Beginning in 2014, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) created a framework to better balance the focus of improving educational and functional outcomes for students with disabilities with the requirements of legal compliance.  The new framework is known as Results Driven Accountability (RDA). In support of Results Driven Accountability, the Arizona Department of Education Exceptional Student Services (ESS) team examined three years of state assessment data to identify districts and charters that demonstrated continual academic successes and performed well above the state average for students with disabilities. A number of Local Education Agencies met these criteria. The LEAs represent the varying demographics, populations and locations of Arizona.  Through site visits, ESS team members identified the systems, practices, policies and organization factors that contributed to the success of these Arizona districts/charters.  The results of this study, shared in the article, not only can be replicated in other districts to improve outcomes for all students but provides evidence that every student can be academically successful. Enjoy!

Please visit this document to see the similarities between these trends and trends found in other publications concerning systems change.

A new question and answer factsheet from the Legal Center for Foster Care and Education (www.fostercareandeducation.org) describes the educational provisions of the 2008 Fostering Connections Act and how it has been implemented. It also highlights information from a joint letter from the Departments of Health and Human Services and Education about the act. If you have a significant population of foster care children in your schools and would like more information on fostering educational stability, download this factsheet at http://www.fostercareandeducation.org/DesktopModules/Bring2mind/DMX/Download.aspx?portalid=0&EntryId=1996&Command=Core_Download.

A new information bulletin is available from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) concerning services that are available for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Read this bulletin to learn of the preventative services, therapy services, and other licensed practitioner services authorized by the various sections of the Social Security Act. Access this bulletin at http://www.medicaid.gov/Federal-Policy-Guidance/Downloads/CIB-07-07-14.pdf.

Two new resources are available from the National Association of State Head Injury Administrators. Because traumatic brain injury (TBI) is not one of the 14 IDEA eligibility categories, each State has defined how traumatic brain injuries should be considered in terms of IDEA eligibility. The first resource includes a summary of state definitions for traumatic brain injury (TBI) and some overall guidance for educating children: Special Education and TBI: A Summary of  State Definitions and Guidance for Educating Students with TBI-related Disabilities. The second resource shows how states use various funding resources to deliver rehabilitation and community services: State Services for Individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Their Families.

To enforce the rights of incarcerated youth to a quality education, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Attorney General Eric Holder have announced a new guidance package. This guidance builds on the recommendations of the My Brother’s Keeper Task Force report released in May. The package includes a set of guiding principles, a Dear Colleague letter from the Office of Special Education Programs on IDEA obligations, a Dear Colleague letter from the Office for Civil Rights, and a Dear Colleague letter on access to federal Pell grants. For more information or to obtain copies of any of these documents, please go to www.ed.gov/correctionaled.

The U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and the Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell announced that Arizona has been awarded a $20 million development grant under the Preschool Development Grants program as one of 18 states allocated with funding. With the planned focus of increasing access to high-quality preschool programs, the grant was awarded to states with small or no state-funded preschools; it was earmarked for states that serve less than 10 percent of four-year-olds and have ambitious plans for serving additional eligible children. This grant is groundwork for the Preschool for All initiative. Read more about this exciting opportunity for Arizona’s preschoolers at http://www.azed.gov/special-education/files/2014/12/preschool-development-grant.pdf.