OSEP Wants You! Seeking Input Re Results Driven Accountability

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The Office of Special Education Programs is the arm of the federal government that oversees special education. OSEP is currently seeking input regarding changes in their monitoring system.

OSEP has determined to switch to a results driven accountability system from whatever the previous system was. These changes sometimes make me nervous, but the concept of focusing on outcomes for kids with disabilities seems really good.

In pursuit of this goal, OSEP has posted a series of questions seeking comments from stakeholders.  If you feel strongly about special education, you should comment.  This is your chance to provide your input, and I strongly believe that OSEP will consider your input carefully.  They may not agree, but you will be heard.

The current question seeks comments concerning the core principles that OSEP has developed internally to guide its process toward results driven accountability.  Here are the principles:

The following core principles underlie and will guide OSEP’s RDA work:

1. OSEP is developing the RDA system in partnership with our stakeholders.
2. The RDA system is transparent and understandable to states and the general public, especially individuals with disabilities and their families.
3. The RDA system drives improved outcomes for all children and youth with disabilities regardless of their age, disability, race/ethnicity, language, gender, socioeconomic status, or location.
4. The RDA system ensures the protection of the individual rights of each child or youth with a disability and their families, regardless of his/her age, disability, race/ethnicity, language, gender, socioeconomic status, or location.
5. The RDA system provides differentiated incentives, supports, and interventions based on each state’s unique strengths, progress, challenges, and needs.
6. The RDA system encourages states to direct their resources to where they can have the greatest positive impact on outcomes and the protection of individual rights for all children and youth with disabilities, and minimizes state burden and duplication of effort.
7. The RDA system is responsive to the needs and expectations of the ultimate consumers (i.e., children and youth with disabilities and their families) as they identify them.

You can and should let OSEP know what you think on this website. You can review the core principles here. You can review the previous four questions and resulting comments at these websites: one, two, three and four.

Let me know what you think of the RDA process.

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OSEP Rules re Mediation and Consent Revocation

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I am a fan of mediation as a mechanism for resolving special education disputes. Unlike due process hearings or state complaints, mediation is well suited to deal with the relationship issues that arise in these conflicts.  We are talking about the education of a child, and as we know, it takes a village...

You can hear and actually see me address this topic and others as a part of "Voices From the Field," a collection of viewpoints from people in the special education dispute resolution field. The videos are located on the CADRE website.  You can find mine here.

The federal Office of Special Education Programs has reiterated that IDEA mediation cannot be used in the situation where a parent revokes consent for special education services.  The regs already say that, but I wondered whether mediation could be used if the goal was not to override the parent, but instead to insure that the revocation decision was based upon informed consent if the parents agreed.  OSEP said no, that IDEA mediation could not be used even if the parents agree.  Letter to Gerl (OSEP June 6, 2012).  By the way, this is the second Letter to Gerl so now I'm really famous! Autographs are available!

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OSEP Wants You! Results Driven Accountability

Uncle Sam recruiting poster. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You may recall that in a recent post, I mentioned the press release by the federal Office of Special Education Programs stating that they were suspending their verification visits and contemplating a system driven more by results than compliance.  Here is the old post.

On the OSERS website you can find the press release and a Questions & Answers document as well as a summary of the new acronym RDA (results driven approach.)

Also the OSEP director, Melody Musgrove, has announced a new email address where you can submit your opinion as to what should be included in the new monitoring approach. You can put in your two cents at OSEP-RDA-input@ed.gov OSEP wants your opinion; give it to them!

Also please let me know what you think of this new approach.

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I'm Going to Really Miss JoLeta Reynolds

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JoLeta Reynolds died last Friday at her home in Rock Island, Tennessee. She was a Senior Policy Advisor for the Office of Special Education Programs of the U. S. Department of Education. She was only 67, and she had been fighting cancer for seven years. Here is an obituary.

This is a quote from a post I did about the JoLeta Reynolds Award, which is named after her, on July 13, 2007:

"JoLeta Reynolds is one of the best people on the planet. Many folks who work in special education know her well. She is a senior policy advisor for OSEP. She was instrumental in the re authorizations of IDEA, wrote the federal regulations after the 1977 reauthorization of IDEA and she was key in the writing of the new (2004 reauthorization) regs. She helps everybody who has a question. Many times she has helped me personally understand the nuances of the regs; she is very patient and supportive of me. She has persevered through obstacles that would stop many of us in our tracks. She is great!"

I would often call JoLeta when I had a question about the regs. A couple times, I played back messages from her that began in that kind voice, "Jim I don't think you're reading that regulation correctly." She would tell me when I got it wrong, but she never made me feel bad about it. She was always supportive of me.

The entire Special Education Law community has lost an amazing resource and a dear friend. This is a sad day.