Special Education Designee Survey

School Improvement Status and Outcomes for Students with Disabilities Study

Special Education Designee Survey

Prepared by:

American Institutes for Research

Prepared for:

U.S. Department of Education

Contract No. ED-04-CO-0025/0013

Dear Special Education Designee:

Thank you for participating in a survey for the School Improvement Status and Outcomes for Students with Disabilities Study. This study will examine the inclusion of students with disabilities in school accountability systems, school practices that may affect the outcomes of students with disabilities, and achievement trends of these students over time.

Your participation is important and appreciated, but you do have the right to skip any question that you do not wish to answer. Below are answers to some general questions concerning your participation.

What is the purpose of this survey?

The purpose of the survey is to provide policy-relevant information about the education of students with disabilities by examining school practices that may affect the education outcomes of these students.

Who is conducting this survey?

This study was commissioned by the Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences, and is administered by the American Institutes for Research (AIR) and NORC at the University of Chicago.

Why should you participate in this survey?

By responding to this survey, you can help policy makers, educators and researchers to better understand how schools are working to improve outcomes for students with disabilities.

Will your responses be kept confidential?

Your responses are protected from disclosure by federal statute (P.L. 107-279, Title I, Part E, Sec.183). Responses to data collection are voluntary and will be used only for broadly descriptive and statistical purposes. The reports prepared for the study will summarize findings across the sample and will not associate responses with a specific school or individual. In no instances will data that relate to or describe identifiable characteristics of individuals or individual schools be disclosed or used in identifiable form, except as required by law.

How will your information be reported?

The information you provide will be combined with the information provided by others in statistical reports. No individual data that link your name, address, or telephone number with your responses will be included in the statistical reports.

Where should you return your completed survey?

If completing by paper, please place your completed survey in the enclosed envelope and follow the return instructions provided by NORC. You will receive a $20 bookstore gift card as a small token of our appreciation for your efforts.

Thank you for your cooperation in this very important effort!

Part A. Background

1. What is your current position?
   Special education teacher / Regular education teacher / Administrator (specify) / Other (specify)

1. For how many years have you worked at this school? (please count 2010–11 as one year)

________

3. Does your district have a districtwide program(s) that provides specialized instruction in a central location, such as another school, to students with disabilities? Yes / No

If Yes, please respond to the following questions:

1. What types of disabilities does this district program(s) serve? ________________________________

1. Do any students with disabilities who would otherwise attend your school attend one of these district programs? Yes / No

2. Do the test scores of students attending this district program(s) count toward your school’s AYP? Yes / No / Don’t know

3. Does your school house any of these programs? Yes / No

If yes, do the test scores of students with disabilities attending this program count toward your school’s AYP? Yes / No / Don’t know

4. How many students at this school were declassified from special education during the current school year (2010–11)?

_____________________________

5. In the current school year (2010–11), how many students with disabilities in this school are repeating the same grade that they were in last year?

_____________________________

6. Using the chart below, please indicate how many students in your school are currently receiving special education services under IDEA for the 2010–11 school year, for each of the 13 federal disability categories, and for each of the educational placement categories. If you cannot provide counts by disability category for columns D and E, please provide a total count in column C. Please exclude pre-kindergarten students.

A	B			C	D	E
Disability category	Number of special education students spending:			Total number of special ed students served in your school	Number of special ed students (who would otherwise attend your school) served in central district-wide program(s)	Number of special ed students (who would otherwise attend your school) served outside the district
	Less than 40% time/ week in a regular ed classroom	40–79% time/week in a regular ed classroom	80% or more time/week in a regular ed classroom
Specific learning disabilities	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#
Speech or language impairments	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#
Mental retardation	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#
Emotional disturbance	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#
Multiple disabilities	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#
Hearing impairments	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#
Other health impairments	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#
Orthopedic impairments	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#
Visual impairments	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#
Autism	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#
Deaf-blindness	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#
Traumatic brain injury	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#
Developmental delay	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#
TOTAL	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#	_____#

Part B. School Improvement Strategies

7. In the current school year (2010–11), is your school using the following strategies?

	Is your school currently using this strategy?	If your school is currently using the strategy:
		What students are targeted?	Did your school start this in response to a change in your AYP or identification status?	To what extent is the strategy is being used with the targeted students? To a limited extent: some teachers/subjects, or infrequent/informal use To some extent: several teachers/subjects, or frequent use To a great extent: all teachers/subjects, or consistently regular use	Compared to three years ago (2007–08), is the extent to which this strategy is used the same, less, or more?
Tiered instructional intervention system targeting students at risk (e.g., response to intervention, pre-referral program)	Yes No	All students, including students with disabilities Certain subgroups, including SWDs SWDs only	Yes No Don’t know	To a limited extent To some extent To a great extent	Less now than before About the same More now than before Don’t know
Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) system	[same as item a]	[same as item a]	[same as item a]	[same as item a]	[same as item a]
Extended instructional time (e.g., before school, after school, on weekends, within the school day, during the summer, including supplemental educational services)
Block scheduling
Double dosing in ELA/mathematics
Ability grouping (i.e., providing instruction to different groups of students with varying achievement levels)
Test preparation instruction
Instructional and assistive technology

8. In the current school year (2010–11), are teachers in your school engaged in the following activities?

	Are teachers currently using this strategy?	If teachers are currently using the strategy:
		What teachers are included?	Did your school start using this in response to your AYP or identification status?	To what extent is the strategy being used? To a limited extent: some teachers/subjects, or infrequent/informal use To some extent: several teachers/subjects, or frequent use To a great extent: all teachers/subjects, or consistently regular use	Compared to three years ago (2007–08), is the extent to which this strategy is used the same, less, or more?
Using student achievement data to systematically inform instruction	Yes No	All teachers, including special education teachers Regular education teachers only Special education teachers only	Yes No Don’t know	To a limited extent To some extent To a great extent	Less now than before About the same More now than before Don’t know
Team teaching model (e.g., a regular education and a special education teacher co-teaching a class)	[same as item a]	[same as item a]	[same as item a]	[same as item a]	[same as item a]
Collaboration through common planning time

9. Over the past six years (2005–06 to 2010–11), has your school adopted the following programs or strategies?

	Has your school adopted this program or strategy over the past six years (2005–06 to 2010–11)?	Did your school adopt this program or strategy in response to your AYP or identification status?	Is your school continuing to use this program or strategy in the current year (2010–11)?
Adopted a whole-school comprehensive reform program (e.g., America’s Choice, Success for All, Talent Development) Name of model: ________________	Yes No Don’t know	Yes No Don’t know	Yes No
Adopted new instructional programs or curricula in reading/language arts/English	[same as item a]	[same as item a]	[same as item a]
Adopted new instructional programs or curricula in mathematics
Adopted reading across the curriculum
Engaged in deliberate efforts to move students with disabilities from self-contained to regular education classrooms

10. Of the strategies a–p from the tables above, please identify up to three strategies that have been most important to your school’s efforts to improve the achievement of students with disabilities in your school.

Strategy #1 (letter) ____ or Other (briefly describe) _______________________

Strategy #2 (letter) ____ or Other (briefly describe) _______________________

Strategy #3 (letter) ____ or Other (briefly describe) _______________________

11. Please select one of the three strategies that you identified as being most important and identify the number of the strategy from the list above (1, 2, or 3):____

How was this strategy implemented in your school (who implemented, how, when, etc.) and in what ways did it contribute to efforts to improve the achievement of students with disabilities in your school? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Part C. Professional Development

12. Thinking about the majority of special education teachers in your school, how much professional development (not including coaching or mentoring) did they receive from your school or district on the following topics during the past 12 months?

Topic	None	Less than 1 day (less than 6 hours)	1–2 days (6–17 hours)	3–4 days (18–29 hours)	5–10 days (30–60 hours)	More than 10 days (more than 60 hours)	Is this the same as, less than, or more than last year?
Implementing specific instructional approaches or curricula aimed at improving the achievement of all students	0	1	2	3	4	5	Less Same More
Implementing specific instructional approaches or curricula aimed specifically at improving the achievement of students with disabilities	0	1	2	3	4	5	Less Same More

13. Thinking about the majority of special education teachers in your school, how frequently did they receive coaching on the following topics during the past 12 months?

Topic	None	Monthly	Weekly	Daily	Is this the same as, less than, or more than last year?
Implementing specific instructional approaches or curricula aimed at improving the achievement of all students	0	1	2	3	Less Same More
Implementing specific instructional approaches or curricula aimed specifically at improving the achievement of students with disabilities	0	1	2	3	Less Same More

Part D. Instruction

14. For the current school year (2010–11), what percentage of students with disabilities receive the majority of their instruction in mathematics and English/language arts in the following types of settings?

Type of setting:	Mathematics	English/language arts/reading	Is this the same as, less than, or more than last year?
Regular education classroom taught by regular education teacher with no or minimal support/ accommodations	______%	______%	Less Same More
Regular education classroom taught by regular education teacher with substantial support/ accommodations	______%	______%	Less Same More
Regular education classroom co-taught by regular education and special education teachers	______%	______%	Less Same More
Self-contained classroom	______%	______%	Less Same More
Resource room	______%	______%	Less Same More
Other (please specify): ___________________	______%	______%	Less Same More

15. For the current school year (2010–11), how many students with disabilities in your school receive extended-day instruction (e.g., after-school or Saturday tutoring)?

1. For reading ____

2. For mathematics ____

Part E. Assessment

16. For the current school year (2010–11), what percentage of students with disabilities in tested grades have the following types of statewide assessment documented in their IEPs?

	Percentage of students with disabilities in tested grades whose IEPs report the student is to participate in:	Have there been changes in the percentages over the past three years (2008–09 to 2010–11)?
		Lower percentage	No change	Higher percentage
Regular assessment without accommodations	______%	–1	0	1
Regular assessment with accommodations	______%	–1	0	1
Alternate assessment based on grade-level standards	______%	–1	0	1
Alternate assessment based on modified standards	______%	–1	0	1
Alternate assessment based on alternate standards	______%	–1	0	1

17. How many students with disabilities in your school have standards-based IEPs?

All students with disabilities / Some students with disabilities / No students with disabilities

Thank you for completing this survey!

Paperwork Burden Statement

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is XXXXX. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 30 minutes per response, including the time to review instructions, search existing data resources, gather the data needed, and complete and review the information collection. The obligation to respond to this collection is voluntary. Confidentiality is ensured (P.L. 107-279, Title I, Part E, Sec.183) and the security of the data collected is compliant with the Privacy Act of 1974 as amended (5 U.S.C. 552a).  Send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20210-4537 or email ICDocketMgr@ed.gov and reference the OMB Control Number XXXXX. Note: Please do not return the completed survey to this address.