From the State Director's Desk
Dear Colleagues and Partners,
Welcome to the end of the school year! These last few weeks are always a sprint as we close out this school year and simultaneously plan for next year. I hope you are finding time to keep everything in balance, and more importantly, I hope you will take time this summer to rest and rejuvenate before we start up again in late summer.
At DESE, we too are working to tie up loose ends as the school year ends. This issue of our SEPP newsletter provides you with a wrap-up of some of our spring activities, such as our LEAP convening in March which focused on the intersection of disability, race, and poverty; our latest advisories on aided and augmentative communication, graduation, and LEA assignments; grant updates; and news regarding our new Proportionate Share Ombudsperson and the MassHealth School-Based Medicaid Expansion Program. I hope you find this information useful.
During the spring regional special education meetings, I explained a shift in the management of grants, including the 240 IDEA special education entitlement grant, here at DESE. In the spirit of wrapping things up from this school year and looking ahead to next school year, I want to give you more information about this change to our grants process.
The newly-formed office of Resource Allocation Strategy and Planning (RASP) is now responsible for administering all of the major federal grant programs (Special Education fund codes 240 and 262, as well as Titles I, IIA, III, IV, and Perkins). Starting this FY19, your LEA will be paired up with one liaison from RASP, who will guide your LEA through the life of each of your major federal grants, from application review and approval, to amendment, technical assistance, and monitoring. Whereas in prior years LEA leaders likely had to communicate with several DESE staff from across the agency depending on the federal grant they needed assistance with, this year you will have one main point of contact. We’re hoping that this arrangement will result in a more positive experience for everyone involved in the federal grant-making process.
School districts continue to operate in a constrained fiscal environment. It’s now more important than ever to use our limited resources (time, people, and money) as effectively and efficiently as possible. In response to such resource challenges, DESE has made it a central focus to enhance resource allocation and data use. Consequently, DESE created RASP in order to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of our grant-making processes. As a result, we hope to serve as a trusted resource for school districts when it comes to resource allocation decision-making.
If you have any questions about RASP and your special education grants, please contact Simone Lynch at federalgrantprograms@doe.mass.edu, or call RASP’s hotline, 781-338-6230. For additional information, please visit RASP’s new website.
Best regards,
Russell
In this Newsletter
The LEAP Convening: Building Inclusive and Equitable Learning Opportunities
SEPP Welcomes Brian Coonley
New Guidance from SEPP
Key Dates and Deadlines
Resources
Announcements
“Are we ready to welcome the Commonwealth’s students into our buildings for who they are? Or do we ask our students to check their identity at the school door?”
On March 16, 2018, Senior Associate Commissioner Russell Johnston posed these questions to teams of school professionals representing more than 32 roles, from 82 districts at the Leading Educational Access Project (LEAP) Convening in Marlborough. Dr. Johnston led the room through some sobering facts:
- 32 percent of all our students live in poverty, according to 2017-2018 data from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). 40 percent of all students are non-white. Yet in a phenomenon peculiar to Massachusetts, when we see poverty and racial diversity, we classify it as disability. For example, a very high 24 percent of students who are economically disadvantaged and 20 percent of students who are African American have IEPs.
- Our students with IEPs are not achieving at rates commensurate with their nondisabled peers. 2014 third grade English Language Arts (ELA) MCAS scores show a 36-point spread between all students and students with IEPs, for those who scored proficient and above. For the eighth grade math MCAS, there is a 39-point spread.
- On the Next-Generation MCAS for students in grades 3 – 8, more than a third of students with IEPs are not meeting expectations in either ELA or Math, compared to about five percent of students without IEPs.
- Students with IEPs are disciplined at far higher rates than their nondisabled peers, particularly if they are students of color.
Dr. Johnston challenged educators to nurture a sense of collective responsibility in their schools, to have exalted expectations for their students, to build a bridge between teacher and student cultural identities, and to create a space for professionals to talk about the intersection of race, poverty, and disability. Race and poverty, he said, must no longer be mistaken for disability. Students with disabilities must no longer be victims of low expectations. He urged educators to be hopeful about their students and about the potential of their work to improve graduation rates and adult outcomes: “These students have greatness inside them, and we need to unleash it.”
After Dr. Johnston’s introduction, educators heard three prominent voices in education: Zaretta Hammond on Culturally Responsive Practices, Jessica Minahan on Preventative Behavioral Practices, and Lisa Dieker on Inclusive Practices. Each speaker offered detailed, comprehensive school-wide and classroom-based strategies to promote the success of all students.
“Culturally responsive teaching,” said Ms. Hammond, “is not a treatment for children you think are broken. All instruction is culturally responsive. The question is, to whose culture are you responding?” Ms. Hammond urged listeners to build meaningful personal relationships with their students. These relationships create a high-trust, low-stress classroom environment in which students can develop their confidence to do rigorous work. Students have to believe they can, before they can succeed.
Ms. Hammond deplored widely held biases that stand in the way of student achievement, such as the idea that parents in certain communities don’t care about education, or the myth that everyone has the same opportunities. She emphasized the importance of lighting the spark of engagement in students by relating material to something students already know and by radicalizing the material by asking whose voice is not being heard, and whose version of the story we trust.
Ms. Minahan urged the audience to rethink the way we look at behavior. She noted that one in four 13-18-year-olds in the United States has clinical anxiety. When anxiety rises, students’ ability to learn is impeded. Typically schools offer behavioral incentives, but incentives do not teach skills; they simply increase motivation. If we would not give a student $50 to read on grade level, we should not expect that a star chart will ensure self-regulation. A very motivated student who does not have skills is a recipe for frustration. Instead of using “random acts of intervention,” Ms. Minahan advocated using evidence-based, therapeutically sound, skill-building strategies that build autonomy in each student. Over the course of her talk, Ms. Minahan walked participants through many examples and resources.
Dr. Dieker challenged educators, “Does the structure of your classrooms reflect an environment where multiple adults can work together to empower students to be the leaders of their own thinking and learning?” She recommended the “flipped classroom,” because the less teachers talk, the more students achieve. The wide array of strategies and resources she shared included evidence-based practices, ways to improve grading and assessment, extensive technology resources, and tips for effective co-teaching and interdisciplinary collaboration. She asked participants to ask themselves, “How is what co-teachers are doing together substantively different and better for kids than what each of them would do alone?” Then she showed participants how to make high-quality co-teaching and inclusion happen.
In response to each of the three speakers, teams drafted action plans to address each topic area in their districts. The LEAP Project will continue to support participating districts through newly developed resources, technical assistance, and a follow-up conference anticipated to be offered in the fall.
In existence since 2014, LEAP seeks to
- Improve understanding of and teaching with poverty, race and culture in mind
- Improve resources for educators and student support teams
- Improve services and placements for high mobility students
- Decrease inappropriate eligibility determinations for special education
- Increase identification of special education placements in the least restrictive environment
LEAP offers an online training module, and a statewide cadre of trainers from educational collaboratives supports school districts in developing sustainable systems and practices.
For more information on the LEAP Project, please check out the LEAP website or contact LEAP Coordinator Susan Fischer, LEAP@doe.mass.edu or 781-338-3365.
District teams listen to speaker at March 2018 LEAP Convening
SEPP Welcomes Brian Coonley
The Office of Special Education Planning & Policy Development (SEPP) is delighted to welcome Brian Coonley, who became a member of our staff on June 4, 2018. Brian has spent the majority of his career working in public schools, most recently serving as a special education teacher and team chairperson in the Brookline Public Schools. In Brookline, he taught a range of courses from co-taught Biology to working in a competency-based program. He has a bachelor’s degree in Inclusive Elementary and Special Education and a masters in Secondary Education with a focus on including all students in the high school social studies classroom. Throughout his career, Brian's focus has been on equity. With this in mind, he served two years on the Massachusetts Teachers Association’s Task Force on Race and helped Brookline to think more about issues of over identification. He also worked as a member of a team that eliminated the use of homogenous learning support centers at the high school. He is excited to be joining the SEPP team and continuing his work in equity and disproportionality. You can reach Brian at brian.coonley@doe.mass.edu or 718-338-3370.
New Guidance from SEPP
This Spring, the Office of Special Education Planning & Policy Development (SEPP) published three new guidance documents:
Administrative Advisory SPED 2018-2 clarifies the issuance of a high school diploma to students with IEPs consistent with applicable federal and state law and best practices for schools, students, and parents in planning secondary transition services and student graduation and reducing the potential for disputes.
AAC is a type of assistive technology that can assist students who have disabilities that impede their ability to communicate. Technical Assistance Advisory SPED 2018-3 provides guidance on when a referral for AAC may be appropriate; explains how AAC may help students with disabilities to enhance their communication skills and reach their full potential; references applicable laws and best practices; and directs IEP Teams and other relevant parties to additional AAC resources.
On March 27, 2018, the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education adopted amendments to the Massachusetts Special Education Regulations at 603 CMR 28.10, pertaining to the assignment of school district responsibility for the special education services of students in foster care. DESE must implement the amendments to 603 CMR 28.10, which are often referred to as the "LEA Assignment Regulations."
The amendments to Section 28.10 will go into effect on July 1, 2018 and will apply prospectively, not retroactively. This means the current regulations will apply to assignments made during the summer of 2018 that affect extended school year services as part of a student's 2017-18 IEP. In addition, the Department will not change determinations of district responsibility made prior to July 1, or apply the amended regulations if a student's foster care setting changes before July 1, 2018. All decisions made under the amended regulations will be effective for the 2018-2019 school year. These implementation dates will provide a clear transition from the current regulations to the amended regulations on and after July 1, 2018.
Administrative Assistance Advisory SPED 2018-3 and the accompanying appendices are intended to assist districts to apply the amended regulations, and to understand how the regulations afford greater educational stability to students in foster care, consistent with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
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Due dates for SPP/APR
Indicator Data:
Cohort 3 Indicator 7A
[Preschool Outcomes]
No later than June 30, 2018
Cohorts 2, 3, and 4
Indicator 7B
[Preschool Outcomes]
No later than June 30, 2018
Cohort 2 Indicator 8
[Family Engagement]
October 1, 2017 – June 30, 2018
Please note: Districts in Cohort 2 who will complete the Coordinated Program Review (CPR) this year will not participate in the Indicator 8 Family Engagement Survey. Instead, these districts will work with the CPR Chairperson to complete a separate CPR Parent Survey. Participating districts in Cohort 2 should already have received information regarding this year’s online Indicator 8 Survey. If you have not, please email Martha Daigle or call her at 781-338 -3366.
Cohort 3
Indicator 14B
[Post-school Outcomes]
No later than September 28, 2018
New Brochure for Families from the Autism Commission
The Autism Commission has published a new brochure to help families, youth, and young adults understand the types of resources that exist in the Commonwealth and which may be available to an individual with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The brochure is available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Haitian.
FY19 274 Discretionary Grant Program
As previously announced during the April Regional Meetings for Special Education Directors, DESE does not anticipate funding the 274 discretionary grant program for FY19. The IDEA allocation for state-level activities is not sufficient to allow for supplementary grants to all districts in FY19. Accordingly, districts should not include a placeholder for Fund Code 274 funds in their FY19 budgets or otherwise rely on anticipated supplemental special education funding when planning their FY19 professional development programming. If IDEA supplementary funds do become available late in FY19 or in FY20, DESE anticipates that it will make funds available to support implementation of the new IEP development process and related activities.
We regret any inconvenience to districts resulting from the unavailability of Fund Code 274 in FY19.
Early Childhood Special Education Grant Now Under the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Beginning with the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 grant awards, the Early Childhood Special Education Entitlement Grant program (Fund Code 262) will be administered by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), instead of the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC).
This change will provide additional opportunities for DESE and public school districts to align federal entitlement grant programs and build toward uniform grant application processes and disbursement procedures.
Applications for the Early Childhood Special Education Entitlement Grant program (Fund Code 262) will now be submitted via "Ed Grants", DESE’s web-based grants management platform. Additional information is forthcoming regarding this process.
EEC will continue to process all amendments, final reporting, and fund carry over requests related to Fund Code 262 for FY2016-FY2018. For questions regarding Fund Code 262 grant awards during this period, please contact EECSubmission@mass.gov.
Beginning with FY19 and moving forward, DESE will address all questions related to the Fund Code 262 grant application, expenditures, and fund use. For questions, please contact DESE’s Office of Resource Allocation Strategy and Planning at federalgrantprograms@doe.mass.edu.
New DESE Ombudsperson for Proportionate Share
DESE has appointed an ombudsperson to facilitate communication with private schools, parents, and public school districts about the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requirements regarding students with disabilities enrolled by their parents in private schools. The ombudsperson will serve as DESE's primary point of contact for addressing questions and concerns from private school officials, parents, and school districts regarding the provision of equitable services to parentally-placed private school students with disabilities and the funding of those services through a proportionate share of federal IDEA grant funds.
The ombudsperson for IDEA private school issues is the same person who is designated to serve as DESE's ombudsperson under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to monitor and ensure that other federal equitable services requirements are carried out under both Title I and Title VIII (comprising Titles II-A, III-A, and Title IV-A&B) of the law. With regard to IDEA requirements, the ombudsperson will work in partnership with other DESE offices that have specific responsibilities for monitoring, auditing, resolving complaints, and implementing IDEA requirements. As necessary, the ombudsperson will refer questions and concerns to the appropriate DESE office for response.
Additionally, the ombudsperson will be the designated recipient of the required documentation from school districts regarding timely and meaningful consultation in accordance with the IDEA’s requirements. IDEA requires that, if private school representatives participating in timely and meaning consultation activities do not sign written affirmation of participation within a reasonable period of time, the district must forward documentation of the consultation process to DESE. See 34 CFR § 300.135(b).
Contact the IDEA Equitable Services Ombudsperson by mail at:
IDEA Equitable Services Ombudsperson
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
75 Pleasant Street
Malden, MA 02148
or by email at IDEAequitableservices@doe.mass.edu.
MassHealth School-Based Medicaid Expansion Program Update:
Additional Students and Services Eligible, Updated Parental Consent Form Soon to be Available
The Commonwealth is pleased to announce that we received federal approval to allow School-Based Medicaid Programs (SBMP) to expand which students and services are eligible for partial-reimbursement (back to the community). Through this approval, the SBMP will expand to include payment for services that are provided to MassHealth eligible students, pursuant to an Individual Health Care Plan (IHCP), an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP), a Section 504 plan, or services that are otherwise medically necessary. Payment for services provided pursuant to an Individualized Education Program (IEP) will continue to be provided under the expanded program. Initial details can be found in School Based Medicaid Provider Bulletin 31: School Based Medicaid Program Expansion.
The expansion will take effect July 1, 2019, to provide school districts with time to execute amendments to provider contracts, participate in training, and implement these changes within program guidelines. In accordance with DESE's student records regulations and federal law, school districts will only be able to submit claims for services provided to MassHealth-enrolled students for whom parental consent has been obtained. An updated consent form (28M/13) and additional details will be made available on the DESE website within the next few weeks. Schools and districts are encouraged to communicate with MassHealth eligible parents regarding completion of consent forms as early as possible, and may wish to include the updated form (once available) with this 2018-2019 school year “back-to-school” forms.
If you have any questions about this consent, you may contact DESE’s Office of Student and Family Support via (781) 338-3010 or achievement@doe.mass.edu.
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