2018 Determination Letters on State Implementation of IDEA

U.S. D EPARTMENT OF EDUC ATION 2018 DETERMINATION LETTERS ON S TATE I MPLEMENTATION OF IDEA REVISED JULY 24, 2018 The U.S. Department of Education’ s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services released State determinations on implementation of the Individual s with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for Part B and Part C for fiscal year 2016. The 2004 Amendment s to the IDEA require each Stat e to develop a St ate Performance Plan (SPP) and Annual Performance Report (APR) that evaluates the State’ s efforts to implement the requirements and purposes of the IDEA, and describes how the State will improve it s implementation. The Part B SPP/APR and Part C SPP/APR include Indicators that measur e child and family results, and other indicators that measur e compliance with the requirements of the IDEA. Since 2015, the Part B SPP/APR and Part C SPP/ APR have included a State Systemic Improvement Plan through which each St ate focuse s its efforts on improving a State -sel ected child or family outcome. The IDEA also requires each Stat e to report annually t o the Secretary on it s performance under the SP P. Specificall y, the State must report in its APR, the progress it has made in meeting the measurable an d rigorous targets established in its SP P. The Secretary is required to issue an annual determination t o each State on its progres s in meeting the requirements of the statute. The determinations are part of the ongoing effort s to improv e education for America’ s 7 million chil dren with disabilities . IDEA detail s four categori es for the Secretary’ s determinations. A State’ s determination may be:  Meets the requirements and purposes of IDEA;  Needs assistance in implementing the requirements of IDEA; Needs intervention in implementing the requirements of IDEA; or  Need s substantial intervention in implementing the requirements of IDEA.For the first time in 2014, and again in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, the Department made Part B determinations using both compliance and results data, giving each equal weight in making a State’s determination. For the first time in 2015 and again in 2016, 2017 and 2018 , the Department made Part C determinations using both compliance and results data, giving each equal weight in making a State’s determination. For the first time in 2018, the Department made Part B determinations for the outlying areas, freely associated States, and the Bureau of Indian Education using both compliance and results data, with a 60% weight and 40% weight 2018 DETERMINATION LETTERS ON STATE IMPLEMENTATION OF IDEA 2 respectively. OSEP’s accountability framework, called Results Driven Accountability (RDA), brings into focus the educational results and functional outcomes for children with disabilities w hile balancing those results with the compliance requirements of IDEA. Protecting the rights of children with disabilities and their families is a key responsibility of State educational agencies (SEAs) and local educational agencies (LEAs) for Part B, and Lead Agencies and early intervention service programs for Part C , but it is not sufficient if children are not attaining the knowledge and skills necessary to accomplish the ideals of IDEA: equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self -sufficiency. IDEA identifies specific technical assistance or enforcement actions that the Department must take under specific circumstances for States that are not determined to “ meet requirements .” If a State “needs assistance” for two consecutive years, the Department must take one or more enforcement actions, including , among others, requiring the State to access technic al assistance, designating the S tate as a high -risk gr antee, or directing the use of S tate set -aside funds to the ar ea( s) where the S tate needs assistance. If a S tate “needs intervention” for three consecutive years, the Department must take one or more enforcement actions, including among others, requiring a corrective action plan or compliance agreement, or wi thhold ing further payments to the S tate. Any time a S tate “needs substantial intervention” the Department must take immediate enforcement action, such as withholding funds or referring the matter to the Department’s inspector general or to the Department of Justic e. 2018 DETERMINATION LETTERS ON STATE IMPLEMENTATION OF IDEA 3 IDEA P ART B D ETERMINATIONS Following is a list of each S tate’s performance in meeting the requirements of IDEA Part B, which serves students with disabilities, ages 3 through 21: MEETS REQUIREMENTS Connecticut Georgia Indiana Kansas Kentucky Massachusetts Minnesota Missouri North Carolina North Dakota Nebraska New Hampshire Ohio Oklahoma Pennsylvania Republic of the Marshall Islands South Dakota Virginia Vermont Wisconsin West Virginia Wyoming NEEDS ASSISTANCE (one year) Alabama Delaware Federal States of Micronesia Iowa Montana New Jersey Tennessee NEEDS ASSISTANCE (two or more consecutive year s) Alaska Arkansas American Samoa Arizona California Colorado Florida Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois Louisiana Maryland Maine Mississippi New Mexico Nevada New York Oregon Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina Texas Utah Virgin Islands Washington NEEDS INTERVENTION (one year) District of Columbia Michigan Palau Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands NEEDS INTERVENTION (seven consecutive years) Bureau of Indian Education 2018 DETERMINATION LETTERS ON STATE IMPLEMENTATION OF IDEA 4 IDEA P ART C D ETERMINATIONS Following is a list of each State’s performance in meeting the requirements of IDEA Part C, which serves infants and toddlers birth through age 2: MEETS REQUIREMENTS Alaska Alabama Arkansas Connecticut District of Columbia Georgia Idaho Kansas Kentucky Maryland Maine Michigan Minnesota North Carolina North Dakota New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico Nevada Ohio Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia Washington West Virginia NEEDS ASSISTANCE (one year) California Iowa Indiana Mississippi Missouri New York Wisconsin Wyoming NEEDS ASSISTANCE (two or more consecutive years) American Samoa Arizona Commonwe alth of the Northern Mariana Islands Colorado Delaware Florida Guam Hawaii Illinois Louisiana Massachusetts Montana Nebraska Oklahoma South Carolina Virgin Islands Vermont