Project Description

The Problem of Practice: 

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires that the Michigan Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Early Intervention Services develop a State Performance Plan (SPP) for Special Education. Each year, we are required to report on progress of that plan through the Annual Performance Report (APR). There are twenty indicators for Part B Special Education that looks at how well Michigan’s students with disabilities are achieving and the infrastructure in place to support the implementation of IDEA--similar to a report card. Specifically, there is the reporting of identification of children with disabilities, suspension/expulsion by race/ethnicity, educational environments and several other areas related to the education of students with disabilities. These data are reported in the APR. In addition, Regulation §300.646 of the IDEA requires Michigan to collect and report data annually for determining if significant disproportionality based on race and ethnicity is occurring in the districts. Significant disproportionality is defined as the disproportionate and overrepresentation of children from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds in special education. Specific areas of concern are:

a. identification of children with disabilities,

b. identification of children with disabilities in specific disability categories,

c. placement of children in particular education settings, and

d. disciplinary actions including suspensions and expulsions.

The areas of concerns are looked at through a different lens for the APR reporting. This is where much of the confusion occurs because most believe that the SPP/APR reporting requirements are the same as significant disproportionality and this is not the case. In fact, it is my belief that educators at the district level don’t have a clear understanding of these reporting requirements. District personnel need to understand what significant disproportionality is, as well as, the implications for districts identified with having significant disproportionality. Additionally, it is important to understand the difference between significant disproportionality and the reporting requirements for the APR.

District’s identified with significant disproportionality can have an impact on student learning because: 1) districts receiving IDEA funds must reallocate 15% of their grant money for the identified school year to coordinated early intervening services, 2) the district must also review all policies, procedures and practices regarding the identification of children with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), and 3) the district is required to report to the public on any revisions of their policies, procedures and practices. Therefore, understanding the APR reporting requirements and significant disproportionality is important because when students are inappropriately identified disciplined or placed in particular educational settings it may result in negative educational consequences such as limited access to the general education curriculum.

Proposed Solution:

The problem of practice is the issue of misunderstanding regarding significant disproportionality and the reporting requirements for the APR. Furthermore, this is not just a “special education” problem. Decisions made by general education educators can impact special education students. Therefore, we need to teach all educators across Michigan regarding these requirements. However, logistics make it impossible to meet in person with every single educator in Michigan. We need a means of getting this information to educators quickly and efficiently. Inasmuch, I believe that using PowerPoint to create Stand-Alone Instructional Resources (StAIRs) is a good solution for the problem of practice identified. Several StAIRs need to be created on the various components but then would serve as a resource library on our State website for district personnel to access at their convenience. There is literally little to no additional costs associated with this proposed solution. Once the StAIRs have been created and posted on our website just about anyone with access to a computer and internet will be able to use these resources whenever and wherever they choose to do so and at their own pace.

Furthermore, a well-constructed StAIR will lend itself well to using research-based teaching strategies such as “Identifying Similarities and Differences”, as explained in Brabec’s article and B. F. Skinner’s theory on behaviorism which states that breaking down a complex idea into several parts is helpful to the learner. In addition, differentiated instruction can be used to engage learners at different levels of knowledge on the various components and provide immediate feedback through assessment embedded throughout the StAIRs. In Education World, I did find a “Technology Article“ that describes the many benefits of such a tutorial. However, I didn’t find much research documenting the use of StAIRs in this capacity. Nevertheless, I feel confident in that by using PowerPoint more effectively we can create StAIRs to engage the learners but yet don’t require highly specialized technical skills by the teachers nor the learners.

This project addresses the four common places of education as follows:

Teacher: The Michigan Department of Education, Office of Special Education staff will create the StAIRs. These StAIRs also serve as professional development within the office as staff will be provided with an opportunity to learn about different aspects of everyone’s work. We will need to work together to create the content for the StAIRs and collaborate on best teaching strategies to incorporate.

Learner: Any and all educators in the State of Michigan can benefit from using the proposed StAIRs to learn about the federal mandates in place for students with disabilities. Most educators are unaware and unfamiliar with these federal mandates. However, given the varying degree of knowledge each learner will have viewing the various StAIRs we need to give consideration for these individual differences.

Subject Matter: The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) specific to the federal mandates of the State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report and Significant Disproportionality is a complex topic. The StAIRs will take into consideration and address the common misconceptions.

Setting/Context: Consideration needs to be given to the fact that the culture of the over 800 districts across the State will vary. Some districts will support and encourage all educators (special education and general education staff alike) to learn about these topics while others may not provide the additional encouragement to do so.

Plans for Implementation:

I anticipate this being a long-term project in that it will take time to fully implement. Although this is building on the first StAIR I created in CEP 811, it will take time to create additional StAIRs. Initially, I will want to create a second StAIR and begin to pilot these resources within the office. In fact, I would like to begin by using a staff meeting to introduce this resource, request feedback, and begin the process for creating others. In the next several months, I will create additional StAIRs in collaboration with others in the office. This is not a project that allows me to work in isolation. I will need to tap into the expertise of many within the office to create quality StAIRs. Especially, since within our office we are all assigned to various components of the APR and significant disproportionality. Furthermore, we will need to designate space on our website for the “Resource Library” that will house these StAIRs. In addition, once the StAIRs have been posted online, we will want to inform educators of this available resource. In fact, we will want to take every opportunity to spread the word in regular publications, meetings and conferences. Otherwise it will not serve its purpose if no one knows about them.

It is my belief that we should make every effort to clear up the confusion. In fact, I see this as a need and an opportunity for professional development and as a continued effort to ensure compliance with the IDEA to improve programs and services for Michigan’s students with disabilities. In the end, it is the district that is responsible for the reporting of their special education data. However, Intermediate School Districts (ISDs) provide technical support to the districts, therefore, ISDs, school district special education administrators and all others responsible for students with IEPs will benefit from learning about these federal mandates. Specifically, addressing this problem is worth the effort because it can ultimately make a big difference in the learning environment for students with disabilities across the State.