State Spotlights
State Spotlight: Delaware
December 2021
This State Spotlight examines how Delaware aligned their State Systemic Improvement Plan and State Personnel Development Grant initiatives with the goal of creating an effective MTSS infrastructure to achieve improved academic outcomes for students.
State Spotlight: How Texas Used Coaching to Impact Outcomes
April 2021
This state spotlight focuses on Texas’s implementation effort, which aimed to embed and sustain an effective coaching framework across the state so that SWD could demonstrate marked educational gains.
State Knowledge Utilization Strategies: Washington
August 2019
This state spotlight will focus on Washington’s improvement strategy to address this early literacy challenge using the state’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) Special Education Consistency Index (SECI).
State Data Use Spotlight Update: Florida
May 2019
This updated state spotlight highlights how the Florida Department of Education is sustaining local data use capacity and continuing to improve graduation outcomes for students with disabilities.
Florida Builds Local Data-Use Capacity
August 2018
This state spotlight highlights the Florida Department of Education’s strategies to build local data literacy capacity and the positive impacts those efforts had on student outcomes.
Using MTSS Data to Improve Graduation Rates
August 2018
To facilitate problem solving within an MTSS, SEAs and LEAs need efficient systems and processes for analyzing and integrating data across initiatives. Creating the infrastructure to support data-based problem solving can be a challenge. This spotlight shares how three states use different approaches to promote data use within an MTSS to improve graduation rates for students with disabilities.
States use fidelity tools to improve data quality
February 2018
Many states find it difficult to access high-quality data from local education agencies and early intervention service providers. In a review of State Systemic Improvement Plans, 72% of Part B states and 78% of Part C states noted limitations or concerns related to data quality. Often times, this challenge is the result of a lack of fidelity to the data collection process. This spotlight shares how three states used three different approaches to data fidelity tools to improve data quality.
Alabama supports SSIP pilot sites to scale-up goals
February 2018
Alabama is focused on improving post-school outcomes for students with disabilities by increasing student engagement and improving academic performance. The state developed a network of demonstration sites to help support the scale-up of these practices. Alabama’s SSIP work has generated some exciting results!
North Carolina Uses Data to Target Improvement Strategies
September 2017
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction sought strategies to build LEA’s capacity to improve local graduation rates for students with disabilities. This state spotlight highlights using a self-assessment to target improvement strategies.
Pacific Entities, U.S. Territories, and Bureau of Indian Education Participate in a Technical Assistance Meeting After the 2017 Office of Special Education Programs Leadership Conference
August 2017
As has become a tradition after national meetings, the pacific entities, U.S. territories, and Bureau of Indian Education had the opportunity to get together with OSEP staff and their technical assistance providers following the OSEP Leadership Conference. This article spotlights the rich discussions and sharing that occurred.
Maine Uses a Risk Assessment to Monitor Federal Grant Programs
August 2016
Did you know the NCSI has a team designated to support states with fiscal issues? The Fiscal Support Team (FST) objectives include (1) providing state educational agencies (SEAs) with technical assistance regarding fiscal issues to support local educational agencies (LEAs) to improve outcomes for children with disabilities and (2) collaboration across national technical assistance centers to ensure state access to a continuum of support in unpacking fiscal questions. States are using risk assessments to monitor LEAs that are considered subrecipients of subawards under this federal provision. Maine is one state that has developed a risk assessment to assess all of its federal grant programs, including IDEA. Its tool measures fiscal risk by assigning weighted numeric values to multiple measures impacting federal grant management, resulting in a total risk value.
Ohio Explores Effective Coaching Practices to Support Implementation
June 2016
Decades of research shows that coaching can be an effective mechanism for improving teacher practice and student learning outcomes. As part of its SSIP, Ohio has focused on identifying research-based effective coaching practices, developing a cadre of coaches that uses effective coaching practices, providing professional development on effective coaching strategies, and measuring fidelity of implementation of coaching practices.
Learn more about the work in Ohio.
Rhode Island Aligning Supports to Build Capacity Toward Meeting Its SIMR Goal
November 2015
Since 2012, the Rhode Island Department of Education has worked with the National Center on Intensive Intervention (NCII) to implement data-based individualization in reading, mathematics, and behavior for students with severe and persistent learning and behavioral needs. Rhode Island plans to leverage its ongoing work with NCII along with other efforts to tackle its SIMR that are focused on improving mathematics outcomes for students with disabilities.
Learn more about the state’s efforts.