Archived Resources

Participants engaged in focused discussions with members of IDC's Workgroup on Educational Environments - Online Learning. Workgroup members presented a snapshot of policies on online learning. They also presented a preliminary analysis on data collection and reporting practices in relation to IDEA educational environments from states reporting students with disabilities enrolled in online learning courses. Participants engaged in an interactive discussion on similarities, differences, and needs of practices within their own states.

This presentation provides guidance on the evaluation of SSIP by differentiating between evaluating implementation and impact and reviews possible measures of progress toward achieving the SIMR. Participants discussed and provided input into development of an IDC white paper on the topic. Currently, the white paper is in draft form and undergoing revisions based on input from the field. The published paper will be posted to the IDC Resource Library and affiliated as a related resource to the handout already posted for this session.

This presentation focuses on the role that developing a logic model has in overall SSIP evaluation planning.

IDEA requires that states publicly report Section 618 data. To assist SEA special education directors and data managers in meeting these requirements, IDC is developing a TA tool to simplify regulatory language and requirements into one document that includes process tips and pitfalls. The presentation highlighted existing practice across the country and provided opportunity for attendees to review the current draft of the proposed TA tool.

IDC's Communication and Dissemination team presented an interactive overview of strategies IDC uses to engage stakeholders in learning about issues related to high-quality IDEA data. The team discussed IDC's website for public access to information about tools and products and TA resources, access to IDC's learning communities for registered users, communicating through IDC's Part B and Part C listserves, and networking through social media.

During this interactive workshop, the IDC Evaluation Team helped participants find new ways to measure infrastructure changes and build on what is already being done in the state with data and evaluation. Participants also learned about new resources for evaluating infrastructure changes. For the 2016 Conference on Improving Data, Improving Outcomes held August 15-17, the content of this workshop was updated as Evaluating Infrastructure Changes: Tracking Improvement Strategies and Identifying Outcomes, along with an updated handout and resource guide.

Presenters and participants discussed strategies that SEAs can use to help LEAs in collecting section 618 and other state-required data that is of high-quality. They explored IDC’s Knowledge Lab that lists various resources around different data collections. The Knowledge Lab contains many resources designed to help SEAs and LEAs gather, collect, validate, and report high-quality data. The discussion allowed for state input on how the state uses or can use these resources.