SST16 Special Education Newsletter

*2023-2024 Directors’ Meeting Schedule*

November 29th: AMESC 9-12

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Previous months recordings and notes in the shared directors folder

The department is currently working to publish the updated Ohio Operating Standards for the Education of Children with Disabilities in a printed format and a PDF format.

Until the printed format is released, know that all changes are in effect as of July 1, 2023 and can be found in Ohio Administrative Code which reflect the July 1, 2023 language.

The Ohio Center for Deafblind Education (OCDBE) is required to register new children or update the records of a child already on the census.

Any child with a combined vision and hearing loss is eligible to be registered on the Census, regardless of IDEA eligibility or identification. A child does not need to be identified as Deaf, hearing impaired, blind, visually impaired or deafblind for inclusion in the Ohio Deafblind Census and National Deafblind Child Count. To update a record, go to the OCDBE website and click on the red link, Census: Register/Update a Child, in the upper left-hand corner of each website page. The Annual Census brochure that provides step-by-step directions for registering a child or updating a record is attached and is downloadable from the OCDBE website.

ESP Day was made to honor and recognize the contributions education support professionals (ESPs) make to public education. It takes place during American Education Week, a week of holidays and celebrations founded by the National Education Association. Support Professionals make up over 40 percent of a school’s staff, and, at times, their professions get overlooked. Because of the long work hours and main activity they have with student safety, National Educational Support Professionals Day is made to give thanks to them for their hard work and services to their schools and students.

During this session on December 13, 2023 @1pm the OEC Supports and Monitoring Team will answer questions from the Oct. 4, 2023 Office Hours.

Reviewing these IDEA Monitoring Updates Slides will help to inform the questions you may want to ask!

Office Hours: Tips and Resources from The Supports and Monitoring Department Join us to connect with the Office for Exceptional Children Supports and Monitoring Team regarding IDEA compliance. This session will be geared to Special Education Directors. The team will highlight IDEA Monitoring Tools and Resources and the team will be answering questions from the October 4, 2023, office hours. If you have additional questions, you would like answers to during this session please sign up and submit your questions at this link by December 11, 2023. Please reach out to Donna Horn for any questions at Donna.Horn@education.ohio.gov The Office for Exceptional Children Supports and Monitoring Team held its first Office Hours session on October 4, 2023. The team shared information on IDEA compliance, monitoring trends, tools, and resources.

Family ECHO: Autism is a virtual learning program for families and caregivers raising children with autism. This series is designed to educate families so that parents and caregivers can learn to better support and care for their child with autism.

As a collaborative environment, Family ECHO: Autism connects families with an interdisciplinary panel of experts. The series is designed to increase autism knowledge, build leadership skills for managing interdisciplinary care teams and provide strategies that can be applied for families and their teams. In a series of 75-minute sessions, you will learn, engage and build skills around four major topics:

• Understanding and managing challenging behaviors
• Building support for your family
• Anxiety and autism
• Transitioning out of pediatrics

House Bill 33 of the 135th General Assembly included several legislative changes to the Third Grade Reading Guarantee for all districts and schools. Responses to frequently asked questions about changes to the Third Grade Reading Guarantee are provided here. In addition to this document, the Department will continue to develop additional guidance and resources regarding these changes. Please direct additional questions to ThirdGradeGuarantee@education.ohio.gov.

Every year, each state receives a rating on its implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), known as its determination. The U.S. Department of Education, Office for Special Education Programs uses both procedural compliance and student results indicators, giving each equal weight, to evaluate each state’s performance. These data result in one of four determinations – Meets Requirements, Needs Assistance, Needs Intervention and Needs Substantial Intervention. Ohio is one of 23 states to receive a 2023 determination of Meets Requirements. Read more about where we have room to grow as a state in our practices for students with disabilities.

Do you have questions about your district's 2023 Special Education rating? This document explains the points awarded and how graduation and drop out rates will factor into next year's ratings for the first time.

Following Ohio law, the Ohio Department of Education, in collaboration with the Ohio Department of Public Safety, is developing a draft model curriculum for instruction in grades 9-12 on proper interactions with peace officers. Peace officers are broadly defined to include many types of law enforcement officers. Under Ohio law, each city, local, exempted village and joint vocational school districts and community schools shall provide instruction on proper interactions with peace officers during traffic stops and other in-person encounters using this model curriculum. Ohio law requires districts to use the adopted model curriculum to plan instruction. Districts are not expected to move forward with instruction until after a model curriculum has been adopted. Read more here.

The Core Competencies for Special Education Paraeducators represent the required knowledge and skills all paraeducators need to safely and effectively support students with disabilities in K-12 settings. Licensed professionals can utilize these core competencies to understand the essential knowledge and skills that paraeducators should possess and ensure that they are appropriately prepared for their assigned tasks. It is important to note that in the knowledge and skill statements listed under each competency area, skills supersede the knowledge; in other words, it is understood that paraeducators have acquired the knowledge that is necessary to demonstrate the skill.

OHIO’S ALTERNATE ASSESSMENT FOR STUDENTS WITH THE MOST SIGNIFICANT COGNITIVE DISABILITIES (AASCD) SPRING ADMINISTRATION RESOURCES

The following AASCD Administration resources are expected to be available in the Resources section of the AASCD Test Portal on Nov. 2:

• AASCD Test Administration Manual (AASCD TAM)
• AASCD Supplemental Instructions for Paper Testing Manual (AASCD SIFPT)
• Updated TA-Alt Certification Course:
  • Edits have been made to the course to reflect the new TA Interface layout. There are no changes to the course regarding policy or procedure.
• New Embossed Tactile Graphics Training Video:
  • This short video provides information on the policies and procedures around administering embossed tactile graphics for students that are blind or have visual impairments.

AASCD ON-TIME ORDER WINDOW

The AASCD on-time order window is open in TIDE Nov. 21-Dec. 6. District test coordinators place orders under the “Paper Orders AASCD Spring 2024” administration task in TIDE. All orders are subject to Department approval.

ASSESSMENT AUTHORING – ADDITION OF AASCD ITEM LIBRARY

The Department and Cambium Assessment have worked in partnership to add a library of AASCD items to Assessment Authoring.

With this expansion, features now include the following:

• Two distinct libraries of test questions (items); one based on OST items, and one based on the AASCD items.
• The ability to create custom, teacher-authored tests aligned to Ohio’s Learning Standards for OST or Ohio’s Learning Standards – Extended (OLS-E) for AASCD.
• Collaboration tools that allow educators to work within and across schools to create tests.
• Test sharing to allow created tests to be administered by teachers within or across schools.
• Printing of individual test questions or complete tests from the OST library only.
• A bank of tests created by the Department including Benchmark (OST), Checkpoint (OST) and Released Item (OST and AASCD) tests. These tests can be copied and then modified as needed.

Assessment Authoring is accessible from the OST test portal. A user guide and training presentations are available in the Resources sections of the test portal to help users become familiar with this system.

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires states to ensure that the total number of students assessed in each subject using the Alternate Assessment for Students with the Most Significant Cognitive Disabilities (AASCD) does not exceed 1.0 percent of the total number of all students in the state who took Ohio’s State Tests. States that anticipate exceeding 1.0 percent in alternate assessment participation must submit a waiver request to the U.S. Department of Education 90 days before the beginning of the alternate assessment testing window. Ohio’s alternate assessment participation rate is 0.9% in reading, mathematics and science. Ohio intends to submit a waiver extension request to the U.S. Department of Education on November 24, 2023. The draft waiver extension request is available for public comment October 31 - November 14, 2023. The link to review the draft 2023-2024 document is here. To ask questions, share comments and concerns to address Ohio's draft waiver extension request to address alternate assessment participation, please use this Microsoft Form. Email AAParticipation@education.ohio.gov with all other questions.

The new Students with IEPs Graduation Decision-Making tool has been released. This tool will be used to help families understand the pathways available to students with disabilities when it comes to graduation and should be incorporated into IEP meetings starting at age 14. Both the PDF and the Video can support family and student understanding.

Schools can apply for Career Technical Education Equipment Grant to establish or expand career-technical education programs, with priority for programs that support careers on Ohio’s Top Jobs List and establish or expand credentialing programs. The application window will close Dec. 15.

The Read Ohio Landing Page links many of the potential resources you may be searching for and in need of, including supports grouped by role: superintendents, principals, teachers, and families. Includes implementation timelines and videos.

And as you're writing RIMPs for students or considering what best practices you need to add to support students, rewatch the RIMP Code Mini-Video series that can be used to refresh understanding of these evidenced based practices or teach new staff who may be unfamiliar.

The Parent Mentors that serve districts in SST16 are AMAZING people doing incredible, life-changing work.

For more than 30 years, Ohio Parent Mentors have helped families navigate local and state special education processes and services so that children with disabilities can get the most out of their educational experience. Using our lived experience and an evidence-based approach, we work in collaboration with families, schools, and agencies to create the conditions for success for your child.

With our support as peers and trained mentors, parents will understand the special education process and become better advocates for their children. Ohio’s Parent Mentor Project offers all services free of charge to families.

Families and schools both play a critical role in supporting the mental health of children and adolescents. While individuals can make a difference on their own, when schools and families come together, the impacts can be amplified. This page contains publications for educators on this topic, videos for educators and families, and family stories about how they support mental health.

Join us at Dream Camp for a weekend of adaptive sports and recreation! During this overnight camp, participate in Wheelchair Basketball, Wheelchair Softball, Kayaking, Swimming, Track, Games, Campfire, and more!

Date: July 12-14, 2024

Who: Youth with Disabilities, aged 7-18. Students enrolled in high school that are 18 or older are also eligible to participate.

More information here!