An IDC Highlight by the IDC Buzz Staff
By now, you and your state team have probably begun working on your SPP/APR. As in years past, you are not alone; IDC is standing by ready to review drafts of your SPP/APR. As part of our commitment to support states in the reporting and analysis of high-quality IDEA data, over the next few months IDC will be offering SPP/APR review opportunities both through your State Liaison as well as through our patented IDC Informal Drop-Ins.
For these reviews, feel free to send any and all drafts and questions about your SPP/APR in any format that makes sense—in part or in full, in early stages or all polished up—what and how we review your SPP/APR is entirely up to you. Name what you need, when you need it. Our aim is to make your job easier and help you make your SPP/APR shine.
Good News From the 2023–24 Reviews
Last year, IDC reviewed at least some portion of an FFY 2022 SPP/APR draft from 34 states, and there were plenty of signs of their hearty, healthy work. Rachel Wilkinson, who leads the IDC SPP/APR review process with Nancy Johnson, noted that these sessions helped states make improvement in data-informed explanations of slippage and detailed descriptions of the SEA’s general supervision system. Rachel added, “[many] states submitted parts of their SPP/APR in early December—some even before that—which was great because that meant they could take our feedback and thoughtfully decide how they could want to apply it.” She also thinks IDC’s SPP/APR Summit, coming up this year on November 19–20 in Bethesda, Maryland, has become something of a launch moment for the SPP/APR review season as it serves as a great reminder to all states that they’re not alone in their work…or their questions.
Tips for 2024–25
In terms of where states may have opportunities to improve with the FFY 2023 submission (due February 3, 2025), Nancy Johnson points to several tips IDC developed based on common issues reviewers identified last year.
Tip 1: refine and better describe how your state’s Indicator 4 methodology is reasonably designed.
Tip 2: be specific in how you’re engaging with and building capacity of stakeholders in an ongoing way through data analyses, progress toward targets, improvement activities, and evaluations.
Tip 3: when responding to corrections of findings of noncompliance from the prior submission, avoid combining your individual child-specific noncompliance and systemic noncompliance together—there are two separate prompts for that information.
Tip 4: stay away from boilerplate language about your internal monitoring and review process to verify correction of findings of noncompliance; instead, use specific language about what actions your state actually took.
Of course, changes in the FFY 2023 SPP/APR package also present opportunities for improved reporting habits. These include
- eight new general supervision elements in the Introduction;
- additional Indicator 4 requirements for minimum cell size/n-size descriptions and provision of actual rates, rate differences, or rate ratios; and,
- everyone’s favorite addition, Indicator 18!
Though we don’t have space here to get into the details of these new elements, our SPP/APR reviewers are poised to work closely with states on these specific parts of the report.
Okay, So What’s Next?
Great question. What’s next is for you to find your IDC State Liaison’s email address or phone number. IDC is ready to help your team stay steady in the SPP/APR season ahead…and we can’t wait to see the amazing data you’re made of.