Massachusetts Part B Annual Performance Report (MA APR) for FFY 2005 Submitted February 1, 2007
Massachusetts Part BAnnual Performance Report for
FFY 2005
Submitted to the
Office of Special Education Programs:
February 1, 2007
Massachusetts Department of Education
350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148
Phone 781-338-3000 TTY: N.E.T. Relay 800-439-2370
Part B Massachusetts Annual Performance Report (MA APR)
for FFY 2005
Table of Contents
Cover Letter / Overview of MA APR Development3
Monitoring Priority: FAPE in the LRE
- Indicator #1: Graduation Rates4
- Indicator #2: Drop-Out Rates 6
- Indicator #3: Assessment 9
- Indicator #4: Suspension/Expulsion 12
- Indicator #5: School Age LRE 14
- Indicator #6: Preschool LRE 19
Effective General Supervision / Effective Transition
- Indicator #12: Early Childhood Transition21
Effective General Supervision / General Supervision
- Indicator #15: Identification and Correction of Noncompliance24
- Indicator #16: Complaint Timelines28
- Indicator #17: Due Process Timelines30
- Indicator #19: Mediation Agreements32
- Indicator #20: State Reported Data33
Attachment
- Attachment 1: Report of Dispute Resolution for FFY200535
Note: Further information on the Indicators listed above and complete information for Indicators 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, and 18 can be found in the Massachusetts State Performance Plan (MA SPP) found at
Submitted February 1, 2007
U.S. Department of Education
ATTN: Janet Scire / Mail Stop 2600
7100 Old Landover Road
Landover, MD, 20785-1506
Dear Ms. Scire,
Enclosed is the Massachusetts Annual Performance Report for FFY2005 (MA APR). The MA APR responds directly to the indicators identified by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in Information Collection 1820-0624, Part B State Performance Plan (SPP) and Annual Performance Report (APR). The MA APR provides information on Indicators 1, 2, 3, 4a, 5, 6, 12, 15, 16, 17, 19, and 20.
The Massachusetts Department of Education (MASSDE) has engaged in a variety of activities to obtain broad input from stakeholders on the development of the MA APR. MASSDE convened the Massachusetts Statewide Special Education Steering Committee – which consists of state special education advisory council members, key MASSDE personnel, local education officials, parents, advocates, and representatives from higher education, charter schools, approved private special education schools, and adult service agencies – to review data, measure progress against the targets, examine methodologies, and identify key activities as appropriate for each of these indicators. Additionally, MASSDE has formed targeted workgroups focused on each indicator. These workgroups incorporate a wide variety of stakeholders who communicate through the year to help guide Massachusetts’ work in each area.
Regarding public dissemination, the completed MA APR will be made widely available for public discussion. This will be accomplished by broad discussion in workgroups (as previously mentioned) and at the statewide advisory council meeting and other conference and group discussion opportunities. Additionally, MASSDE will post the MA APR on the MASSDE website, and distribute hard copies of the report to key constituents and the media.
Additionally, MASSDE is currently working with our stakeholder groups to determine the best way to publicly report this data at an LEA level. The data will be made available through the School and District Profiles section of the MASSDE website ( Data will be presented in table format and/or through an interactive mapping software program that will allow users to visually compare LEA data more readily. The data for Indicators 1, 2, 3, 4a, 5, and 12 will be available on the MASSDE website by June 1, 2007. Data for Indicator 6 will be available for public reporting at an LEA level during the 2007-08 school year.
If questions or additional clarification is needed regarding the MA APR, please contact me at 781.338.3388 or .
Sincerely,
Marcia Mittnacht
State Director of Special Education
Special Education Planning and Policy Development Office
Massachusetts Department of Education
Monitoring Priority: FAPE in the LREIndicator 1: Percent of youth with IEPs graduating from high school with a regular diploma compared to percent of all youth in the State graduating with a regular diploma.
(20 U.S.C. 1416 (a)(3)(A))
Measurement: The statewide Graduation Rate is the number of students in a cohort who graduate in four years or less, divided by the number of first-time entering 9th graders in that cohort. The denominator is adjusted so that students who transfer into Massachusetts’ public schools are added to the original cohort and students who transfer out, or who are now deceased, are subtracted from the original cohort. The quotient is multiplied by 100 to express the Graduation Rate as a percentage.FFY / Measurable and Rigorous Target
2005
(2005-2006) /
Baseline Year- Students with IEPs Graduation Rate: 61.6%
Actual Target Data for 2005-2006:
2005-06 is the first year for which Massachusetts has calculated a Graduation Rate for students with IEPs, non-IEP students, and all students. Baseline data are presented in the following table:
# of Students in 2005-06 cohort / # of Students in 2005-06 cohort who graduated in four years or less. / 2005-06 Graduation RateIEP / 13,462 / 8,291 / 61.6%
Non-IEP / 61,035 / 51,154 / 83.8%
All Students / 74,497 / 59,445 / 79.8%
Discussion of Improvement Activities Completed and Explanation of Progress or Slippage that occurred for 2005-2006:
This is the Baseline Year.
MASSDE is currently working with our stakeholder groups to determine the best way to publicly report this data at an LEA level. The data will be made available through the School and District Profiles section of the MASSDE website ( Data will be presented in table format and/or through an interactive mapping software program that will allow users to visually compare LEA data more readily. The data will be available on the MASSDE website by June 1, 2007.
Revisions, with Justification, to Proposed Targets / Improvement Activities / Timelines / Resources for 2005-2006:
Massachusetts is calculating and reporting a statewide Graduation Rate for the first time this year and consequently, the SPP has been completely revised. MASSDE previously used the competency determination (CD) attainment rate as an interim measure and best approximation of a graduation rate. The Measurable and Rigorous Targets have been revised in the State Performance Plan to reflect the change from CD Rate to Graduation Rate. However, the new Targets are still based on initial recommendations from the Massachusetts Steering Committee. Modest Targets reflect the need to consider significant variation in district-level Graduation Rates. Targets also reflect input from various interest groups concerning the challenges of effectively closing the gap in this performance indicator.
Several state-level improvement activities support districts in serving students with disabilities and in helping all students reach graduation. The following are some of the improvement activities that are expected to help increase the Graduation Rate for students with disabilities:
- Non-competitive grants for school districts to fund Special Education-related professional development, including induction and mentoring programs for new special educators;
- Special Education Summer Institutes with topics such as “Assistive Technology and Universal Design in the Classroom”, “Response to Intervention”, “Assessing English Language Learners with Disabilities”, and Special Education Leadership Academies for Administrators;
- Project FOCUS Academy, a pilot distance-learning program with courses for educators in Universal Design for Learning, Transition/Post-School Outcomes, and Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, which supports participants in making school-wide changes that benefit students with disabilities; and
- Alternative Education and Dropout Prevention programs that support “at-risk” students.
Monitoring Priority:FAPE in the LRE
Indicator 2: Percent of youth with IEPs dropping out of high school compared to the percent of all youth in the State dropping out of high school.
(20 U.S.C. 1416 (a)(3)(A))
Measurement:The dropout rate is the number of students who drop out over a one-year period, from July 1 to June 30, who do not return to school by October 1st of the next school year, divided by the total enrollment of students, times 100. The measurement for youth with an IEP is the same as the measurement for youth without an IEP.FFY /
Measurable and Rigorous Target
2005(2005-2006) /
Maintain current dropout level of 5.6% for students with IEPs
Actual Target Data for 2005-2006: The baseline year (2004-05) dropout rate for students with IEPs was 5.6%. In 2003-04, the dropout rate for students with IEPs was 5.4%. An analysis of the 2004-05 dropout data and the change from 2003-04 follows in the next section.
Actual target data for 2005-06 was not available at the time of this reporting. MASSDE expects to have this information in Spring 2007.
Discussion of Improvement Activities Completed and Explanation of Progress or Slippage that occurred for 2005-2006:
In 2004-05, the dropout rate for students without an IEP was 3.5% and for all students it was 3.8% -- an increase of 0.1% from 2003-04 for each population of students, respectively. The dropout rate for students with IEPs increased 0.2% in 2004-05, to 5.6%.
In both the 2003-04 and 2004-05 school years, students with an IEP comprised 14% of the high school population, but about 21% of the dropout rate.
In 2004-05 the dropout rate for all students was higher at each successive grade level, from a low of 3.0% in 9th grade, to a high of 4.7% in 12th grade. The dropout rate for all students in grade 10 held constant and decreased in grade 12 (from 4.8%% in 2003-04). Twenty-eight percent (28%) of all grade 11 students, and 34% of all grade 12 students, who had not achieved a competency determination dropped out in 2004-05.
In 2004-05, males dropped out a higher rate than females (4.4% versus 3.2%, respectively.) For each gender, this was an increase of 0.1% from 2003-04. Hispanics had the highest dropout rate (9.1%) among race/ethnic groups, and the greatest increase (+0.8%) from 2003-04. Whites had the lowest dropout rate in 2004-05 (2.8%), which held constant from the previous school year. The dropout rate for African-Americans also held constant at 6.2%. It decreased among Asians and Native Americans.
In response to the increase in the dropout rate from 2002-03 (3.3%) to 2003-04 (3.7%), MASSDE initiated an open-ended survey of school district administrators to better understand and address the issue of students dropping out. One-hundred five school districts responded to the questions, which surveyed: 1) the perceived reasons for why students drop out, 2) the steps the district has taken to improve high school retention and graduation, 3) the perceived biggest challenge for improving the state dropout rate, and 4) suggestions for MASSDE to curb the dropout problem statewide. As a result of the survey, several improvement activities have been added to the SPP, including focus groups with students who have dropped out or are at risk of dropping out, and a statewide graduation summit.
Massachusetts is currently working with Achieve, Inc to reduce the number of students who are dropping out, improve students’ readiness for college or employment, and increase the graduation rate. This partnership is part of the Staying the Course: High Standards and Improved Graduation Rates project supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and will create a more coherent and aligned use of high school reform strategies and policies. Lessons learned from this project will be shared with other interested states and lead districts. In addition, MASSDE is working with its strategic partners to seek additional funds for improving high school graduation rates and reducing barriers to learning.
MASSDE initiated meetings with key stakeholders in March 2006 to obtain input on the SPP targets and proposed improvement activities. Workgroup participants have considered the relationship of dropping out to emotional impairment disability status, involvement with juvenile corrections, and attendance policies as they apply to course credit and graduation requirements. They have also recommended that future dropout initiatives include the middle school level. Some workgroup participants are also members of the Massachusetts Special Education Steering Committee, which authorized the allocation of discretionary funds for the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports grant program, and provided feedback on the proposed public reporting of SPP data. Workgroup members were also notified of NDPC-SD technical assistance offerings and consulted on the development of the district dropout prevention resources survey.
Effective the 2006-07 school year, the MASSDE is requiring school districts to designate a person at the district level to serve as dropout prevention liaison. This person will be responsible for communicating with the MASSDE on issues regarding dropout prevention and recovery. All public school districts – regardless of the district dropout rate and grade levels served – must identify a person in their directory administration for this role. The Dropout Prevention Liaison is familiar with district-wide efforts related to dropout prevention and recovery. The responsibility defaults to the Superintendent if the district does not identify an individual for the role. The Dropout Prevention Liaison will be the focus of the Spring 2007 survey of school district dropout prevention efforts, improvements, resources, and programs. The 2005-06 dropout rate data will be used to target districts with demonstrated progress reducing high rates, as well as those with low dropout rates.
Additionally, MASSDE is currently working with our stakeholder groups to determine the best way to publicly report this data at an LEA level. The data will be made available through the School and District Profiles section of the MASSDE website ( Data will be presented in table format and/or through an interactive mapping software program that will allow users to visually compare LEA data more readily. The data will be available on the MASSDE website by June 1, 2007.
Revisions, with Justification, to Proposed Targets / Improvement Activities / Timelines / Resources for 2005-2006:
The targets for this indicator in the SPP submitted December 1, 2005 were based on 2003-04 data, as it was the most current available at the time. The February 1, 2007 SPP was updated with the baseline data from 2004-05. (The dropout rate for students with an IEP in 2003-04 was 5.4%; in 2004-05 it was 5.6%.) The targets for 2005-06 and 2006-07 were adjusted to 5.6% each (from 5.4% each); the targets for subsequent years (FFY 2007 – 2010) remain unchanged. The Massachusetts Special Education Steering Committee unanimously recommended these targets, and the extensive additions to the schedule of improvement activities is designed to assist meeting the goal of reducing the 2007-08 dropout rate to 5.3% (-0.3% from the baseline).
Supplemental Improvement Activities not originally proposed in the SPP submitted December 1, 2005 have occurred in Years One and Two, and additional ones have been added to the schedule in Years Three through Six. The aforementioned qualitative survey of districts (and associated report) was added to the schedule of improvement activities as it originated after the SPP was submitted. The results of this survey yielded additional follow-up activities such as focus groups and a graduation rate summit. MASSDE took advantage of several other activities that presented themselves during the course of year one (e.g., NDPC-SD technical assistance) and the SPP has been updated to reflect this. Also added to the schedule of improvement activities were: data verification efforts, the development of an online exchange community for soliciting stakeholder input, and a proposed Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) grant initiative to begin in 2007.
All originally scheduled improvement activities in 2005-06 and 2006-07 (to date) were completed.
Monitoring Priority:FAPE in the LREIndicator 3: Participation and performance of children with disabilities on statewide assessments:
A.Percent of districts that have a disability subgroup that meets the State’s minimum “n” size meeting the State’s AYP objectives for progress for disability subgroup.
B. Participation rate for children with IEPs in a regular assessment with no accommodations; regular assessment with accommodations; alternate assessment against grade level standards; alternate assessment against alternate achievement standards.
C.Proficiency rate for children with IEPs against grade level standards and alternate achievement standards.
(20 U.S.C. 1416 (a)(3)(A))
Measurement:A. Percent = [(# of districts meeting the State’s AYP objectives for progress for the disability subgroup (children with IEPs)) divided by the (total # of districts that have a disability subgroup that meets the State’s minimum “n” size in the State)] times 100.
- Participation rate =
- # of children with IEPs in assessed grades;
- # of children with IEPs in regular assessment with no accommodations (percent = [(b) divided by (a)] times 100);
- # of children with IEPs in regular assessment with accommodations (percent = [(c) divided by (a)] times 100);
- # of children with IEPs in alternate assessment against grade level achievement standards (percent = [(d) divided by (a)] times 100); and
- # of children with IEPs in alternate assessment against alternate achievement standards (percent = [(e) divided by (a)] times 100).
Overall Percent = [(b + c + d + e) divided by (a)].
- Proficiency rate =
- # of children with IEPs in assessed grades;
- # of children with IEPs in assessed grades who are proficient or above as measured by the regular assessment with no accommodations (percent = [(b) divided by (a)] times 100);
- # of children with IEPs in assessed grades who are proficient or above as measured by the regular assessment with accommodations (percent = [(c) divided by (a)] times 100);
e.# of children with IEPs in assessed grades who are proficient or above as measured against alternate achievement standards (percent = [(e) divided by (a)] times 100).
Account for any children included in a but not included in b, c, d, or e above.
Overall Percent = [(b + c + d + e) divided by (a)].
FFY / Measurable and Rigorous Targets
% Districts Meeting AYP for Disability Subgroup (3A) / Participation Rate for Students with IEPs (3B) / Proficiency Rate for Students with IEPs (3C)
ELA
/ MATH / ELA / MATH / ELA / MATHTargets for FFY 2005
(2005-2006) / 45% / 37% / 99% / 99% / 23.9% / 14.3%
Actual Target Data for
2005-2006 / 25% / 19% / 97.6% / 97.7% / 26.1% / 15.5%
Discussion of Improvement Activities Completed and Explanation of Progress or Slippage that occurred for 2005-2006: