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In this Issue:
Participate in OSEP's
Results Driven Accountability Review
Friends,
The US Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) announced earlier this year that it would be reviewing its accountability system. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA) requires that OSEP make annual determinations of each state's performance on Part B (which covers school aged children) of IDEA.
The goal of OSEP's accountability system is to improve the educational and functional outcomes for children with disabilities. Currently, OSEP's assessment system requires the states to track the progress of students with disabilities using a series of indicators that measure, among other things, drop-out rates, rates of suspension and expulsion, parental involvement, disproportionate representation of students of color in special education, and percent of time spent in the general education classroom.
Performance on the indicators are an important piece for understanding how states are serving children with disabilities, but according to OSEP, relying on the indicators alone focuses too heavily on procedural compliance rather than on student outcomes. To address this shortcoming, OSEP is looking to implement a results driven accountability system.
Stakeholder Involvement
OSEP is interested in hearing our ideas for reframing its accountability system so that it better focuses on ensuring student success. To enable our participation, the Department of Education is seeking input on a series of questions. So far, OSEP has presented four questions. You can read the responses to Questions 1 – 3, and provide a response to Question 4, which is open for comments until October 19:
OSEP is committed to developing a results–driven accountability (RDA) system that leads to increased state and local capacity to improve academic results and functional outcomes for children with disabilities. As part of this effort, OSEP asked the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) to work with a small group of stakeholders and assessment experts to provide input on measures that could be used to review states' performance results of their students with disabilities who receive special education services. The group's recommendations are contained in a report, Using Assessment Data as Part of a Results–Driven Accountability System: Input from the NCEO Core Team (Download Word version | Download PDF). In addition, OSEP asked NCEO to develop sample approaches for how measures included in the report could be used by OSEP, which are included in the companion report: Sample Approaches for Using Assessment Data as Part of a Results–Driven Accountability System (Download Word version | Download PDF). What is your feedback on these reports? What other data sources may be useful as we move forward in the development of a RDA system.
We encourage you to participate in this opportunity to share what you believe will help OSEP ensure that students with disabilities are served well in school.
© 2012
Related Resources
US Dept. of Education: Results Driven Accountability
US Dept. of Education: Monitoring, Technical Assistance and Enforcement
NICHCY: Part B Indicators
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