SPP: Public Agency Procedural Compliance Self-Assessment

Questions and Answers

If you have questions about the self-assessment process that are not answered here, please submit your question by email.

Question 1: My public agency is a K-8 school district. For a K-8 school district, what is the definition of the grades for the middle school level for Samples 1 and 2?

Answer: According to the Wisconsin statutes, a middle school is a school in which grades 5 to 8 are taught. You may use this definition.

Question 2: Our school district does not have any private schools within its boundaries. How shall I respond to item N-1 on the "No Sample Recording Form?"

Answer: School districts that have no private schools within their boundaries should mark "NA" for item N-1.

Question 3: Should any of the IEPs developed for children attending the state schools (Janesville or Delevan) be included in the samples?

Answer: The Wisconsin Educational Services Program for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the Wisconsin Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired will conduct their own self-assessments. If the school district, rather than one of the state schools, completed the evaluation, include the student in the list from which Sample 1--Evaluation is drawn. These evaluations are usually students' initial evaluations. If a state school conducted the evaluation, do not include the student on the list. For Sample 2--IEP and Sample 3--Transition, if a student's IEP was developed by the state school, do not include the student in the list from which the sample is drawn. For Sample 4--Discipline, do not include students attending the state schools on the list from which the sample is drawn.

Question 4: If we have our sample size, and we do our random number selection, what happens if a student randomly chosen has moved out of the district? Before assigning numbers, should we remove anyone who has moved out of the district?

Answer: If a student is no longer within the jurisdiction of your public agency, the student should not be included in the population from which "Sample 2-IEP" is drawn. Eliminate any such student from the population before you draw a sample.

Question 5: When we develop "Sample 2-IEP," do we include transfer students whose IEPs we adopted from the student's previous school district?

Answer: No. Do NOT include transfer students whose IEPs have been adopted from the school district they previously attended in the population for Sample 2.

Question 6: In "Sample 2-IEP", do we include students attending our school district under the full-time open enrollment law?

Answer: If your school district (the non-resident district of attendance) developed the student's current IEP, include the student in the population for Sample 2.

Question 7: In creating Sample 2--Evaluation, should we include students who were not re-evaluated, pursuant to an agreement between the school district and the parents?

Answer: No. Do not include these students in the list from which the sample is drawn.

Question 8: Is a student attending school in another district under the full-time open enrollment law included in our school district (the resident school district) self-assessment?

Answer: No. While the child attends the nonresident school district under the full-time open enrollment law, the responsibility for a free, appropriate public education (FAPE) rests with the school district of attendance.

Question 9: There are two interview protocols in the self-assessment materials. Which samples are they used with?

Answer: The two interview protocols are "IEP Implementation Interview Recording Form for Determination of IEP Implementation (I-18)" and "IEP Implementation Interview Recording Form for Completing I-19" (whether parents were provided periodic reports of their child's progress). They are used to assess self-assessment items I-18 and I-19, respectively. Both are used with the cases in "Sample 2-IEP."

Question 10: Are there strategies you can suggest for conducting the interviews required for items I-18 and I-19?

Answer: You may divide the list of interviewees among several staff members. You may use several methods to communicate the questions: face-to-face, over the telephone, e-mail, or other written correspondence. You must make a reasonable attempt to communicate with each parent. However, if you are not able to communicate with the parent, document that on the interview protocols and use other information to determine whether the requirement is met. If a parent does not speak English, you need to communicate the questions in the parent's language.

Question 11: For items I-18 and I-19, if the student is an adult student, would you interview the student or the student's parents?

Answer: If the student has reached the age of majority and has not been determined to be incompetent, then the student should be interviewed for the purpose of assessing the I-18 and I-19 requirements.

Question 12: Is the procedural compliance self-assessment ad hoc committee to be selected/appointed by an administrator or the board of education?

Answer: The ad hoc committee may be appointed by any public agency personnel or public agency body with authority to do so. We do not require action by the school board or other governing body of the public agency.

Question 13: Is it required that we have an ad hoc committee? Will we be penalized if we do have a committee?

Answer: DPI strongly recommends a public agency establish a procedural compliance self-assessment ad hoc committee. DPI's criteria for selecting a public agency for validation of its self-assessment include whether the agency established such a committee and whether the committee includes parents.

Question 14: If we have no students who were removed for 11 or more days of school, do we need to do anything further for Sample 4 - Discipline?

Answer: If there are no students in a public agency removed 11 or more cumulative days in the previous school year, then the public agency has no population from which to create Sample 4 - Discipline. The agency will report this to DPI when it files its self-assessment report.

Question 15: Is the "Discipline Recording Form" the only place where the results are recorded? Is there a worksheet I am missing?

Answer: There is no student record review checklist for use with Sample 4 - Discipline. The results should be recorded directly on the "Discipline Recording Form."

Self-Assessment Electronic Reporting Application

Question 1: The electronic reporting system asks me to use a password. What is my password?

Answer: The password for the electronic reporting system is your Local Performance Plan (LPP) password, the same password used to complete the IDEA budget information. If you do not remember your password, then please contact Nancy Fuhrman at 608/267-9243.

Question 2: We have completed all of our interviews with parents and staff. I do not see any place to report this information on the reporting mechanism. Is there a specific place?

Answer: The results of the parent and staff interviews are used to assess Items I-18 and I-19. A public agency should use the interviews, in part, to determine whether the public agency complied with the requirements of I-18 and I-19 for each student in the sample. The scores reported to DPI for items I-18 and I-19 are the numbers of students in the sample not in compliance. The data from interviews for each student are not reported to the DPI. The completed interview forms should be retained. If your public agency is selected for verification of its self-assessment, DPI staff will review the completed forms.

Question 3: Can I use a Macintosh computer to complete the Procedural Compliance Self-Assessment Report and Corrective Action Plan?

Answer: The application has not been tested with a Macintosh computer. We do not recommend using a Macintosh to complete the report.

Question 4: Based on the number of errors I entered for an item in the Self-Assessment Report, I am surprised we are required to take any corrective action. I entered only two errors and my sample is 25.

Answer: There are two levels of corrective action, student-level and district-level corrective action. Whenever an error is identified for a student in the sample, a prescribed corrective action is required to address the error. The specific corrective action appears in the section titled "Report Summary and Corrective Action - Student Level." If a significant number of errors are found for an item, district-wide corrective action is required. Items requiring district-wide corrective action appear in the section titled "Report Summary and Corrective Action - District Level." In this section a public agency reports the district-wide activities it will take to ensure compliance for all students in the public agency.

Question 5: When must the errors identified for students in the samples be corrected?

Answer: The errors identified for the students in the four self-assessment samples must be corrected as soon as possible. Generally, these errors should be corrected within 60 days of the public agency filing its self-assessment report.

Question 6: What student-specific corrective actions must be taken for students in the self-assessment samples who have graduated, moved, or have been dismissed from special education since the self-assessment?

Answer: There are no student-specific corrective actions for students who have graduated, moved, or have been dismissed from special education.

Question 7: If a student's IEP has been revised after the self-assessment and the error identified in the self-assessment has been corrected, what student-specific corrective action should be taken?

Answer: If the prescribed corrective action is to hold a meeting to revise the IEP, the new IEP revised after the self-assessment period is sufficient documentation of correction.

• Self-Assessment/Sampling Activities for the Cycle

For questions about this information, contact Paul Sherman 608-267-9157 or Patricia Williams 608-267-3720.

Last updated on 1/21/2009 2:40:33 PM