Thursday, September 20, 2012

Results-Driven Accountability (RDA) for Special Eduation

As I have been reporting to our staff for quite some time, there are possibilities of major accountability changes coming in Special Education that may move from a audit / punitive compliance structure to the use of more student academic achievement data to measure improvement.

At PdC Public Schools we have already begun this process of change toward higher expectations, breaking down of the barriers between regular and special education, the toppling of the silos holding back instructional changes, and a rapid move toward a totally inclusive atmosphere that helps kids get what they need when they need it.

Information from a DPI update:

SEA staff from around the country recently participated in a call with OSEP staff.  Linked below are two PowerPoint presentations staff used. The first, Results-Driven Accountability Update, August 27, 2012, provides educators and other stakeholders a powerful rationale for OSEP’s move to increase the focus on improving results for students with disabilities. Over the term of the APR, you will see that nationally, LEAs have demonstrated a high and consistent level of performance on the compliance indicators. At the same time, graduation and proficiency outcomes for students with disabilities, which we know demonstrate gaps compared to their non-disabled peers, have shown little or no progress nationally. This may be something you will want to show others as we move to a RDA system.



The second, Using Assessment Data as Part of a Results-Driven Accountability System, provides an overview of the work of the National Center on Education Outcomes (NCEO) to develop a system for using assessment data to drive a RDA model. Suggestions and samples are shared. This is provided so special and general educators can start to frame a discussion about how this would work in our school, as we all begin to focus much more tightly on how, working together, we will improve outcomes for students with disabilities.



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