State Monitoring and Support

The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) is responsible for monitoring and supporting states’ implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). OSEP’s accountability is designed to best support states’ efforts to improve outcomes for infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities and their families.

Results Driven Accountability

OSEP’s accountability system—Results Driven Accountability (RDA)—focuses OSEP’s resources on supporting states to fully implement the IDEA and improve outcomes for infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities and their families.

RDA has three components:

This required performance plan and annual report measures a state’s progress towards meeting its target on both results and compliance indicators.

By law, OSEP must make annual determinations about the extent to which each state meets the purposes and requirements under Part B and Part C of the IDEA.

Based on an annual Organizational Assessment of Risk Factors of each state, OSEP annually provides differentiated monitoring and support to states on:

  • Ensuring improved outcomes for infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities.
  • Complying with the IDEA programmatic requirements.
  • Complying with Federal fiscal requirements.
  • Collecting and reporting valid and reliable data.
  • Ensuring implementation of the state’s State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP).

Learn more about Results Driven Accountability.

Part B Maintenance of State Financial Support Waivers

Under 34 CFR 300.163(a), a state is required to make available at least the same amount of funds for special education and related services for children with disabilities as it did in the previous fiscal year. This is called Maintenance of State Financial Support (MFS).

A state may request a one-year waiver of the maintenance of state financial support requirement.

Severe Discrepancy