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June 5, 2008

FROM: Jacquelyn J. Thompson, Ph.D., Director Office of Special Education and Early Intervention Services

SUBJECT: Update - CIMS Cycle 2

As many of you are aware, the Office of Special Education and Early Intervention Services (OSE/EIS) has convened a design team to offer recommendations regarding the State's special education monitoring system. The current Continuous Improvement & Monitoring System (CIMS) was developed prior to the publication of the regulations for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 2004. These regulations were issued in August 2006 and included the requirement that each State develop a State Performance Plan (SPP), submit an Annual Performance Report (APR), and issue an annual determination on all local educational agencies (LEAs) and public school academies (PSAs).

Monitoring, technical assistance and enforcement of the IDEA must be addressed on an annual basis at the State level (Section 616). Our current CIMS relies on a three-year cohort model. CIMS Cycle 2, as currently under consideration, would not use cohorts; all LEAs would engage in an annual analysis of the district's performance using an electronic facilitation tool with a special focus on compliance with the IDEA.

Specific training will be provided in the fall/winter of school year 2008-09 to all LEAs/PSAs. It is anticipated that there will be many activities that are familiar to Cycle 1 users (e.g. educational benefit reviews, local team discussions) but with a greater emphasis on data analysis (versus data collection) and development of corrective action and improvement plans.

Many LEAs/PSAs may have questions about the following CIMS activities:

We are excited about the positive changes in CIMS to further assist in meeting the needs of students with disabilities. You are encouraged to review the full recommendations and activities from the Cycle 2 Design Team as posted to the website at http://training.cimsmichigan.org. Additionally, the current APR can be viewed at http://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,1607,7-140-6530_6598---,00.html. 

Should you have any questions or concerns, you are invited to email Teresita Long, Coordinator of Monitoring, at longt1@michigan.gov.

The Michigan Department of Education (MDE), Office of Special Education and Early Intervention Services (OSE/EIS) is developing and refining a new monitoring and quality assurance system with a focus on improving educational results for Michigan students with disabilities. The Continuous Improvement & Monitoring System (CIMS) will be used by local educational agencies (LEA), public school academies (PSA), state schools (e.g. the Michigan Schools for the Deaf and Blind), state agencies (e.g. Family Independence Agency, Community Mental Health), and Part C (early intervention) service areas.

CIMS balances the need for continuous procedural compliance with a focus on improving student results and outcomes. The goal of the CIMS is to have districts and agencies better understand the operation and effectiveness of programs for students with disabilities and develop plans for targeted use of their resources. Special education stakeholders throughout Michigan spent many hours during 2003-04 designing the CIMS. The results of that work promises to move Michigan educators from a cyclical closed-ended monitoring system into one of continuous improvement. 

In concept, a system that once focused upon compliance with rules will now focus on program effectiveness and student results. In practice, a system that previously depended upon cyclical MDE monitoring activities will now involve collaboration between school districts and the MDE in a new quality improvement monitoring process.

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