DPA IDEA Newsletter Aug/Sept 2025

Welcome back to the 2026-2027 school year! I hope you had a restful summer and are returning refreshed and ready for an exciting year ahead.

The DPA Special Education Program looks forward to partnering with you throughout the school year. We are committed to providing timely information, guidance, and resources to support special education teachers, paraeducators, and school administrators. Below are key resources to help you get started:

• BIE Special Education Handbook

• BIE Special Education Procedures

• The IEP Manual

• Extended School Year (ESY)

• Coordinated Services Plan

• 2026 Interactive Special Education Data Academy Resources & Materials

• IDEA Mini Videos and Quick Guides

• Required School Reporting

• School Determinations

• Training Schedule

• FFY 2024 BIE Annual Performance Plan

• List of DPA-IDEA Staff

The BIE Special Education Program remains committed to providing students with disabilities the highest-quality education opportunities while ensuring compliance with federal IDEA requirements. We are also dedicated to strengthening the systems that support students with disabilities so they can learn, grow, work, and actively participate in their Tribal communities.

As we begin the new school year, I encourage every IEP Team to carefully consider each student’s unique needs and ensure that appropriate accommodations, timely supports, and related services are in place at the beginning of the school year so every child can make meaningful progress in the general education curriculum.

Have a fantastic school year.

Eugene R. Thompson, Ed.D.

Supervisory Education Program Specialist

Need to Update

Purpose of LSPP

The Local School Performance Plan aims to address the measurable targets of the BIE State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report indicators that pertain to the BIE. The development of the LSPP improvement activities helps demonstrate progress on all BIE SPP/APR indicator targets. The plan focuses on continuous improvement and how the SPP/APR indicator targets will be met, resulting in positive outcomes for students with IEPs.

Updates and Training

Beginning in the 2025–2026 school year, BIE-funded schools will use Plan4Learning to submit LSPPs and monitor special education indicators.

The DPA IDEA team presented the following training sessions around LSPP and Plan4Learning during the 2025 BIE School Improvement Summer Training in July:

• Leveraging the Local School Performance Plan (LSPP) to Improve Results for Students with Disabilities
• How Schools Can Improve Their IDEA Data and Outcomes for Students with Disabilities

To support this transition, the Division of Performance and Accountability – Special Education Program will also host two identical Plan4Learning virtual training sessions:

• Dates: August 26 and 28

• Recordings will be available in Plan4Learning for those unable to attend live.

Questions?

Contact Dr. Eleanor Francis-Jones, Education specialist, at Eleanor.Jones@bie.edu or call (202) 860-7885.

Need to Update

The BIE’s Division of Performance and Accountability (DPA)/IDEA Data Team has completed the Final Determinations for FFY 2023 (SY 2023–2024). The data team emailed each Bureau-funded school’s annual determination to the school administrator on Monday, August 11, 2025.

Annual determinations are required under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to evaluate the performance of each BIE-funded school. These determinations are based on key performance indicators outlined in the BIE’s State Performance Plan (SPP), consistent with federal requirements established by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP).

Each school is assigned one of the following four determination levels:

• Meets the requirements and purposes of IDEA.

• Needs assistance in implementing the requirements of IDEA.

• Needs intervention in implementing the requirements of IDEA.

• Needs substantial intervention in implementing the requirements of IDEA.

It is strongly recommended that administrators review the determination in collaboration with their special education personnel. To support this review, schools should also refer to the SPP/APR Indicator Performance Report, available on the BIE webpage, to identify which indicators were met or not met.

For indicators not met, schools are encouraged to develop targeted improvement strategies to be included in the School Year 2025–2026 Initial Local School Performance Plan, due September 30, 2025. These strategies should:

• Address unmet SPP/APR indicators;

• Demonstrate ongoing efforts toward improvement; and

• Describe how the planned activities will lead to positive outcomes for students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs).

Need to update

The BIE Advisory Board for Exceptional Children will hold a two-day hybrid (in-person and virtual) meeting to fulfill its responsibilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004. The purpose of the meeting is to: fulfill the mandates of IDEA related to Indian children with disabilities; promote the improvement of special education and related services within the BIE school system; and advise the Secretary of the Interior on the needs of Indian children with disabilities.

The Advisory Board will finalize its FFY 2024 Annual Report during the meeting. The report will be submitted to the Secretary of the Interior and Congress and shared with the Secretary of Education, the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs, and the BIE Central Office. Previous annual reports are available on the BIE webpage.

The following agenda items will be covered on September 25 and 26, 2025.

• BIE Central Office – Updates and Changes

• Meet and Greet Session: An opportunity for Advisory Board members to engage with the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs, BIE Central Office leadership, and the Division of Performance and Accountability. A brief presentation on the Advisory Board’s mission, priorities, and collaborative efforts is included.

• BIE Special Education Program – Updates and Changes

• Panel Discussion with BIE-funded School Administrators: Focused on challenges, achievements, and recommendations regarding students with disabilities.

• Updates from OSEP-Funded Technical Assistance Centers (Part D): Discuss recent changes affecting partnerships and support.

• Presentations by BIE Special Education Specialists: Regional highlights from Bureau Operated, Navajo, and Tribally Controlled Schools.

• Finalization of the FFY 2024 Annual Report.

• Planning for future meetings, projects, and outstanding action items.

• Public Comment Sessions: Open during board work sessions and dialogue sessions on both meeting days.

For questions about the BIE Advisory Board, contact Ms. Jennifer Davis, Designated Federal Officer, Bureau of Indian Education, Division of Performance & Accountability at Jennifer.davis@bie.edu.

The BIE Division of Performance and Accountability’s IDEA team has created a series of short videos and quick reference guides to assist school-based and regional special education staff. These concise resources aim to make IDEA easier to understand and implement, helping educators feel more confident in their work.

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Need to update

SY26-27 Part B School Application Review Update

The SY26-27 Part B application window officially closed on June 30, 2026. With the deadline behind us, the IDEA team is now actively reviewing each submission to ensure a thorough and timely evaluation process. Funds will be distributed in the next few weeks. Schools wishing to check on the status of their application may log into the Plan4Learning portal to view available feedback. Alternatively, schools may reach out directly to a member of the DPA IDEA team for further information regarding their application status. We appreciate your continued patience during this review period and look forward to supporting your school in the upcoming year.

Need Update

The Unmet Needs Application will be available for schools that need funding for certain areas in their special education programs. Training sessions will be announce in the future. All application must be submitted via email to Arlene.Davis@bie.edu.

Need Update

FFY 2023 BIE’s Annual Performance Report has been posted to the BIE website. The BIE also links each school's annual performance on the SPP/APR indicators on this webpage.

Schools can improve their special education data and outcomes for students with disabilities by:

1. Analyzing their indicator data;
2. Drawing conclusions and changing ideas; and
3. Implementing and assessing change ideas.

The Public Report has been updated with Indicator 8 data. We received 4,455 surveys from 172 schools. The Survey of Parent Involvement in Special Education (Indicator 8—Parent Survey) closed on July 15, 2025.

We will clean the data and get specific information to the schools. Information will be sent out at a later date. Thank you to everyone who assisted! If you have any questions, please contact Melanie Star, DPA Education Program Specialist, at melanie.star@bie.edu.

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