Monitoring

Posted: Fri, 09/23/2011 - 3:04pm Updated: Thu, 05/09/2013 - 8:53am

Continuous Improvement Focused Monitoring System and General Supervision

The Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act of 2004 (IDEA) requires every state to have a general supervision system in place that monitors the implementation of IDEA in each state. The system must enforce state and federal requirements and ensure positive outcomes for students with disabilities. Through this system, states must monitor the status of local education agencies (LEAs) throughout their state on 20 Performance and Compliance Indicators, including graduation and dropout rates, assessments, disproportionality, least restrictive environment (LRE), parent involvement, evaluation timelines, postsecondary transition, postsecondary results, correction of noncompliance and the submission of timely and accurate data. In Indiana, the entity responsible for this system of general supervision is the Office of Special Education within the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE).

Each LEA is on a Yearly Rotation for monitoring LRE, Fiscal Audits, and Procedural Audits.

The Office of Special Education provides Information and Guidance on each Indicator as well as other activities facilitated as part of the monitoring system on the Monitoring Guidance page.

Local Determinations

IDEA 2004 requires states to make annual determinations on the performance of each LEA in implementing the requirements and purposes of the IDEA 2004, with regard to the provision of special education and related services. Determinations are a way of designating the status of local districts into one of four categories, as outlined in 34 CFR§ 300.600 of IDEA 2004.

Once Local Determinations have been calculated, LEAs are notified of their Local Determination scoresLetters notifying LEAs of their Local Determination scores for FFY 2009 (School Year 2009-2010) were mailed to Superintendents and emailed to Special Education Directors on December 31, 2012.

Findings of Noncompliance

The IDOE issues LEAs Findings of Noncompliance for Compliance Indicators 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, and 20. Additionally, Findings of Noncompliance may be issued Performance Indicators 4A, 4B, and 5 as well as Fiscal and Procedural Audits. LEAs are required to correct the identified noncompliance as soon as possible but in no case greater that one year.

LEAs are notified of any noncompliance annually. Letters notifying LEAs of Status of Compliance for FFY 2011 (School Year 2011-2012) were mailed to Superintendents and emailed to Special Education Directors on November 9, 2012. (If you are looking for information on a particular LEA, use the "Find" feature in your PDF reader and search by corporation number. Additionally, each LEA is bookmarked by corporation number within the FFY 2011 and FFY 2010 documents.)

Federal Reporting

IDEA 2004 requires each state to develop a State Performance Plan (SPP) outlining the State’s monitoring of each of the 20 federal indicators, referenced above, as well as Indiana’s plan for improving the statewide performance of each indicator. The SPP is updated each year in February to include any changes to Indiana’s procedures and practices.

As a companion to the SPP, IDEA 2004 requires each state to submit an Annual Performance Report (APR) on the processes and results outlined in the SPP. The APR is submitted to the federal government on February 1 of each year and includes Indiana’s statewide performance on each Indicator for the subsequent school year. The report also includes an update on the progress of the programs outlined in the SPP.

Other Public Reporting

In addition to updating its SPP and submitting its APR in February each year, each state is also required to publicly post other data and information throughout the year.