lauren morando rhim and paul oneill charter school special education oversight nacsa 2012

SETTING POLICY & ESTABLISHING

PRACTICE FOR STRONG SERVICE TO

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

LAUREN MORANDO RHIM & PAUL O’NEILL

NACSA Leadership Meeting October 24, 2012

1 Authorizer Special Education Rubric Project

Special Education in Charter Schools

Most public schools struggle to provide high quality special education services but charter schools face unique challenges.

10/24/12

2

Authorizer Special Education Rubric Project

Policy Challenges

10/24/12 Authorizer Special Education Rubric Project

3

• Independent single school district

• Part of an existing district

Retrofitting existing system

• Intermediate agencies

• Cooperatives

• Associations

Limited access to standard

service infrastructures

Operational Challenges


4

Amassing special education capacity

Managing limited special education

dollars

Navigating shared service

delivery

Balancing autonomy and accountability

Special Education in Charter Schools

Nevertheless, the sector presents opportunities to innovate…

10/24/12

5


Special Education Opportunities


6

Create-mission driven schools that include students with disabilities by design rather than as an add-on



7

Develop innovative service provision models in a time-compressed manner absent having to overcome existing policies and practices.



8

Cultivate special education infrastructures and conduct research to track effectiveness and financial sustainability.



9

Provide online and hybrid/blended learning environments that support highly individualized learning



10

To realize potential opportunities for students with disabilities, charter schools must provide students access and quality special education and related services.

Charter school authorizers are central to ensuring that school comply with federal requirements and provide high quality options for students with disabilities.

Special Education Technical Assistance Pro

ble

m To date, most technical assistance

related to special education has focused on charter school operators but charter school authorizers are uniquely positioned to make certain that:

• new and replication applicants have the capacity to educate children with disabilities and

• existing operators are providing high quality special education and related services to all students with disabilities and are complying with all applicable laws, rules and regulations.

10/24/12

11


Charter Authorizer Rubric Project

Resp

ons

e Develop three phase rubric for

authorizers that will improve their capacity to support development and maintenance of high quality special education programs thereby ensuring that students with disabilities have equal access to charter schools

10/24/12

12


Authorizer Rubric

Three Phases:

Application/Replication

Operations/Oversight

Renewal/Reauthorization

10/24/12

13


APPLICATION PHASE

Objective:

Provide authorizers with means to assess applicant’s capacity to deliver high quality special education program

Infuse an additional layer of transparency into the authorization process

10/24/12

14


OPERATIONS/OVERSIGHT PHASE

Objective:

Provide a structure to ensure that operating charter schools are meeting obligations to enroll and support students with disabilities.

10/24/12

15


RENEWAL/REAUTHORIZATION PHASE

Objective: Provide a structure for authorizers to examine individual charter school practices over the life of charter (e.g., Child Find, enrollment procedures, initial evaluations, development of IEPs, provision of related services and transition services) for the purpose of informing renewal decisions

10/24/12

16


RUBRIC CATEGORIES

Administration/Governance

Curriculum and instruction

Assessment

Enrollment

Service provision

Specialized personnel (e.g., certified special education teachers, administrators, related services personnel)

Budget

Discipline

Facility

Transportation

Management company experience and practices (where applicable)

Track record (for schools seeking to replicate)

10/24/12

17


10/24/12 Authorizer Special Education Rubric Project 18

Key Authorizer Issues


19

1. How do we know that applicants fully understand the challenge of serving special needs students and complying with applicable rules?



20

2. Are operating charter schools engaging in service delivery in appropriate ways?



21

3. Are charter schools serving and retaining a comparable number of students with disabilities as are other local public schools?



22

4. Are operating charter schools handling the disciplining of special education students properly?



23

5. How should an imperfect record on special education compliance be factored into an authorizer’s renewal decision?

Questions Suggestions?

• [email protected]

Paul O’Neill

• [email protected]

Lauren Morando Rhim

• http://www.charterschoolcenter.org/priority-area/special-education-0

National Charter School Resource Center

10/24/12

24
