Handling Problems Review of how school School leaders should strive to establish highly transparent How has the charter school documented and handled problems policies and procedures and engage parents to the resolved complaints related to educating related to delivery of maximum extent possible. By recognizing and engaging students with disabilities? special education and parents as essential partners in their education, Have complaints been resolved informally child’s related services. school leaders can minimize and diffuse problems that may or progressed to formal due-process arise. Evidence of a commitment to involving parents is complaints filed with the state? clear and regular communication about services with Has the school proactively sought to work parents. with parents as partners to resolve any problems associated with evaluations, Charter operators should also consult with legal counsel provision of FAPE, LRE, and transitioning and document evidence of advice from counsel regarding planning? resolution of issues. Performance Identify and track Annual standardized assessments are a relatively blunt Has the school developed a means to track Measures performance metrics instrument to track student progress. School personnel have progress of students with disabilities aside that document the the ability to identify a variety of measures to track the from standardized state tests (e.g., progress degree to which academic progress of students with disabilities that are on goals of the IEP, degree of inclusion in students with more nuanced than annual tests and more substantive than the general education classroom, student disabilities are review of inputs (e.g., complete and up-to-date IEPs and retention and graduation, or post-graduation benefiting from access compliance with IEPs). opportunities)? to the general education If the school has a virtual or blended curriculum. If the school has a virtual or blended learning component, learning component, how does the learning the learning management system should include a means to management system track progress, track a variety of performance metrics and potentially including provision of special education and include tracking provision of special education and related related services? services.
Handling Problems Review of how school handled problems related to delivery of special education and related services. How has the charter school documented and resolved complaints related to educating students with disabilities? Have complaints been resolved informally or progressed to formal due-process complaints filed with the state? Has the school proactively sought to work with parents as partners to resolve any problems associated with evaluations, provision of FAPE, LRE, and transitioning planning? School leaders should strive to establish highly transparent policies and procedures and engage parents to the maximum extent possible. By recognizing and engaging parents as essential partners in their child’s education, school leaders can minimize and diffuse problems that may arise. Evidence of a commitment to involving parents is clear and regular communication about services with parents. Charter operators should also consult with legal counsel and document evidence of advice from counsel regarding resolution of issues. Performance Measures Identify and track performance metrics that document the degree to which students with disabilities are benefiting from access to the general education curriculum. Has the school developed a means to track progress of students with disabilities aside from standardized state tests (e.g., progress on goals of the IEP, degree of inclusion in the general education classroom, student retention and graduation, or post-graduation opportunities)? If the school has a virtual or blended learning component, how does the learning management system track progress, including provision of special education and related services? Annual standardized assessments are a relatively blunt instrument to track student progress. School personnel have the ability to identify a variety of measures to track the academic progress of students with disabilities that are more nuanced than annual tests and more substantive than review of inputs (e.g., complete and up-to-date IEPs and compliance with IEPs). If the school has a virtual or blended learning component, the learning management system should include a means to track a variety of performance metrics and potentially include tracking provision of special education and related services.
2931_Authorizer%20SPED%20Rubric%20for%20LEAs%202012%20Final%20ed_0.docx