Special Education Program Review

Message from the Superintendent:

Thank you for reading our webpage about our Special Education Program Review. I am excited to be shepherding this work in our District. I anticipate that the outcomes of this work will help us improve and grow as a system.  I will aim to be as transparent as possible throughout this process; this page will be updated as dates for activities are set and surveys are initiated.  I hope you will check back frequently and engage in this work moving forward.

Rebecca Miner
Superintendent

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Project Updates:

11/21/2024: The Special Education Air Committee met on Thursday evening.  Updates and progress can be found in the attached slides. Special Education Committee Nov. 21 meeting

9/25/2024:  Attached are the slides from our Special Education AIR Committee Meeting from Wednesday evening, which provides an update on our progress and future plans.  Special Education Committee Sept. 25 meeting

05/17/2024: The recommendations of the Preschool subcommittee can be found here. The recommendations of the Training Plan/ Professional Development subcommittee can be found here.

05/07/2024: The Communications subcommittee recommendations can be found here. The Special Education Manual subcommittee recommendations can be found here. 

04/23/2024: The subcomittees continued their work. The Communication group shared new recommendations, endorsements and concerns about current practices with Rebecca. She has scheduled time next week (the week of April 29th) to share those recommendations with Dana Geaslen. After they have been shared with Dana and the Student Services team, they will be posted on this page. The group working on the Special Education Manual developed a work plan to implement user friendly procedural handbooks for all groups. After their recommendations have been shared with Student Services, they will also be posted on this page.

03/25/2024: Committee members divided into four sub-committees, which will focus on: Creating a Special Education Manual, Creating a Training Plan, Communication or Preschool. At the most recent meeting, they engaged in work related to these topics.

02/28/2024: Attached are the slides from last night's School Board study session which provided special education review updates. 

02/27/2024: There will be a School Board Special Meeting (Study Session) to update the Board on the status of the Special Education Review on Tuesday, February 27th. The study session will be held at the ESC (20420 68th Ave W in Lynnwood) in rooms 101/102 at 5:00pm and is open to the public.

02/23/2024: During our February meeting, we followed a protocol for individuals to select a work group to participate in for the rest of the committee meetings this year. Groups will focus on recommendations from the AIR report.

01/26/2024: Unfortunately, the committee's January meeting was canceled due to inclement weather.

12/15/2023: At our December meeting, Dana Geaslen shared her updates to the special education procedure based on the feedback from the committee. She received clarification as needed and will move the procedure forward through our normal processes. Once the procedure is ready to be implemented, Dana will use the feedback provided from the group to develop a training and dissemination plan. Time did not permit us to set goals for the rest of the year for the committee, so we will commence with that work in January.

11/20/2023: During the November meeting of the Sepcial Education Review Committee, small groups shared the results of their review of procedure 2161P with the full group. At our 12/13 meeting, Student Services staff will respond to the proposed updates to this procedure and we will set goals for the rest of the committee's work this year.

10/31/2023: 

Per the recommendations of the Special Education Program Review, we have implemented a cross district advisory committee for special education. This committee is made up of 29 people. The committee members include:

• four parents

• four elementary special education teachers 

• three high school special education teachers

• three special education administrators  

• two paraeducators

• two school psychologists 

• two building administrators 

• one preschool teacher

• one general education teacher

• one member of the maintenance team

• one school nurse

• one office coordinator

• one speech language pathologist

• one certified behavior analyst

Thus far, the committee has worked on establishing norms and has been reviewing the proposed School Board Procedure 2161P- Special Education and Related Services for Eligible Students. Once that review has been completed, the procedure will be reviewed by Student Services administrators with the committee’s feedback at the forefront of their considerations. 

Approximately one week after each meeting (upcoming meetings will be held on November 15, December 13, January 17, February 21, March 20, April 17 and May 15th)  you will be able to find a summary of the committee’s work on this page. 

Additionally, in alignment with the AIR recommendations I have implemented the creation of a dedicated special education director position whose sole responsibility is to oversee special education. Dana Geaslen is serving in this capacity.

5/30/2023: Attached is the Final Report from the American Institues for Research (AIR).

4/25/2023: Attached are the Powerpoint slides from the American Institutes for Research (AIR) presentation to the board last Tuesday.

4/19/2023: American Institutes for Research (AIR) staff shared the results of the special education review with the school board at a study session, via Zoom webinar. You may view a recording of the webinar below:

4/12/2023: American Institutes for Research (AIR) staff will be sharing the results of the special education review with the Board in a study session on 4/18 at 4:30 p.m. This will be presented to the Board in a webinar and, like all study sessions, this meeting is open to the public. The link to join the webinar is here and is also available on the district calendar. Like many of you, I am anxiously awaiting this presentation and our next steps in this work. The full written report will not be complete at the time of the presentation but I will share that with all of you once it is available

03/09/2023: Rebecca continues to meet with AIR regularly. At their 3/9 meeting, AIR staff working on our project indicated that they have completed all of the research portions of the project, including interviews, and are now moving forward with writing the report. They are on schedule to present their findings to the board at a study session on April 18th at 5:00pm.

02/13/2023: AIR has now completed additional individual interviews and have completed their data collection. They are now working to analyze the data points and prepare for the upcoming Board study session.

01/27/2023: The AIR Staff Survey is now closed, they received 1,358 responses. Thank you so much to all who took the time to participate and contribute their insights. Receiving so many responses contributes to the validity of this survey. AIR will now focus on drawing conclusions from the data they have collected.

01/17/2023: The Communications Department sent the email below to all staff today as a reminder to please complete the Special Education Program Review Staff Survey. This survey will remain open until 01/23 at 9pm PST.

"This is a reminder to please complete the Edmonds Special Education Program Review Staff Survey if you’ve yet. Thank you to the more than 700 people who have taken time to provide their input so far. The survey closes at 9 p.m. Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. It will take approximately 15-20 minutes. CLICK HERE TO TAKE SURVEY

This survey provides an opportunity for all ESD staff to express their views related to the climate and culture in ESD. The survey's questions were designed specifically for ESD based on topics that arose in interviews and focus groups AIR facilitated in December 2022. The survey’s results will be analyzed and reported alongside analyses of several other data sources, including the interviews and focus groups with district- and school-level staff. You can learn more about the Special Education Program Review AIR is conducting and receive regular updates related to the work here. 

Your responses to survey questions will remain confidential. All data are aggregated to the district level; therefore, no schools or individual respondents will be identified in the analysis or the report."

01/12/2023: The Special Education Program Review Survey was sent out on Monday, 1/9 from our Communications Department to all staff. This survey will remain open until 01/23 at 9pm. Below is the email that was sent out:

All Edmonds School District staff are encouraged to take the Special Education Program Review Survey. It will take approximately 15-20 minutes. >>CLICK HERE TO TAKE SURVEY<<

This survey provides an opportunity for all ESD staff to express their views related to the climate and culture in ESD. The survey's questions were designed specifically for ESD based on topics that arose in interviews and focus groups AIR facilitated in December 2022. 

The survey’s results will be analyzed and reported alongside analyses of several other data sources, including the interviews and focus groups with district- and school-level staff. You can learn more about the Special Education Program Review AIR is conducting and receive regular updates related to the work by visiting our website.

Your responses to survey questions will remain confidential 

All data are aggregated to the district level; therefore, no schools or individual respondents will be identified in the analysis or the report.

01/06/2023: The all staff survey from AIR has been finalized and is being formatted. We anticipate that a link to the survey will be sent to staff early next week from the Communications Department. Once the survey is available, we will post updates on this page containing the survey deadlines.

12/16/2022: As of today, AIR has completed five focus groups and two interviews. There are two additional focus groups scheduled in January along with additional interviews.

A survey, written with what they have learned so far about our district in mind, will be sent out by mid-January. The survey link will be sent by the district's communications department but the survey itself will be managed by AIR and the district will not know which individuals completed the survey. All staff will have the opportunity to complete the survey. Once it is sent out, staff will have approximately ten days to complete the survey which will be designed to be completed in about 15 minutes, though may take longer depending on what the survey participant writes in the open ended response opportunities.

12/8/2022: The message below was sent to those who registered for SpEd Teacher & Certificated Staff focus groups hosted earlier this week but were not selected. The message provides additional details on the focus group selection process and includes sign up links for additional focus groups in the new year.

Additional Focus Group Options Now Available

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If you’re receiving this email, it means you registered but were not selected for the SpEd Teachers & Certified Staff focus group hosted earlier this week (or you were eligible for inclusion based on the role you selected during registration). During the signup process for the original focus group and in the email inquiries we’ve been responding to, it was noted additional focus groups would be added in the new year based on the number of signups we received.

Our team is pleased to announce additional focus group times to hear from more individuals and ensure the inclusion of as many diverse perspectives as possible. Signup links and additional information about the groups can be found below.

These new focus group options will be role-specific. SpEd teachers will have their own group, as will certified support staff (rather than being combined into one). Please make sure you register for the correct group relevant to your role.

Those selected for previous focus groups will not be considered for these new options. You may forward these signup links to any interested colleagues who did not register previously, but we want to ensure additional opportunities are provided to the many individuals who registered previously and did not get selected.

About the Focus Groups & Special Education Program Review

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We apologize for any confusion that may have arisen around the selection and notification process earlier this week. To clarify, I want to highlight a few points:

• Registration for a focus group is not a confirmation of selection. It is only an indicator of interest and availability.
  • You will receive a registration confirmation with a calendar hold upon registration, but you will be personally notified of selection. Now, you will also be notified even if you were not selected as part of the randomly identified sample. Expect to receive notification 1-2 days before the focus group is scheduled.
  • Seats for the focus groups are limited to 12 so all participants will have the opportunity to substantively contribute and feel comfortable speaking to their experiences in the presence of a small, non-intimidating group.
• An automated program selecting registrants at random, validating employment, and taking into account diversity of roles, schools, and school levels among the final sample has been and will continue to be used to determine the composition of each focus group and get the best representation across ESD.
• Our team at AIR is not affiliated with ESD. Information shared with us in focus groups or surveys will be de-identified and kept confidential.
  • Our team is getting a better understanding of the climate and culture in ESD and are here to listen in earnest and provide recommendations to ESD based on the feedback we receive.
  • Our work will culminate in a presentation and written report delivered to ESD leadership in Spring 2023.
• A survey will be sent in January that all interested staff, regardless of participation in the focus groups, will have the opportunity to complete.
• Check back regularly at the district’s page dedicated to our review for updates related to our work and how you can get involved.

New Focus Group Signup Links

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Focus Group		Roles Included		Focus Group Date/Time		Signup Link
Special Education Teachers		Teachers		January 9, 2023; 4:00 – 5:15 pm Pacific		CLICK HERE
Certified Support Staff		School Psychologists,  Speech/Language Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, and other certificated support staff roles		January 11, 2023; 4:00 – 5:15 pm Pacific		CLICK HERE

 

12/5/2022: Due to high interest in participation in the focus groups, additional focus groups are being added by AIR and, if you have signed up for a focus group, they will reach out to you directly regarding the other opportunities once those are scheduled. It is still possible that even with the additional focus groups being added, there may not be enough capacity for 100% of interested people to participate in a focus group or there may be schedule conflicts for those who wish to participate. Everyone will still have an opportunity to participate in the survey in January even if they are not focus group participants.

11/16/2022: Focus group dates have been set and sign ups are now open. Due to limited seats and high interest, signup for the focus group is only an indicator of interest and availability - please reserve this time to participate. You will be notified if you have been selected to participate. If signups exceed capacity, additional focus groups will be added. All groups will be conducted virtually. AIR is handling the scheduling for these sessions directly, please use the links below to sign up.

 

10/25/2022: The superintendent had a productive meeting today with AIR as they continue to plan the study for us. They are working on developing a schedule of activities to occur primarily in November and December with attention given to holidays and breaks. More information will be shared soon.

10/18/2022: AIR is working to develop protocols tailored to our specific district needs and questions. We have been working to share the extant materials they have requested with them. At this time we would ask that you not reach out to them directly to request an opportunity to participate and instead wait for opportunities to be shared via district communication channels and this webpage.