Delaware earns highest possible rating from Dept. of Ed.
Delaware earns the highest possible rating from the U.S Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs its evaluation of the state's special education services.
This comes three years after the state received a "needs intervention" rating, the second lowest. Secretary of Education Susan Bunting says "I am proud of the progress our state has made. Led by our school districts and charter schools, their collective efforts are reflected in this rating. Although more work remains, this is confirmation that we are continuing to move in the right direction."
For the past two years, Delaware received the second highest rating "needs assistance" falling just shy last year of earning the top "meets requirements" rating earned this year. In each of the past three years, Delaware's scores showed progress: Delaware jumped from an overall grade of 53 percent in 2014 to 68 percent in 2015 and to 76 percent last year. This year, Delaware reportedly scored 83 percent.
This year's evaluation, based on school data from the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 school years, reflects the following improvements Delaware made to special education since earning the "needs intervention" rating in 2013. That rating had been based on performance data from the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 school years.
For the past three years, officials say that Delaware has:
• Offered professional learning for special education teachers on standards-based Individual Education Plans (I.E.Ps), positive behavior supports and accessing the general curriculum.
• Involved special education teachers in all trainings related to the state's academic standards.
• Helped districts and charters schools in developing transition plans for students with disabilities who are 14 years old or going into the eighth grade to help them succeed in jobs or further education. The state has been gathering information to make sure those plans are being prepared and executed.
• Clarified for districts and charters the policies making students with disabilities to take the National Assessment of Educational Progress (N.A.E.P) and state assessments to make sure that the state has full information on the progress of these students.
• Provided districts and charter schools with comprehensive data on their performance to help local leaders better understand how well they are following state and federal law and how their students with disabilities are performing academically.
• Provided targeted state technical hep to those districts and charter schools found to be in need of assistance and intervention.
In addition, the Delaware Department of Education has finished year three of Delaware's IDEA State Systemic Improvement Plan focusing on improving literacy in grades K-3 for all students including students with disabilities and English learners. To put this plan in action, the Delaware Early Literacy Initiative was created to help districts and charters in providing a robust multi-tiered system of academic supports for literacy.
Cohort I started in Fall 2017 and involved Thomas Edison Charter School and Cape Henlopen's Milton and HO Brittingham elementary schools. During the 2017 – 2018 school year, the Department of Education will continue working with Cohort I schools as well as partnering with new schools for Cohort II.
Woodbridge School District is among those districts and charters that made a lot progress this year.
Woodbridge Superintendent Heath Chasanov points to regular data review meetings where a team of staff members look at multiple indicators reflective of children's academic, social and behavioral needs. Team members discuss what is going well and what changes need to be made – on Friday.
"It's real-time conversations," he said.
