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Special Education Disproportionality - Procedural Compliance Self-Assessment

Correcting Non-compliance

At the time the public agency reports the Disproportionality-PCSA results, the web-based application identifies any areas of noncompliance. The public agency must correct any noncompliance as soon as possible, and no later than one year from the date WDPI notifies the public agency of noncompliance by letter.

Each individual instance of noncompliance must be corrected as specified in the Disproportionality-PCSA report, and steps must be taken to ensure future compliance. When the public agency’s Disproportionality-PCSA indicates an error, the public agency must develop agency-wide corrective actions to correct the identified noncompliance and to ensure future compliance.

As soon as possible after identifying the noncompliance, the public agency corrects all compliance errors for individual students in the Disproportionality-PCSA samples. The steps required to address compliance errors for individual students are prescribed by WDPI. Public agencies are informed of the steps that must be taken to address these errors by the web-based reporting application.

The public agency is required to review noncompliance, disaggregated by race. If the LEA identifies any race-based patterns in the noncompliance, then it must conduct a program review to address the disproportionality.

Based upon the errors identified in the samples, the public agency takes appropriate additional steps to ensure future compliance, such as communicating with staff, reviewing future work product, revising policies, procedures, or forms; training staff; increasing supervision; or adding staff and other resources. As part of its Disproportionality-PCSA verification activities, the WDPI verifies each public agency’s correction of compliance errors for individual students in the samples, and verifies the agency is in current compliance with regulatory requirements.

 

Corrective action plans

A public agency is required to submit to the WDPI a corrective action plan addressing the noncompliance via the Disproportionality-PCSA web application. The WDPI strongly recommends self-assessment results and proposed corrective actions be reviewed with the agency’s ad hoc self-assessment committee prior to submitting a corrective action plan to WDPI. The corrective action plan includes required activities to bring about compliance and to ensure future compliance. For all noncompliance identified through the Disproportionality-PCSA, LEAs must review and, if necessary, revise policies, procedures, and practices to ensure compliance with IDEA. Additional corrective actions could include training staff, increasing supervision, changing staff assignments, or adding staff and other resources. WDPI’s web-based reporting system provides the proposed correction strategies reasonably calculated to correct the identified noncompliance in a timely manner and ensure future compliance.

Each public agency needs to review its internal control system as part of participation in the Disproportionality-PCSA. An internal control system allows an LEA to detect and promptly correct noncompliance. Data from an internal control system assists the LEA to determine root causes of noncompliance. Finally, an internal control system helps ensure the LEA continues to maintain compliance with federal and state special education requirements.

Components of an effective internal control system are:

  1. Infrastructure System:  The LEA should create or update its infrastructure for systematic record review and ongoing monitoring of correction. The system should clearly outline who has responsibility for its continuous operation. The system may involve teachers, school psychologists, directors of special education, as well as LEA representatives. The system may include review of random samples of records, similar to the process included in the Disproportionality-PCSA. Effective systems allow for monitoring at the school, department, or individual staff member level as appropriate for each LEA. “Drilling down” to these various levels allows LEAs to discover root causes of noncompliance and provides a method for efficient and effective correction and technical assistance. Systems should ensure record reviews are completed in a timely manner, respecting required timelines. LEAs should ensure the internal system of control is used consistently across all schools.
  2. Ongoing training: A critical component of the system is ongoing training on correct implementation of procedural requirements. Some LEAs may choose to base training on the Disproportionality-PCSA Standards and Directions. LEAs should plan for initial training of new staff, as well as updated and refresher training of veteran staff.
  3. Tools: The LEA should develop tools to be used at the school, region, or public agency level. Examples of tools include comprehensive compliance checklists, protocols for peer reviews, and computerized form systems with built-in compliance checks.

Some LEAs review IEPs for compliance after the IEP team meeting has occurred. Corrections to IEPs may be made without a meeting provided the corrections do not affect or change a student’s educational placement and the LEA and the parent agree. The LEA must provide written notice describing the changes and a copy of the revised IEP. The LEA must reconvene the IEP team in order to make any corrections affecting or changing a student’s educational placement.

Tools for correcting noncompliance

Special Education Web Portal

Standards and Directions for Assessing Compliance 10/20/14

Options for Required District-Wide Corrective Actions for Disproportionality Compliance Items 10/20/14