District Support
A primary focus of the IDRC is to make monitoring tools accessible and available to LEAs as they observe and inform changes within their corporations. Utilizing data, observations, and assessments, schools are better equipped to address disproportionality and inequality and implement new policies and practices to create long-term change. The IDRC, hence, provides tools, resources, as well as technical assistance, to corporations as they address sources of inequality, including those that are rooted in existing policies, practices, and procedures. These resources address specific issues related to culturally responsive change, and offer practical, evidence-based solutions that LEAs can implement for long-term change.
IDRC partners with school corporations failing to meet federal IDEA regulations to assist them in identifying the underlying issues and develop a focused plan of action. We employ various tools to aid districts in the identification of gaps in performance and disparities among different groups, analyzing data, setting goals, and evaluating progress. Below, you will find details about some of these tools.
Results Driven Accountability Planning Tool
Results Driven Accountability Guiding Document
Success Gap Tool
This tool will help your school district identify gaps in performance between groups or subgroups of students by helping you identify systemic strengths and areas of need in your district by focusing on five areas for Student Success. These include Data, Cultural Responsiveness, Core Curriculum, Assessment and Interventions. The tool, originally created by IDEA Data Center (IDC), can help guide reflections of LEA staff on the most important factors that contribute to disproportionality as they review their policies, practices, and procedures within the five areas. This analysis enables LEAs to identify areas of concern and guide the allocation of resources to those areas.
Goal Attainment Scaling
Another tool that LEAs may utilize in their day-to-day supervision of special education students is goal attainment scaling. This tool allows for monitors to set individual goals for students based on their needs and provide a measurable rating scale to evaluate how well the student is progressing toward that goal. The tools are best utilized by teams of professionals and parents who can speak to the needs of the student, and who can support the progress of the student over time.
Coordinated Early Intervening Services (CEIS) Guidelines and Tools
CEIS are services provided to students in K-12 (with a particular emphasis on students in kindergarten through grade three) who are not currently identified as needing special education or related services, who need additional academic and behavioral supports to succeed in a general education environment. IDRC supports LEAs identified as having Significant Disproportionality in special education to develop their CEIS plan by using the Success Gap Tool. We encourage LEAs to use the CEIS Data Tracking Tool to monitor the effectiveness of interventions. Employing both tools synergistically ensures seamless implementation, with success gauged by the interventions' effectiveness.
The CEIS Tracking Tool is a tool developed to assist you in monitoring the effectiveness of the interventions that you have identified will use to address disproportionality in your district. The tool, created as an Excel worksheet by Dr. Renae Azziz, contains several tabs where you will be able to enter information on a monthly basis. We have created a video to show you step by step instructions on how to use the tool, how to set up your data and where you will find information about the features contained in the tool that will help you keep track of your data across time.
Overview Video of CEIS Tracking Tool
2020 CEIS Tracking Tool v2
For more guidance, please see The Office of Special Education Programs Guidance to States. The guidance offers information regarding the use of funds provided under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act by local educational agencies (LEAs) to develop and implement coordinated early intervening services (CEIS) for students who are currently not identified as needing special education, students with disabilities, and preschool children with and without disabilities. For more information visit U.S. Department of Education.
