Hello Stakeholders!

I want to wish each of you a very happy holiday season with your family and friends. Thank you for your ongoing collaboration with OSEP and your commitment to raise expectations, and improve results and outcomes for our students with disabilities. It has been my privilege to spend my first month at OSEP getting to hear your voices and learn your priorities. Our partnership really does matter!

OSEP’s RETHINK RDA (Results Driven Accountability) is an example of how important your voice is as OSEP strives to improve its system of supports. OSEP listened to stakeholders in a series of 17 RETHINK RDA brainstorming sessions and through written submissions to the RETHINK RDA mailbox. A big shout-out goes to those who participated and provided us with valuable input and concrete recommendations.

I have also been fortunate to have initial meetings with many of our advocacy and membership organization partners. Through these meetings, I’ve gained a better understanding of each organization’s priorities, goals, and needs. Additionally, I’ve participated in project kick-off meetings for our new TA investments. In kick-offs, grantees and OSEP set the plan for how the project will be implemented to have the most impact on improved results for children with disabilities and their families. Finally, I had an opportunity to meet with several new state directors of special education. We are very excited to be able to work with the new directors, and support work within their states and local education agencies. I will meet with the IDEA Infant and Toddlers Coordinators Association board to hear about its work with infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families and discuss how OSEP will support their work.

OSEP is also partnering with other federal offices. The Combined Federal Programs meeting was a great success (read more below). Last week, I represented ED on the Interdepartmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee convened by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The conveners provided an update on federal activities to advance treatment and recovery from serious mental illness and serious emotional disturbance. These partnerships are a key to advancing our work.

My list of meetings and activities is long, but our work is strong! Thank you, partners, for your vision and ongoing commitment to our students and families. I am looking forward to what the new year will bring.

Laurie

Monthly National Technical Assistance Call

OSEP’s Dec. 13 national technical assistance call focused on the upcoming State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP) submission (Phase III, Year 3). During the call, OSEP provided a brief overview of the requirements for the SSIP indicators (B-17 and C-11), a description of what OSEP looks for as part of its SSIP review process, and tips for submitting a concise but thorough SSIP report. In addition, OSEP highlighted technical assistance resources available to states. Contact your state lead to follow up on this call.

Differentiated Monitoring and Support 

State leads continue to work with states to plan technical assistance and support activities addressing the factors that led to intensive and targeted levels of engagement in the areas of compliance, results, SSIP, and fiscal.

The Center for IDEA Fiscal Reporting has recently released two helpful resources:

IDEA Part B Subgrant Complexities and Compliance: Addressing Calculation Challenges. This recorded webinar, originally presented at IDEA Fiscal Forum 2018, focuses on statutory and regulatory provisions that make calculating local education agency subgrants challenging including (1) base payment adjustments; (2) the Charter School Expansion Act; and (3) population and poverty counts. 

Maintenance of State Financial Support (MFS) Calculation Checklist. This resource helps states calculate complete and accurate data for MFS reporting. The checklist identifies items that should and should not be included in the calculation and highlights considerations for improving data quality.

Check out the Early Childhood Recommended Practices Modules now available on the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center website. The modules, based on the Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children's recommended practices, were created to use when training early care and education, early intervention, and early childhood special education faculty and professional development providers. 

These free and interactive multimedia modules are easily accessed by faculty and professional development providers and can be embedded in coursework and professional development sessions. Each module contains several lessons and includes accompanying instructor supports and learning guides to assist professional development providers and faculty. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is pleased to announce that its free app, the Milestone Tracker, is now available in Spanish!  This mobile app is part of a suite of free, family-friendly materials available through the  program Learn the Signs. Act Early. 

The Milestone Tracker allows parents to track their child's development in a fun and easy way and gives them 1) tips to help their child learn and grow; 2) a way to track milestones and recognize delays; and (3) the ability to share this information with their child's health care provider. Specifically, the app offers the following:

• Interactive milestone checklists for children ages 2 months through 5 years, illustrated with photos and videos
• Tips and activities to help children learn and grow
• Information on when to act early and talk with a doctor about developmental delays
• A personalized milestone summary that can be easily shared with doctors and other care providers
• Reminders for appointments and developmental screenings

The OSEP-funded National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes (NDC) recently released a variety of tools to support transition planning for deaf students. 

• Transition Planning Guide and Infographic. This  user-friendly poster highlights key aspects of transition planning and how it applies to deaf students, in particular. NDC has a parallel set of resources for self-advocacy. 
• Deafverse!  is an interactive game that focuses on decision making and self-advocacy for teens and young adults. NDC is working on additional worlds within the game that focus on entry into the world of work. Deafverse! curriculum development is also underway to give educators ways to integrate the game in the classroom. 
• Postsecondary accommodations checklist and interview questions provides sample questions that  postsecondary disability service office professionals can use when welcoming new deaf students to campus. The checklist and questions are also useful for transition planning teams to use when providing guidance to graduating deaf students.  

OSERS is on Twitter with the latest tweets from special education advocates, educators, families, and students. Follow us @Ed_Sped_Rehab and tell your friends. Follow Assistant Secretary Johnny Collett @JCollettOSERS. We'll see you in the Twittersphere!

Visit our blog for powerful stories and useful information from parents, families, educators, and practitioners in the field. Be sure to bookmark sites.ed.gov/osers for future posts!

You can also check out the IDEA website newsletter archive for past editions of the OSEP Update. Readers are invited to send their feedback on the newsletter to rebecca.walawender@ed.gov.