State Performance Plan 2005-2012 - Part B - Arkansas Department Of Education (Page 78 of 277) in pdf

State Performance Plan 2005-2012 - Part B - Arkansas Department Of Education Page 78

Arkansas Department of Education Special Education Unit

Part B State Performance Plan

Monitoring Priority: FAPE in the LRE

Indicator 05: School Age LRE

Percent of Children with IEPs aged 6 through 21:

A. Inside the regular class 80% or more of the day;

B. Inside the regular class less than 40% of the day; and

C. In separate schools, residential facilities, or homebound/hospital placements.

(20 U.S.C. 1416(a)(3)(A))

Measurement

A. Percent = [(# of children with IEPs served inside the regular class 80% or more of the day) divided

by the (total # of students aged 6 through 21 with IEPs)] times 100.

B. Percent = [(# of children with IEPs served inside the regular class less than 40% of the day) divided

by the (total # of students aged 6 through 21 with IEPs)] times 100.

C. Percent = [(# of children with IEPs served in separate schools, residential facilities, or

homebound/hospital placements) divided by the (total # of students aged 6 through 21 with IEPs)]

times 100.

A four-year moving average of the percent change was used to calculate the 6-21 Least Restrictive

Environment (LRE) projection rates through FFY 2013. Variability in estimates is in part an artifact of

historical data quality as well as the methodology. As data quality improves, more rigorous targets will be

set.

Overview of Issue/Description of System or Process

Children with IEPs should receive support and services, to the greatest extent possible, in general education

classes. Thus, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs is tracking the

number of children with IEPs in school districts who receive special education services on the LRE

continuum.

Arkansas monitors for irregularities in LRE via the child count data and on-site folder reviews. To assist the

Monitoring and Program Effectiveness section of the Special Education Unit, the monitoring staff is

provided full access to the most recent data sets through a secure login on the MySped Resource website.

Additionally, the IDEA Data & Research Office generates monitoring Profiles for each Arkansas school

district. The monitoring profiles are part of a continuous improvement system designed to identify school

districts in significant need of special education improvement. One aspect of LRE was chosen as an area of

emphasis (children with IEPs served inside the regular class 80% or more of the day) with triggers

developed and applied to identify districts with significant discrepancies compared to other Arkansas school

districts.

The benchmark for Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) is the 3-year Arkansas average (2001/2002,

2002/2003, and 2003/2004) of the proportion of students receiving special education in the regular

classroom at least 80% of the school day minus those students in private residential facilities. The 3-year

average value for Arkansas LRE is 42.05%, with a standard deviation of 12.29%. Thus, the trigger value for

LRE is 29.76%. Hence, any district that has less than 29.76% of its special education students in the regular

classroom at least 80% of the school day will be identified for Monitoring on LRE.

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State Performance Plan 2005-2012 - Part B - Arkansas Department Of Education Page 78