for children with IEPs in a regular assessment with no accommodations; regular assessment with accommodations; alternate assessment against grade level standards; alternate assessment against alternate achievement standards.
- Proficiency rate for children with IEPs against grade level standards and alternate achievement standards.
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Suspension/Expulsion
Indicator 4: Rates of suspension and expulsion:
- Percent of districts identified by the State as having a significant discrepancy in the rates of suspensions and expulsions of children with disabilities for greater than 10 days in a school year; and
- Percent of districts identified by the State as having a significant discrepancy in the rates of suspensions and expulsions of greater than 10 days in a school year of children with disabilities by race and ethnicity.
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Educational Environments
Indicator 5: Percent of children with IEPs aged 6 through 21:
- Removed from regular class less than 21% of the day;
- Removed from regular class greater than 60% of the day; or
- Served in public or private separate schools, residential placements, or homebound or hospital placements.
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Early Education - Preschool Educational Environments, Preschool Outcomes, and Early Childhood Transition
Indicator 6: Percent of preschool children with IEPs who received special education and related services in settings with typically developing peers (i.e., early childhood settings, home, and part-time early childhood/part-time early childhood special education settings).
Indicator 7: Percent of preschool children with IEPs who demonstrate improved:
- Positive social-emotional skills (including social relationships);
- Acquisition and use of knowledge and skills (including early language/ communication and early literacy); and
- Use of appropriate behaviors to meet their needs.
Indicator 12: Percent of children referred by Part C prior to age 3, who are found eligible for Part B, and who have an IEP developed and implemented by their third birthdays.
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Parent Involvement
Indicator 8: 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. |
Disproportionality
Indicator 9: Percent of districts with disproportionate representation of racial and ethnic groups in special education and related services that is the result of inappropriate identification.
Indicator 10: Percent of districts with disproportionate representation of racial and ethnic groups in specific disability categories that is the result of inappropriate identification.
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Initial Evaluation Timelines
Indicator 11: Percent of children with parental consent to evaluate, who were evaluated within theState established timeline. |
Secondary Transition Planning
Indicator 13: Percent of youth aged 16 and above with transition planning that includes coordinated annual goals and transition services that will reasonably enable the student to meet his/her post-secondary goals in the identified areas. |
Post-School Outcomes
Indicator 14: 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.
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General Supervision - Indicators 15 and 16
Indicator 15: General supervision system (including monitoring, complaints, hearings, etc.) identifies and corrects noncompliance as soon as possible but in no case later than one year from identification.
Indicator 16: Percent of signed written complaints with reports issued that were resolved within 60-day timeline or a timeline extended for exceptional circumstances with respect to a particular complaint.
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General Supervision - Indicators 17, 18, and 19
Indicator 17: Percent of fully adjudicated due process hearing requests that were fully adjudicated within the 45-day timeline or a timeline that is properly extended by the hearing officer at the request of either party.
Indicator 18: Percent of hearing requests that went to resolution sessions that were resolved through resolution session settlement agreements.
Indicator 19: Percent of mediations held that resulted in mediation agreements.
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last updated: October 1, 2008
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