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August 24, 2020
Fall Due Process Guidance
A new question and answer document with guidance for schools and districts preparing for the 2020-21 school year have been posted to the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) COVID-19 Updates and MDE Special Education webpages. Special Education Due Process Guidance for the 2020-21 School Year—Related to the Safe Learning Plan for 2020-21, MDH Direct Services Guidance, and Executive Orders 20-81 and 20-82 provides responses to questions we have received about in-school direct services, face masks and face coverings, and initial evaluations and reevaluations.
MDE staff will continue to collect questions and provide answers in these documents, which we plan to update as needed. Notification of these updates will be via this special education directors' listserv, and may appear in communication with superintendents and charter school leaders.
Before contacting MDE staff with questions, please refer to these compiled documents to see if your questions have been answered. Note that you may need to refresh your Internet browser and/or clear your browser cache to see the very latest versions of these documents. Thank you for all you do for students receiving special education services in Minnesota.
Another Reminder Regarding Restrictive Procedures Reporting
Don’t forget to submit your restrictive procedures reports – even if you do not have anything to report. Restrictive procedures reporting was due on July 15, 2020, and many districts have not timely submitted their data. If your district has not yet completed its reporting, please do so immediately. The reporting requirement includes two parts: 1) annual reporting on physical holding and 2) quarterly reporting on seclusion use. Districts are required to complete reporting requirements even if they do not have physical holding or seclusion uses to report.
Part 1: Annual Reporting on Physical Holding
The 2019-20 Physical Holding Annual Summary Form can be found on the Restrictive Procedures webpage, along with instructions for submission. All districts are required to submit the physical holding summary form, even if no physical holds were used during the school year. Please complete and submit the form electronically on the Special Education Document Upload webpage. Do not submit a scanned copy.
Part 2: Quarterly Seclusion Reporting
Third quarter seclusion reporting is also past due. Please complete your reporting requirement following the directions below:
If no seclusion uses occurred during the quarter, the district should send an email, including the district number and name, confirming no seclusion uses, to MDE.RP-SeclusionReporting@state.mn.us.
If the district did use seclusion during the quarter, complete the Quarterly Seclusion Reporting Form, which can be found on the Restrictive Procedures webpage, along with instructions for submission. Complete the form above electronically and submit as an Excel file by uploading to MDE on the Special Education Document Upload webpage.
If the district has not submitted quarterly seclusion reports for previous quarters of the 2019-20 school year (due in October, January, and April), the district should do so now, following the instructions above. Districts must submit quarterly seclusion reports or zero seclusion emails each quarter, by October 15, January 15, April 15 and July 15.
Questions can be sent to MDE.RP-SeclusionReporting@state.mn.us.
August 6 Directors' Dialog Recording Available
The captioned recording and slide presentation from the August 6 Special Education Directors' Dialog is now available on the MDE Special Education Division MediaSite website. To download the presentation, click on the information "i" button at the lower right of the browser window; a popup with a link to the slides should appear. Note that the meeting begins at approximately the 4:20 mark of the recording.
Develop Specifications for Alternate Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment
The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) is looking for a diverse group of K-12 special education, science and reading teacher leaders who will use their expertise to develop test specifications for the Alternate Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (previously Minnesota Test of Academic Skills, MTAS) in science and reading. The Alternate MCA is the redesigned alternate assessment aligned to alternate achievement standards taken by students with the most significant cognitive disabilities.
The committee will meet virtually over the 2020-21 school year. The purpose of the committee is to decrease the depth, breadth and complexity of the science and reading standards on the Alternate MCA by developing assessment boundaries and access points for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities.
Please encourage your educators who work with students with the most significant cognitive disabilities to consider applying by September 18, 2020.
For more information about this committee or to apply, view the Survey Monkey website or contact Dawn Cameron.
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