/ COORDINATED
PROGRAM REVIEW

PROCEDURES

Collaborative
Information Package
Special Education,
Civil Rights and Approved Public Day

School Year 2016-2017

MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT

OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION

Coordinated Program Review Procedures

Collaborative Information Package

Table of Contents

Coordinated Program Review System...... 3

Document # 1: Collaborative Coordinator’s Planning Guide...... 9

Document # 2: Special Education Review Criteria (with Table of Criteria)....11

Document # 3: Interview and Observation Schedule...... 26

Document # 4: List of Interviewees...... 27

Document # 5: Observation Form...... 28

Document # 6: Civil Rights and Other General Education Criteria...... 29

Appendix I: Student Record Review Procedures...... 44

Appendix II:Table of Required Special Education and Civil Rights and

Other General Education Documentation...... 49

Appendix III: Learning Time Worksheets...... 56

Document # 7: Approved Public Day Program Criteria...... 62

Appendix IV: Table of Required Approved Public Day Program

StandardsDocumentation...... 79

1

MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
COORDINATED PROGRAM REVIEW SYSTEM
School Year 2016– 2017
Overview

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Office of Public School Monitoring (PSM) oversees compliance with education requirements in collaborative programs through its Coordinated Program Review (CPR) system. The collaborative reviews cover selected requirements in the following areas:

Special Education (SE)

  • selected requirements from the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA-2004); the federal regulations promulgated under that Act at 34

CFR Part 300; M.G.L. c. 71B; and the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Special Education regulations (603 CMR 28.00).

Civil Rights Methods of Administration and Other General Education Requirements (CR)

  • selected federal civil rights requirements, including requirements underTitle VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974; Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, together with selected state requirements under M.G.L. c. 76, Section 5 as amended by Chapter 199 of the Acts of 2011 and M.G.L. c. 269 §§ 17 through 19.
  • selected requirements from the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Physical Restraint regulations (603 CMR 46.00).
  • selected requirements from the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Student Learning Time regulations (603 CMR 27.00).
  • selected requirements governing bullying prevention and intervention under M.G.L.c. 71, section 37H, as amended by Chapter 92 of the Acts of 2010 and as amended by sections 72-74 of Chapter 38 of the Acts of 2013; M.G.L.c. 71, section 37O(e)(1) & (2); M.G.L.c. 71, section 370(d).
  • various requirements under other federal and state laws.

Approved Public Day Program Standards

  • selected requirements from the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education Special Education regulations (603 CMR 28.09).
  • selected requirements from the Massachusetts Program and Safety Standards for Approved Public or Private Day and Residential Special Education School Programs (603 CMR 18.00).

The Web-based Approach to Special Education Monitoring

Starting with the 2007-2008 SY, the Department commenced the piloting of a new web-based approach to comprehensive special education monitoring. Starting with the 2011-2012 SY, the Department commenced the web-based approach to comprehensive civil rights monitoring. The web-based monitoring system (WBMS) allows districts and collaborativesto submit, review and exchange documents and information with the Department through the Department's security portal. This new approach combines familiar elements from the standard CPR procedures in combination with new features that strengthen accountability and oversight for special education and civil rights on a continuous basis.

WBMS methods used in reviewing special education and civil rights programs include:

Self-Assessment Phase: This is a requirement for all collaboratives participating in WBMS and is completed in the year prior to the onsite review.

  • Collaborative review of documentation for required elements including document uploads.
  • Collaborative review of a sample of special education student records selected from across grade levels, disability categories, and levels of need. Additional requirements for the appropriate selection of the student record sample can be found in Appendix I.

Upon completion of this portion of the collaborative's self-assessment, it is submitted to the Department for review.

Desk Review Phase: The CPR Chairperson assigned to thecollaborative reviews the collaborative's responses to questions regarding the critical elements for appropriate policies, procedures, and practices, as well as actual documents and data submissions by criterion. The collaborative's student record review data and explanatory comments are examined by focus area and by criterion. The outcome of this review and three-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: For collaboratives that operate multiple programsincluding, where applicable, approved public day programs, review activities will be 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 collaborative 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 an equal number of parents of other students with disabilities, are sent a survey that solicits information regarding their experiences with the collaborative'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.
Report Preparation:At the end of the onsite visit, the team will hold an informal exit meeting to summarize its comments for the Collaborative Director and other administrative staff he or she chooses. Within approximately 45 business days of the onsite visit, the Monitoring Team Chairperson will forward to the Collaborative Director a Draft Report containing comments from the Program Review. The Draft Report comments are provided to the collaborative online through WBMS. These comments willform the basis for any findings by the Department. The collaborative will then have 10 business days to review the report for accuracy before the publication of a Final Report with ratings and findings (see below). The Final Report will be issued within approximately 60 business days of the conclusion of the onsite visit and posted on the Department's website at Public School Coordinated Program Review Reports webpage.
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," "Implementation in Progress," "Partially Implemented," "Not Implemented," and "Not Applicable." "Implementation in Progress," used for criteria containing new or updated legal requirements, means that the collaborative has implemented any old requirements contained in the criterion and is training staff or beginning to implement the new requirements in such a way that the onsite team anticipates that the new requirements will be implemented by the end of the school year.

Findings: The onsite team includes a narrative statement in the Final Report for each criterion that it rates "Commendable," "Partially Implemented," "Not Implemented," "Implementation in Progress," or "Not Applicable," explaining the basis for the rating. It may also include findings for other related criteria.

Response:Where criteria are found ""Partially Implemented" or "Not Implemented," the collaborative 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 offercollaboratives technical assistance on the content and requirements for developing an approvable CAP. The approved CAP will be posted on the Department's website. Department staff will provide ongoing technical assistance as the collaborative is implementing the approved corrective action plan.
Collaboratives 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.
Orientation

The Monitoring Team Chairperson will contact the collaborative to set up an Orientation session for the Collaborative Director and key administrative personnel to review next steps and establish timelines for essential activities for all program areas. The Monitoring Team Chairperson will also discuss the records to be reviewed onsite, the interviews to be conducted and the observations.

Documentation Requirements

The onsite team relies heavily on educational collaborative documentation regarding the programs and services made available to students and parents. Documentation for all of the criteria in this Information Package is describedin Appendix II and IV; this documentation will be uploaded into the Web-based Monitoring System (WBMS) as part of the collaborative’s self-assessment.The Local Coordinator is encouraged to notify the onsite chairperson when the collaborative is providing alternative documentation to the onsite team.

Please note that it is not unusual for Department staff to request follow-up information in order to clarify the submitted documentation. In many cases, this follow-up information is the missing piece that is necessary in order for the Department to rate a particular criterion as Implemented.

Student Record Selection and Review

During the Orientation session, the Monitoring Team Chairperson will provide the collaborative with a list of the names of the special education students whose records have been selected for review by the Department. A representative sample of student records will be examined from those records that were part of the collaborative’s self-assessment, as well as a new sample of student records with activities since the start of the school year. The Monitoring Team Chairperson will refer to the collaborative’sroster of eligible special education students to make the student record selection.

A list of the student records selected for review by the onsite team will be provided to the collaborative at the Orientation session so the records can be assembled and prepared for Department review during the onsite phase of the review. Where the parts of a selected student record are situated in more than one location, all of those parts must be brought together in one location for the purpose of the Department’s record review.

During the record review phase, a collaborative representative familiar with special educationrequirements must be available to assist the onsite team; review procedures will be described in more detail by the Monitoring Team Chairperson. The Department reserves the right to select additional student records for review during the course of monitoring.

The Department will send written surveys to parents of those special education students selected for record review. Additional parents of special education students will also be drawn from the collaborative’s Special Education Student Roster to receive surveys.

Note: Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Student Record Regulations provide for Department employees to have access to all information contained in student records without need of the consent of parents. See 603 CMR 23.07(4)(d).

Interviews

Preparation of Interview Schedules

Working with the Department’s Monitoring Team Chairperson, the local Program Review coordinator is responsible for scheduling all interviews for selected personnel. The local coordinator should work closely with the Department’s Monitoring Team Chairperson to ensure appropriate scheduling.

The Onsite Team Member Interview and Observation Schedule (Document #3) must be returned to the Monitoring Team Chairperson for approval by the Department at least two weeks prior to the onsite visit.

The Department will confirm all interviews to be conducted so that the collaborative can notify all persons selected for interviews. The Monitoring Team Chairperson will provide the local Program Review coordinator with a standard letter and description of the review procedures, which is to be copied and distributed to every person selected for interview. In notifying local staff of the interview schedule, the collaborative should emphasize that interviews are not to evaluate a staff member’s individual performance, but to understand each staff member’s experiences in the implementation of various program requirements. Every effort will be made to conduct the interviews in an efficient manner, recognizing that time is valuable. The coordinator must give consideration to spaces that allow interviews to be conducted in a confidential manner.

Interviewees

The List of Interviewees for Special Education (SE), Civil Rights (CR) and Approved Public Day Programs (APD) (Document #4) contains the titles of possible persons to be interviewed during the CPR. Key administrators, other appropriate staff, and the special education PAC chairperson or co-chairperson(s) (if applicable)will be interviewed. The collaborative or the Department may add to this list others who would be able to describe efforts undertaken to implement program requirements.

Selection Criteria for Staff Interviews

In the CPR, staff are selected for interview based on the program offerings at each level. For example, at least one special education teacher is interviewed for each type of special education program and from across the range of grade levels. At least one related service provider is interviewed for each kind of related service that the collaborative provides. Instructional aides working with the teachers selected for interviews should also work in different settings with different student populations at different grade levels.

Classroom and Facilities Observation

A sample of classrooms and other school facilities used in the delivery of special education will be visited to determine general levels of compliance with program requirements. The onsite team will observe these instructional programs at each level in the collaborative. The Facilities/Classroom Observation Form (Document #5) will be used by onsite team members as they complete this part of the Program Review. The Monitoring Team Chairperson will identify the sites to be observed during the Orientation so that the local Program Review coordinator may inform program coordinators and pertinent staff of these observations.

Document # 1: COLLABORATIVE COORDINATOR AND SPECIAL EDUCATION ADMINISTRATOR'S PLANNING GUIDE

This checklist is provided to assist the collaborative director or special education administrator,in working with the local Program Review coordinator, to plan and implement the special education portion of the Coordinated Program Review (CPR):

  1. Collaboratives who receive notification of a scheduled CPR visit for the next school year participate in the Department’s training sessions. Collaboratives should send two (2) or three (3) staff, who will be responsible for collecting, reviewing and inputting the special education student record and document information for the self-assessment.
  1. Prepare and submit the collaborative’s student record and documentation self-assessment within the required timeline. Department staff are available to provide technical assistance for both regulatory content and WBMS system technical questions.
  1. Work with the local Program Review coordinator to prepare the special education portion of the profile of effective programs and practices which includes a description of the strengths in the existing programs and practices. The profile of effective programs and practices should explain why the collaborative believes that the programs and practices described exceed federal and state special education requirements. The provision of specific examples of effective programs and practices will be shared with the onsite team. It is recommended that this information be provided after the submission of the self-assessment. It can be submitted through “Additional Documents” in WBMS immediately after the self-assessment submission.
  1. Participate in the local Program Review coordinator’s and Monitoring Team Chairperson’s orientation meeting(s) and inform administrative and teaching staff about the Program Review, its purpose, the WBMS procedures, and the manner in which general and special education staff will be expected to participate.
  1. Prepare student records for the Department’s review. At the orientation meeting, the Monitoring Team Chairperson will inform the special education administrator which special education student records from the WBMS self-assessment will be verified and which additional new records are selected for review. Each student record selected for verification should have a copy of the completed self-assessment (printed from WBMS) placed in the front of the student record. For those new records selected for review, the Special Education Student Record Detail cover sheet should be completed and placed in the front of each record. The Special Education Student Record Detail cover sheet template is located in the WBMS Document Library. The additional new records selected for review will be reviewed for activities conducted since the beginning of the current school year and generally consist of one of three main activities: initial evaluation, annual review and re-evaluation.
  1. Prepare the notice for the public that announces that the Department is conducting a Coordinated Program Review of the collaborative and provide contact information for those persons wishing to speak to a member of the onsite team. A template for this notice can be found in the WBMS Document Library.
  1. Select a private location for the Department’s CPR Team to use as a meeting space throughout the onsite visit and a location that allows the Department to review student records in a confidential manner for all program areas.
  1. Select locations in each school building that allow for the Department to conduct interviews in a confidential manner.
  1. The collaborative submits a complete description of the continuum of special education programs and related services that the collaborative provides

(including both substantially separate and approved public day) as part of the self-assessment. In coordination with the Monitoring Team Chairperson,