State Department previews updates to special-education guidance, grants and district ratings at advisory council meeting

At its Feb. 25 meeting, the Connecticut State Advisory Council for Special Education heard a series of updates from the State Department of Education, including an overhaul of the state’s SRBI guidance, a schedule of focus groups for families and educators, and the status of a major special-education grant program.

Brian Klompkowitz, special education division director at the State Department of Education, told the council the department is “in process of updating the SRBI 2008 guidance document” and moving it toward a multi-tiered system of support to align general and special education practices statewide. He said the department commissioned a national landscape analysis and is working with internal and external advisory groups to shape the revision. “We’re looking to provide training and technical assistance to support districts,” Klompkowitz said.

Why it matters: the guidance shapes how districts identify students who need supports, how they deploy tiered instruction, and how the department provides technical assistance to improve outcomes for students with disabilities.

Klompkowitz asked council members to help publicize a series of upcoming focus groups for families and educators that begin the coming Friday and continue into early March. The department plans separate sessions for families and for educators to gather feedback on the updated guidance and on how local districts implement supports.

The council also received an update on the Special Education Enhancement and Expansion grant. Klompkowitz said applications were due last Friday and CSDE is currently reviewing submissions. Districts have received 50% of their allocations; the remainder will be paid in April. He emphasized restrictions on allowable uses: the funds must be used for direct services to students and cannot be applied to administrative supports or the use of third-party vendors in applications. CSDE plans to produce a summary and evaluation of how the grant monies were spent next year and said the program remains funded in the governor’s budget.

On data systems and surveys, Klompkowitz reported mixed feedback on CT SEDS usability (roughly a 3-out-of-5 average among respondents to a PCG survey) and told the council that fixes to a multifactor authentication problem that required repeated logins are being rolled out next week. He also said CSDE is preparing clearer materials about the parent portal after noting confusion about what the portal is intended to show.

Using a live Mentimeter poll, CSDE asked the council whether certain State Performance Plan indicators should factor into Local Education Agency determinations — including graduation rates, dropout rates, state assessment participation/proficiency and least-restrictive-environment (LRE) measures. Members expressed caution about folding some indicators directly into determinations without context. “Parents don’t feel like [the parent involvement survey] actually captures if they were meaningfully involved,” said Jen Lucier of the Connecticut Parent Advocacy Center, a concern Klompkowitz agreed CSDE should address by sharing survey questions and collecting more detailed feedback.

Council members also discussed whether LRE percentages should be used on their own, with several advising that environment metrics be paired with outcome measures so districts are not penalized when increased inclusion does not yet show expected outcome improvements.

Next steps: CSDE will keep the Mentimeter open for additional input from council members, circulate survey questions for review and follow up with a subgroup to help draft the parent guide and to participate in future workshops. The advisory council’s executive committee will meet March 11 for additional planning.

Quotation highlights: “The state department is in process of updating the SRBI 2008 guidance document,” Brian Klompkowitz said. “Parents don’t feel like it actually captures if they were meaningfully involved,” Jen Lucier said of the parent involvement survey.

The meeting closed with CSDE inviting further written input and promising more detail on timeline and metrics as work proceeds.