Special Education Division
Director: Robyn Widley
December Special Education Directors' Forum
The last Special Education Directors' Forum of the year will be held Friday, December 6, 2019, beginning at 9 a.m. in Conference Center B, Rooms 15 and 16, Minnesota Department of Education (MDE), 1500 Highway 36 W., Roseville, Minnesota 55113. The December Forum will feature a large group session with updates and information from the Special Education and Compliance and Assistance Divisions, Early Childhood Special Education, the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB), Minnesota Administrators for Special Education, homeless transportation, English learners and alternate assessments. Breakout sessions will go into more detail about homeless transportation and alternate assessments as well as postsecondary transition. The forum will be available for remote viewing courtesy of MediaSite. Watch the Special Education Directors' listserv for more information. We look forward to seeing you.
For more information, contact Tom Delaney (651-582-8324).
Inclusive Schools Week December 2-8
Governor Walz has proclaimed December 2-8, 2019, as Inclusive Schools Week in Minnesota. Read the proclamation on the MDE website.
Proposed Public Charge Rule: Information and Status
Concerns have been growing among immigrant and refugee families, along with the schools that enroll their children, about the potential impact of the proposed "Public Charge Rule." On October 11, 2019, three separate federal district court judges prohibited the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from implementing and enforcing this rule. The courts also postponed the effective date of the final rule until there is a final resolution in these cases. Homeland Security may appeal this ruling; at this time, however, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is prevented from implementing the rule anywhere in the United States. MDE will continue to provide updates to superintendents and other school administrators as the legal proceedings continue.
The proposed Public Charge Rule would make it easier to deny an immigrant’s application to enter the United States, obtain a visa or adjust their immigration status (e.g., receive a green card) on the grounds that they are likely to become a "public charge." Confusion over the rule’s impact has spread fear among immigrant communities who may wish to access public services.
It is important for special education administrators to note that the rule, if implemented, would not apply to the following programs and services:
- Medical Assistance (MA) access by immigrants under age 21 and pregnant women.
- School-based MA benefits.
- MA benefits under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
- Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, including Seamless Summer Option, Afterschool Meal Supplement, Special Milk Program, Child and Adult Care Food Program, Summer Food Service Program and the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program.
- Social Security Disability Insurance.
View more detailed State of Minnesota Fact Sheets on the Public Charge Rule in English, Somali, Hmong, Karen and Spanish on the Minnesota Department of Human Services website.
For more information, contact Shelley Schafer, MDE External Relations.
2020-21 Special Education Parent Survey
Each spring MDE’s Special Education Division invites parents of students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) to complete a parent survey. Through the survey parents have an opportunity to share feedback on their student’s IEP and the IEP process, teachers and administrators. MDE shares a summary of parent responses with the U. S. Department of Education (DOE) as part of the State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report (SPP/APR) and with the general public through the data district profiles. In addition, parents have shared that they look forward to their invitation to the parent survey as it is their chance to share the celebrations and challenges they have experienced over the school year.
Because many parents look forward to receiving the survey and because the results are used as part of Minnesota’s SPP/APR, the parent survey is an important feature of MDE’s reporting to both the DOE and our stakeholders. But the survey cannot be successful without your assistance. MDE relies upon special education directors to provide contact information for the sampled families such as mailing address and email and phone numbers, when available.
At this point, you do not need to do anything. If your district is selected as part of the sample for the 2020-2021 survey we will contact you in February with further information, including a timeline for the survey process. If you do not hear from us by March 1, your district was not part of the sample for the 2020-2021. For more information, contact Kirsten Rewey (651-582-8638).
Exiting Students with Disabilities from English Learner Services
MDE is currently working with stakeholders to develop criteria for exiting English Learners (ELs) with disabilities from EL services. The new procedures will potentially affect students who are unable to take all domains of the ACCESS test because of their disability as well as students who take the Alternate ACCESS. As part of this effort, MDE is seeking local special education and EL staff that have the following areas of expertise:
- Experience providing special education instruction and related services to ELs with high and low incidence disabilities.
- Experience administering the ACCESS to students with disabilities.
- Experience administering the Alternate ACCESS to ELs with significant cognitive disabilities.
Directors that have staff members with this expertise are asked to forward their contact information to Elizabeth Watkins or Barbara Alnouri. Local staff may be asked to provide input via e-mail and webinars or to attend stakeholder meetings. For general information regarding ELs with disabilities or for more information about this initiative, please contact Elizabeth Watkins (651-582-8678).
Self-Review to Optimize Outcomes for Students who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing
The National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) Optimizing Outcomes for Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing (D/HH) district self-review process has begun. Regional Low Incidence Facilitators (RLIFs) have discussion guides that correspond with each chapter. The RLIFs are sharing these discussion guides with teachers of the D/HH who attend their regional community of practice meetings. Those teachers then will be able to assist you and your implementation teams as you work to identify strengths and gaps in your D/HH services and begin working on the checklist at the end of the NASDSE guidelines document. We are looking forward to reading these checklists in June. If you have any questions, please contact Mary Cashman-Bakken.
Infographic on Tiered Licensure
Education Minnesota has developed an infographic explaining Minnesota's system of tiered teacher licensure. View the graphic on the Education Minnesota website.
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Director: Jennifer Dugan
The One Percent Cap on Alternate Assessment Participation in Minnesota
Over the past 20 years, laws have progressed to include students with disabilities in accountability systems in more meaningful ways. Alternate assessments aligned with alternate academic achievement standards, such as the Minnesota Test of Academic Skills (MTAS), are designed for, and limited to, students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. From 2003 to 2015, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) set forth a 1.0 percent cap on the amount of proficient or advanced alternate assessment scores that could be counted in district and statewide totals for Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). In 2016, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) revised the cap to limit alternate assessment takers to a 1.0 percent statewide participation rate, or rather, no more than 1.0 percent of the total number of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities statewide may take an alternate assessment in each subject area.
By letter dated June 4, 2019, the U.S. Department of Education informed MDE that Minnesota was above the 1.0 percent participation cap and would require MDE, as the state educational agency, to create an action plan to come into compliance with the 1.0 percent requirement set forth in ESSA. MDE submitted its action plan to the Department on July 31, 2019.
One of MDE’s action plan requirements is to describe how MDE will collect information from districts regarding participation on the MTAS; assurances that each student is provided the appropriate assessment; and, where appropriate, a narrative, including relevant local context and rationales, in support of the district’s participation rate. To accomplish this requirement, MDE formed an Alternate Assessment Workgroup. This workgroup includes both district and community stakeholders and is meeting from October 2019 through April 2020. Their work includes analyzing statewide participation rates and providing feedback on how to best provide support to districts. One of the tasks of the workgroup is to create and finalize individual district reports of MTAS participation. A communication will go out in January 2020 to all districts’ special education directors, superintendents and district assessment coordinators with the location of these reports, as well as a guide and Assurance, Rational and Context (ARC) template for districts to submit information, assurances and, where appropriate, narratives regarding alternate assessment participation rates to MDE.
Please contact Lauren Walker, Alternate Assessment Specialist at MDE, with any questions.
Test Specification Committee Invitation for Minnesota Teachers
Special education and other teachers may apply to participate on the Test Specifications Committee for the Reading Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCA-IV). The Minnesota English Language Arts (ELA) standards are currently being reviewed and revised. The process of developing a statewide reading assessment aligned to new standards requires development of new test specifications. The test specifications comprise the foundational document that links the reading standards to the MCAs for the purpose of developing assessments that provide valid student proficiency measurement. This document will be a resource for multiple audiences, including Minnesota teachers, MDE and testing vendors.
This committee will be composed of English language arts, special education and English learner teachers, grades 3–10, who will use their expertise to develop assessment boundaries for the reading strand of the 2020 Minnesota ELA standards. Committee selection will emphasize a balanced representation of demographics and grade levels. The committee will meet at MDE in Roseville for a total of eight days beginning on June 23, 2020, and continuing through the spring of 2021. Committee members must commit to attend all meetings. Meeting dates are as follows:
- June 23–24, 2020
- September 29–30, 2020
- November 17–18, 2020
- February 23–24, 2021
Committee members will receive both an honorarium or substitute reimbursement. Continuing education units (CEUs) are available.
If you would like to be considered for the Reading MCA–IV test specifications committee, please complete the Reading MCA-IV Test Specifications Committee Application survey by Sunday, January 5, 2020.
Applicants will be notified by mid-February 2020, when the selection process will be complete. View the MCA-III test specifications on the MDE website.
For more information, contact Tony Aarts and Angela Norburg, MDE reading assessment specialists.
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Director: Bobbie Burnham
Acknowledging the Role of Implicit Bias
As part of the Preschool Development Grant the Minnesota Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, along with the Minnesota Children’s Cabinet, Metropolitan State University and the Minnesota Elementary School Principals Association (MESPA) invite partners, stakeholders, principals, directors, teachers, educators, and others to attend the engaging professional learning opportunity, Acknowledging the Role of Implicit Bias as a Barrier to Reaching ALL Children conducted by Dr. Rosemarie Allen, President and CEO for the Institute for Racial Equity and Excellence. These sessions will be examining the issue of bias through the lens of suspensions and expulsions of young children.
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Session I – Monday, December 2 is a one-day professional learning session geared towards those making policy, program and funding decisions impacting children and their families, including legislators, funders, advocates, government staff, faculty and more. Session I will be held at the Minnesota Department of Education, Conference Center B, Roseville.
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Session II – Tuesday, December 3 and Wednesday, December 4 is a two-day professional learning geared towards those working directly with providers, children and families, including principals, Head Start staff, early childhood program coordinators, kindergarten teachers, prekindergarten teachers and staff, Early Childhood Special Education teachers and staff (Part C and Part B619), Professional Development Facilitators (PDFs), coaches, home visitors, child care providers, early childhood trainers, Minnesota Early Childhood Initiatives and more. This two-day implicit bias session focuses on racial inequities regarding direct services to children and their families as well as programmatic decisions impacting children and families. Session II will be held in The Great Hall, Metropolitan State University, St. Paul.
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Register for Session I and Session II on the MESPA website. Please note locations.
- Sessions are held from 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. Each session is free.
- Continuing education hours are available for administrators and teachers(5.5 hours per day).
- To extend our learning, we will also be offering free one-hour webinars with Dr. Allen on December 6, December 10, December 13 and December 16. The webinars build upon the materials presented in Session I and Session II. The webinar sessions will be recorded for those unable to attend on the live-presentation dates.
As an introduction to this professional learning opportunity, we suggest you view the brief video, School suspensions are an Adult Behavior with Dr. Rosemarie Allen.
Contact Debbykay Peterson for assistance with general questions, or Rachel Dillion for registration questions.
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