The United States Department of Education has announced a new paradigm – Results-Driven Accountability (RDA) – that is causing a major shift in the way it oversees the effectiveness of states’ special education programs. The change shifts the Department’s accountability efforts from a primary emphasis on compliance, such as timely evaluations of students for special education and the timely resolution of due process hearings, to a framework focused on improving educational results for the nation’s approximate 6.5 million Students with Disabilities (SWDs).Under the old framework of using compliance data in making annual IDEA determinations, 41 states and territories met requirements. However, with this year’s IDEA determinations, the Department used multiple outcome measures, including students with disabilities’ participation in state assessments, proficiency gaps between students with disabilities and all students, as well as performance in reading and math on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Under the new RDA framework, only 18 states and territories met requirements for 2014.The shift to RDA marks a major milestone since the 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which required that states submit data to the Department about how students with disabilities were doing. At the time, state special education programs were graded with a primary focus on compliance indicators. While compliance indicators are important to children and families of SWDs, those indicators were not enough to measure accountability when it came to improving student educational results.In fact, a majority of students with disabilities are not receiving the quality education that they deserve. The latest government figures show that the dropout rate for students with disabilities is twice that for nondisabled students. In 2011, 80% of states did not make their graduation target. In addition, two-thirds of students with disabilities are performing well below grade level in reading and math. By the eighth grade, that figure rises to 90 percent. On average, only 35.1% of students with disabilities are performing at or above proficiency on regular state assessments in math and 36.4% of students with disabilities are performing at or above proficiency on the regular state assessments in reading. These results are not acceptable, and can and should be better for students with disabilities. Under the new RDA framework, states will be provided incentives and support to implement evidence-based strategies to improve results and outcomes for students with disabilities.

Each year, the Department will determine if a state is meeting requirements, needs assistance, needs intervention, or needs substantial intervention. If a state needs assistance for two years in a row, the state could be identified as a high-risk grant recipient and be required to accept technical assistance. If a state needs intervention for three years in a row, the Department could require the state to prepare a corrective action plan, enter into a compliance agreement, or ultimately, have a portion of its federal special education funding withheld.

As part of this new RDA initiative, each State will be required to develop a State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP) with the State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report that it submits annually in accordance with the IDEA. The SSIP will use data to identify gaps in student performance, analyze State systems, and then implement targeted, evidence-based reforms to address the gaps.

If your state is not equipped to develop the required SSIP, or if your State Special Education program is not in compliance due to the movement to the RDA paradigm, Accelify Consulting is here to help. With our deep experience using data to help state and local education agencies improve results for students, we can help you implement the necessary changes to comply with the revised accountability system, including developing the required State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP).

If you would like to learn more about RDA, we will also be hosting an informational webinar, Results-Driven Accountability – What it means for you, featuring Dr. Alan Coulter, former Director of the National Center on Special Education Accountability and Monitoring (NCSEAM) and an architect of RDA, and Dr. Robert Pasternack, former Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services at the U.S. Department of Education on July 30th, 2014 at 10am ET. Click here to register to attend.