Category: Federal Government Actions

“Survey of Parents of Students with Disabilities” BSE Memo is Sent to LEAs (June 9, 2024)

A recent PennLink memo from PDE Bureau of Special Education Director Carole L. Clancy titled Survey of Parents of Students with Disabilities states that Pennsylvania’s State Performance Plan requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA) include collecting and reporting data on the involvement of families in special education programs. Specifically, states must report annually to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and the public on State Performance Plan Indicator 8 which is the: “percent of parents with a child receiving special education services who report that schools facilitated parent involvement as a means of improving services and results for children with disabilities.”

Like many other states, Pennsylvania is collecting this data through a large-scale survey. Pennsylvania reports results of the survey to OSEP in its State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report. This report is posted on the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) and the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN) websites. Reporting on local educational agency (LEA) performance is done through the Special Education Data Reports on the PennData website.

To ensure that parents from every LEA in the commonwealth are included in the survey, PDE developed a sampling plan that was approved by OSEP. Under this sampling, each year PDE collects data from a representative sample of parents in approximately one-fifth of the LEAs in the Commonwealth. In addition, not all parents will receive the survey as it is a sample within each LEA. LEAs in this year’s sample will have parents receiving the survey selected from PA Special Education Data using a stratified random sample of school age students in each LEA. Surveys will be mailed directly to the parents from Leader Services in the next few weeks.

The survey being used was developed by the National Center for Special Education Accountability Monitoring under a grant awarded to that center by OSEP. The survey can be viewed at Leader Services-Parent Survey. Additional information about the survey can be found on the PaTTAN website at PA Indicator 8 Information.

A letter that accompanies the survey assures parents that their responses will be confidential. Parents may direct questions about the survey to the Special Education Consult Line at 800-879-2301. Should parents contact LEA personnel about the survey, we ask that LEA staff encourage them to participate in the survey process.

At this point, LEAs do not need to take any specific action. However, if LEAs wish to alert families to watch out for the surveys, it may serve to facilitate and encourage participation.

Questions regarding this PENN*LINK and requests for translation of the survey into any language other than English and Spanish, may be addressed to Barbara Mozina, Special Education Adviser, at bmozina@pa.gov.

PDE Memo: LEAs Must Meet Federal Special Ed Reporting Requirement (May 25, 2024)

On May 22, 2024, PDA Bureau of Special Ed. Director Carole L. Clancy messaged all LEAs via PennLink. Her message, Local Educational Agency Special Education Data Reports Online. advised LEAs that under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA), every state must report annually to the public on the performance of each local educational agency (LEA) on the targets established in the State Performance Plan. This year states are required to report 2022-23 performance on the following State Performance Plan indicators for school-age students with disabilities: Graduation Rates; Dropout Rates; Participation and Performance on Statewide Assessments; Suspension Rates; Educational Environments; School-Facilitated Parent Involvement; Disproportionate Representation by Race/Ethnicity Receiving Special Education; Disproportionate Representation by Race/Ethnicity in Specific Disability Categories; Timelines for Initial Evaluation; Individual Education Program Secondary Transition Goals and Services; and Post-School Outcomes.

At the beginning of May 2024, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) provided LEAs with an opportunity to preview these reports prior to going live to the public. The reports are now posted and available for public review at the Special Education Data Reporting (formerly PennData) website, (https://penndata.hbg.psu.edu/Public-Reporting/SEDR-Report-Dashboard). Please select your LEA from the drop-down list.

PDE thanks LEAs for their cooperation and assistance in meeting this federal reporting requirement.

DOJ Final Rule Aims to Ensure Disabled People have Accessibility to Website and Mobile Apps (May 7, 2024)

On April 8, 2024, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a federal rule to ensure web content and mobile apps are accessible for people with disabilities. The update to regulations for Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) were subsequently published on April 24th by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

The update calls for all state and local governments to verify that their web content is accessible for those with vision, hearing, cognitive, and manual dexterity disabilities. To do so will require public K-12 and higher education institutions to do a thorough inventory of their digital materials, including mobile apps and social media postings, to make sure they are in compliance.

Presently, students, staff, and parents who are deaf may be not be able to access information in web videos and other digital presentations lacking captions. Similarly, those with low vision might not be able to read websites or mobile apps that do not allow text to be resized or provide enough contrast. Likewise, people with limited manual dexterity or vision disabilities who use assistive technology can find it difficult to access sites that do not support keyboard alternatives for mouse commands. To that end, the new DOJ rule aims to make sure that no person is denied access to government services, programs, or activities because of their disability.

For more from K-12 Dive, click here.

USDA Issues Final Rule on Updated School Meal Nutrition Standards (April 28, 2024)

On April 24, 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its final rule updating nutrition standards for school meals that requires gradual limits on added sugars and slight reductions for sodium for breakfasts and lunches to be in place by the fall of 2027.

The new school meal nutrition standards are part of the Biden administration’s steps to improve children’s health as included in the National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition and Health.

According to the USDA, on a daily basis K-12 schools serve breakfast and lunch to almost 30 million children.

For more from K-12 Dive, click here.