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Jersey Department of Education
Special Education Monitoring
Summary
On-site special education monitoring was conducted in the Haddon Township School District on January 21, 22, 23 and February 11, 2004. The purpose of the monitoring visit was to verify the district’s report of findings resulting from their self-assessment and to review the district’s improvement plan. The district is commended for the exceptionally comprehensive review conducted during the self-assessment process. As a result of this review the district was able to identify nearly all areas of need and develop an improvement plan that with some revision, will be sufficient to bring about systemic change. The district is further commended for the prompt implementation of corrective action to address the areas of need identified during the self-assessment process. As a result, many of those identified areas were corrected prior to the on-site monitoring visit. Additionally, the district is commended for the many areas that were determined by the district and verified by the Office of Special Education Programs as compliant with federal and state statues and regulations.
A review of data indicated the district has increased the number of students in an inclusive preschool setting by initiating an inclusive program this year.
At a focus group meeting, parents expressed their satisfaction with many of the district’s programs and services. Concerns were raised regarding least restrictive environment, teacher responsibility of IEP’s and inconsistency of case managers.
Standards identified as consistently compliant by the district during self-assessment and verified during the on-site monitoring visit included Statewide Assessment and Graduation.
Areas identified as consistently compliant by the district during self-assessment, and verified during the on-site monitoring visit included policies and procedures, dissemination of IDEA information, length of day and year, facilities, oversight of IEP implementation, certification, consent, notices of meetings, written notice, meetings, native language, independent evaluation, referral process, summer referrals, identification meeting participants and timelines, standardized assessments, written reports, bilingual evaluations, reevaluation planning meetings, notices, participants at reevaluation planning meetings, parental consent, meetings for students turning age five, eligibility meetings, participants, criteria, documentation of eligibility, IEP considerations and required statements, goals and objectives related to the Core Curriculum Content Standards, age of majority, implementation dates, annual review timelines, 90 day timelines, individualized decision-making, considerations and documentation, regular education access, preschool transition planning conference, student invitation, courses of study, preferences and interests, age 16 needed transition services, discipline procedures, suspension tracking, manifestation determinations, interim alternative educational settings, group sizes for speech therapy, home instruction, parent and adult student access to records, access sheets, maintenance, and destruction of records.
During the self-assessment process, the district identified areas of need regarding professional and parent development, extended school year, goals and objectives for counseling as a related service, transfer students, provision of inclusive preschool programs, surrogate parents, child find ages 3-21, direct referrals for parents and staff, health summary, pre-referral interventions, multi-disciplinary assessments for students referred for speech and language services, acceptance and rejection of reports, reevaluation timelines, provision of copies of evaluation reports to parents, goals and objectives for science and social studies, teacher responsibility, IEP meetings, Oberti, supplemental aids and services, nonacademic and extracurricular participation, continuum of programs, early intervention programs to preschool disabled students by age three, agency invitation, agency involvement, age 14 transition service needs, documentation of suspensions to case manager, behavior intervention plans/functional behavioral assessments, notification of authorities, class size, age range, common planning time, child study team personnel, time of instructional day, and knowledge of student records policies and procedures.
The on-site visit identified additional areas of need within the various standards regarding vision and hearing screening, functional assessments, IEP meeting participants and documentation of locations of other records.
The district corrected many areas of need prior to the on-site monitoring visit, including goals and objectives for counseling, provision of an inclusive preschool program, surrogate parents policy, child find ages 3-21, pre-referral interventions, multi-disciplinary evaluations for students referred for speech and language services, acceptance and rejection of reports, teacher responsibility, IEP revision meetings, supplemental aids and services, nonacademic and extracurricular participation, agency invitation, age 14 transition service needs, behavior intervention plans/functional behavioral assessments, notification of authorities, class size, age range, common planning time, and time of instructional day.
Within forty-five days of receipt of the monitoring report, the Haddon Township School District will revise and resubmit the improvement plan to the Office of Special Education Programs to address those areas that require revisions.