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LDA NEWS FROM WASHINGTON
August, 2007

LEGISLATION
FEDERAL AGENCIES
REPORTS

LEGISLATION

REAUTHORIZATION OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACT
The President signed into law (P.L. 110-44) the Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. The new law includes projects for students with disabilities, including transition programs, distance learning, supporting and training staff in disability related fields, and making postsecondary education accessible through curriculum development.

Congress is now on its traditional August recess. It will return after Labor Day. There will be little time for action on many pending bills unless the scheduled date of adjournment is changed.

APPROPROPRIATIONS
On July 19, the House passed (H.R. 3403) the 2008 Labor/Health and Human Services/Education Appropriations which includes about $7 billion more than the FY 2007 Labor-HHS-Education appropriation, $10.6 billion more than the President's budget proposal and $2.3 billion more than the Senate bill. The Senate bill (S 1704) includes more money for IDEA ($11.24 billion for Part B and $450 million for Part C) than the House ($10.96 billion and $436.4 million respectively). Both bills include $110.9 million for the National Children's StudyThe President has promised to veto any appropriation bills which exceed the levels in his February budget recommendations.

REAUTHORIZATION OF THE STATE CHILDREN'S HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM (SCHIP)
On July 19, the Senate Finance Committee approved a bipartisan 5 year $35 billion expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). SCHIP pays for insurance for children and some adults in families whose incomes are too high to make them eligible for Medicaid but too low for them to afford private insurance. Increased costs would be offset by increased taxes on cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco. The President threatened to veto the bill because it would hurt private insurance companies
.
On August 14, the House passed the Children's Health and Medicare Protection Act of 2007 (HR 3162) which, in addition to the Senate provisions, among other things, would establish a one year moratorium that would prohibit the Secretary of Health and Human Services from restricting coverage or payment for rehabilitation or, or school based (i.e. IDEA) administration, transportation or medical services. Restriction of this coverage would increase costs for local agencies.

PAUL WELLSTONE MENTAL HEALTH AND ADDICTION EQUITY ACT OF 2007(HR 1424)
On July 18, the House Education and Labor Committee approved the
Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act (H.R. 1424), which would require group health insurance plans to put coverage for mental illnesses on an
equal footing with physical ailments. Private health insurers generally provide less coverage for mental illnesses than for other medical conditions. On August 3, the senate sponsors "hotlined" the new S.558 manager's amendment, giving senators an opportunity to raise objections prior to floor consideration of the bill. The sponsors were successful at removing all objections to consideration with the exception of Senator Jim Demint (R-SC), who placed a "hold" on the bill that precluded passage before the August recess. The full senate is now expected to consider S. 558 when it returns to legislative business in September.

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND (ESEA) REAUTHORIZATION
Roll Call reports that "President Bush's signature No Child Left Behind law is about to get an overhaul courtesy of the Democratic Congress, and the name itself could be one of the casualties". Changes in current law probably will include making accommodations for schools with large numbers of English as a Second Language students and special education students. Two bills have been introduced in the Senate which may affect the final legislation:

EVERY STUDENT COUNTS ACT (HR 2955, Scott, D-VA) would create a single, accurate, and consistent measurement for reporting and accountability of high school graduation rates, based on the National Governors Association's Graduation Rate Compact. It would also require the disaggregation of graduation data by subgroup to ensure that schools are held accountable for increasing the graduation rate for all types of students. Finally, the bill would give schools credit for graduating students who need extra time by allowing students who graduate in five years to count toward a school's successful graduation rate.

FEDERAL AGENCIES

COMMENTS ON PROPOSED REGULATIONS FOR PART C OF IDEA
The deadline for comments was July 23. The comments of the Education Task Force of the Citizens with Disabilities will be posted on their website.

OSEP LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE - August. 8-10, 2007 in Washington DC
Acting OSEP Director Patty Guard announced that Vanderbilt University has been awarded a grant for a center to look at the issue of fidelity in the implementation of the RTI. Presentations of interest to LDA were on the 2% modified achievement standards (the 2% exemption), response to intervention, and transition and secondary outcomes.

The keynote speech on Foundations for Systems Change by Dean Fixsen, Director of the National Implementation Research Network was refreshingly realistic. Dr. Fixsen pointed out that promising research and training do not necessary result in better outcomes for students. Effective intervention practices and effective implementation practices do. Changes do not come quickly or easily, but they can be made.

2 % modified achievement standards presenters from the department of education pointed out that:

• the use of the 2% exception is permitted but not required. States have until the 2008-2009 school year to decide what to do
• separate modifications & assessments are made for reading and math
• the IEP must include goals based on grade level content standards (no guidance on how that is done if student is being taught material below grade level)
• content is challenging but less difficult
• 3 achievement levels are measured: advanced, proficient, below proficient

Results of early programs indicated that:

• simpler test items may not be the answer
• there are two major subgroups
• gap 1 students are almost at the standard achievement levels
• gap 2 students are just above the 1% exemption for students who receive alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards (the 1% toppers)

Challenges:

• how to ensure access to grade level curriculum
  

• who are the students
• what should the test look like
• what support does the state give to local iep teams

Response to Intervention: reports from Virginia and Pennsylvania
Virginia  - just starting at the state level although 30 lea's are using an RTI model

• an agency workgroup made up of representatives from general education, student services, special education, and title i specialists is developing guidelines for implementing RTI ( universal screening, tiered intervention and progress monitoring)
• an outside advisory group made up of representatives from public schools, universities and colleges, principals associations, state special ed advisory committee and parent advocates (including Jean Lokerson of LDAV) is providing input into the guidelines.
• guidelines will not be mandatory
• statewide institutes will be held to explain the guidelines
• 5-8 pilot sites will be established for implementation in the 2008-2009 school year

Pennsylvania introduced RTI in winter of 2005. Pilots in grades k-6 :

• recognize that RTI is a 3-5 year school-wide change process
• findings from 7 pilot sites
• greatest gains in grades k-1
• need for more data on reading in grades 3-5
• most movement in tiers occurred from fall to winter
• movement based on progress based on benchmarks and teacher opinion

Future focus will be on:

• middle school RTI
• professional development and technical assistance
• continuation of elementary school projects

Lessons learned:

• focus on instruction
• time for tiered interventions. (at elementary level, 30 min/day set aside for interventions for students who need them or enrichment for those who do not)
• teacher discussions are essential for instructional decision making
• professional development focused on capacity building

Useful websites on transition and secondary outcomes
The National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities
The National Post School Outcomes Center
The National Secondary Transition Technical Assistance Center
National Community of Practice on Transition
TATRA Technical Assistance on Transition and the Rehabilitation Act

PART B STATE PERFORMANCE PLANS (SPP)
IDEA '04 requires each state to have in place and post on its website a performance plan which evaluates the state's implementation of Part B. The state also must submit to the Secretary of Education a Part B Annual Performance Report (APR). The Office of Special Education Programs' responses to the States' SPP and APRs will be posted as letters are issued on: http://www.ed.gov/fund/data/report/idea/partbspap/index.html

REPORT CARD ON STATE COMPLIANCE WITH IDEA
On June 20, the U.S. Education Department issued a report on how well states were complying with IDEA '04 based on data submitted for the 205-2006 school year (www.ed.gov/policy/speced/guide/idea/monitor/factsheet.html). The results were based on 20 indicators, such as the high school graduation rates of students with disabilities compared to the graduation rates of the general population*, and the percentage of parents who reported schools were encouraging parental involvement.

According to the report nine states (Alaska, Connecticut, Hawaii, Michigan, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and Wyoming) are on track, five states (Colorado, Indiana, North Carolina, North Dakota and Washington) need intervention, and the rest are in the "needs assistance" category. No state was found in need of substantial intervention.

The Education Department also determined how well states were serving toddlers with disabilities and their families. In that section, 15 states met all requirements, 21 need assistance and 15 need intervention. No state needs substantial intervention.

Weaknesses cited by the U.S. Department of Education included:

• States failed to ensure that local school districts comply with the law
• States failed to comply with requirements for providing transition plans from school to college or work

GRADUATION RATES
Only 18 states (Arizona, California, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Wisconsin) met their target for the percent of youth with IEP's graduating from high school with a regular diploma compared to the percent of all youth in the state graduating with a regular diploma. Fifteen states (Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington) met their target of the percent of youth with IEP's dropping out of high school compared to the percent of all youth in the state dropping out of high school.

STATE ACADEMIC STANDARDS

REPORTS

Rewards and Roadblocks: How Special Education Students are Faring Under No Child Left Behind
The National Center on Learning Disabilities review of the impact of NCLB on students with disabilities in several key states found (1) Improved rates of participation in state general assessments for all states (2) Improved performance in reading and math and (3) Improved performance in 4th grade reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), where there is no corresponding improvement for students without disabilities.
A webinar on this study, the report and its companion piece, "State Testing Accommodations: Their Value and Validity" can be found at: http://www.ncld.org/content/view/1253/322/

National State Policy Database
RRFC Network and NASDSE have put together the National State Policy Database which allows you to locate and download full copies or specific sections of the federal and state special education regulations. Currently, the database contains only regulations pertaining to Part B, but the contents will be expanded in the future This information can be found at:
http://www.rrfcnetwork.org/content/view/347/382/

The Documentation Disconnect for Students with Learning Disabilities: Improving Access to Postsecondary Disability Services
This publication of the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities discusses Issues affecting documentation for postsecondary disability services and ways to bridge the gap between secondary and postsecondary settings may be downloaded from:
http://ahead.org/resources/njld_paper.php

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