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Home » Information » Providing SE in Michigan Providing SE in Michigan Two-Year Summary of MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Competitive Bid: PROVIDING SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES TO May 30, 2007 1. Develop Special Education Training Curriculum & Transmittal of Best Practices Survey This project began with a comprehensive survey sent to all public school academies (PSAs) and intermediate school districts (ISDs) throughout the state. Results from this survey were tallied to determine greatest areas of need for the delivery of special education services. Respondents included 56% of PSAs and 41% of ISDs. The survey assisted in determining the direction of the remainder of the project in many areas including training that was provided, what was to be included on the website, and more. Training Training in a variety of areas was delivered statewide at several MAPSA conferences held statewide. Topic areas included: Staying out of Toolkits Special education toolkits were compiled to use as a training curriculum. The toolkit items appear on the Vision for a New Way website. They were prepared in a format so as to be included in the MI-Map toolkit if the State so decides. Topics in the toolkits include: Special Education Administration - Designed to give administrators guidance on a variety of special education topics including: Confidentiality; Due Process; Evaluation; HQT; IEPs; MoE; Mediation & Complaints; Monitoring; Placement; Cost Report; Data Collection; Suspension/Expulsion; Transition Planning. Instructional Strategies - Includes strategies for meeting the needs of all children - including those at-risk of learning failure. Find information regarding the following: Interventions; Differentiation; Accommodations; Behavior Models; Strategies to Improve Access to the General Curriculum. Technical Assistance Resources - The Vision for a Building a Terrific Relationship with Your ISD - A step-by-step guide to effective collaboration with your ISD resulting in improved delivery of services for your special needs population. Includes information on establishing and maintaining a collaborative relationship; participating in the ISD Plan for the Delivery of Special Education Programs; getting involved; Parent Advisory Committee; Medicaid. Teacher Support Team Program - Explains this well-organized, school-wide model for planning and providing individualized instruction as well as monitoring student progress in 10-week increments throughout the school year. Embraces the philosophy that all children can and will learn and provides information regarding the prevention of early learning failure and response to intervention. Website The Vision for a New Way website ensured widespread access to best/promising practices. Several venues have been used to promote the website and have included mailings, links from other websites, email announcements, etc. To determine the effectiveness of the website the "number of hits" the website has received has been recorded over the last two years and is shown below:
* Visits represent a visit of 5 minutes or less **Views represent a visit of more than 5 minutes A survey was conducted in the final month of this project to determine the effectiveness of the website. Results continue to come in and will be used in determining further direction. 2. ISD Pilot Project Information for ISDs was developed with input and assistance from a variety of ISDs statewide, and the Ingham ISD specifically. Items developed include a recommendation page that included a sample planning agenda. This agenda provides ISDs with a monthly plan of action for contact with their constituent PSAs and includes the purpose for each action. Also included is a list of helpful tips for ensuring collaboration occurs. The areas of professional development needs and other concerns of PSAs were additionally discussed - based on the input from the initial survey responses. A checklist of ISD/ESA technical assistance (TA) for PSAs was additionally developed. This checklist, containing more than twenty-five areas, was designed to assist ISDs in determining what TA they are currently providing for their PSAs and to invoke some thought into what might occur. In determining the best route for disseminating this information, it was decided that the information would be shared at a Michigan Association of Administrators of Special Education (MAASE) meeting and is to be presented by Joann a representative from the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) Charter Schools Office and the president of the Michigan Association of Public School Academies (MAPSA). 3. Parent Outreach A brochure and materials were drafted for parents of SE children. A comprehensive distribution plan was created in conjunction with key agencies and organizations in 4. Cooperative Agreement Successful cooperative agreements were located in Partnerships are planned to include ISDs, the MDE, Authorizers, and PSAs. We will work with these folks to test and pilot cooperative agreements for the delivery of special education services. Funding for the advisors for co-op teams will need to be secured before agreements can be negotiated. The plans will be individualized for each region based on individual need. Regions mirror those as determined by the North Central Regional Resource Center (NCRRC). MAPSA has developed a special education task force that meets regularly to discuss activities, evaluate progress, and make ongoing recommendations for providing support to PSAs. Participants on the task force include members from schools, authorizers, management companies, ISDs, and MAPSA. 5. Technical Assistance and Training Each of the 19 training sessions that have been provided ended with a survey to participants. These surveys and additional conversations and emails provided the impetus for the selection of topics presented. The original survey to PSAs and ISDs provided this information as well. For topic areas that were not group concerns, individual contacts were made to provide the information folks sought. Technical resources and information have been disseminated throughout this project to schools in need of special education assistance and support. All pertinent information has been posted on the Vision website for easy access and folks are directed to this regularly. 6. Dissemination of Written Documents A customized distribution plan was developed and approved by the MAPSA SE Task Force, and utilized recommendations from the NCRRC for determining distribution. .A booklet detailing the various components of the project now available to the public was created, printed, and distributed. The distribution plan included both primary and secondary audiences, how we would communicate with each audience, key messages we wanted to relay, and an evaluation component. The plan was submitted to the MDE in the third quarter of year two. First printing of the booklet yielded 1,000 copies which have been disseminated in A comprehensive library of information was built and is maintained both in printed version and on the Vision website. This library and website are maintained by MAPSA. In order to assure widespread access to the information available, MAPSA has placed a link to the website on their home page and continues to send periodic reminders to folks via their newsletters as to the availability of material. A listserv was developed and maintained by MAPSA as well. In May of 2007 this listserv was discontinued and was replaced with a web-based program for dissemination of information electronically. While it hasn't changed in regards to the content being sent, it will assist in the elimination of emails sent to the entire listserv unintentionally. Folks are still welcomed to send questions and comments, but these can now be monitored for content and then disseminated to the appropriate people as needed. The web-based program currently serves 530 contacts nationwide.
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© Michigan Association of Public School Academies 215 South Washington Square - Suite 135 - Lansing, MI 48933 P: 517-374-9167 F: 517-374-9197 E: info@visionforanewway.org |
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