Coordinated Program Review

MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

COORDINATED PROGRAM REVIEW

Auburn Public School District

MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

COORDINATED PROGRAM REVIEW REPORT

Auburn Public School District

SCOPE OF COORDINATED PROGRAM REVIEWS

As one part of its accountability system, the Department of Education oversees local compliance with education requirements through the Coordinated Program Review (CPR). All reviews cover selected requirements in the following areas:

Special Education

Civil Rights Methods of Administration and Other General Education Requirements (MOA)

English Learner Education (ELE) in Public Schools

Some reviews also cover selected requirements in:

Career/Vocational Technical Education (CVTE)

Districts scheduled for Title I program monitoring during the 2006-2007 school year will receive separate notice detailing the review process that will apply to the district. The methods of Title I program monitoring that will be used this year will vary, district to district, depending on the size of the district's Title I grant award, the nature of the Title I program being implemented (targeted assistance or school-wide), and the district's 2006 AYP accountability status. All reviews will include monitoring for compliance with Title I fund use requirements (fund allocation and student eligibility rules, supplement not supplant and comparability requirements, any required set-asides for school choice transportation, supplemental services and professional development).

Significant aspects of this year's Title I monitoring will be accomplished through a desk audit of available data and documents. Districts and charter schools identified for improvement or corrective action will be required to submit, for review, their written plans to improve student performance. In general, districts and charter schools that are in identified for improvement or corrective action status, for students in the aggregate or for student subgroups, and all districts with grant awards of $300,000 or more, will have an onsite visit during the 2006-2007 school year as part of the monitoring process. Visits will be for the dual purposes of determining compliance and providing technical assistance, as needed, to improve program quality.

The Department's 2006-2007 schedule of Coordinated Program Reviews is posted on the Department's web site at <<http://www.doe.mass.edu/pqa/review/cpr/schedule.html>>.  The statewide six-year Program Review cycle together with the Department's Mid-cycle Special Education follow-up monitoring schedule is posted at <<http://www.doe.mass.edu/pqa/review/cpr/6yrcycle.html>>.

COORDINATED PROGRAM REVIEW ELEMENTS

Team: Depending upon the size of a school district and the number of programs to be reviewed, a team of two to eight Department staff members, together with any necessary outside consultants, conducts a Coordinated Program Review over two to ten days in a school district or charter school.

Timing: Each school district and charter school in the Commonwealth is scheduled to receive a Coordinated Program Review every six years and a mid-cycle special education follow-up visit three years after the Coordinated Program Review; about sixty-five school districts and charter schools are scheduled for Coordinated Program Reviews in 2006-2007. The Department's 2006-2007 schedule of Coordinated Program Reviews is posted on the Department's web site at <<http://www.doe.mass.edu/pqa/review/cpr/schedule.html>>.  The statewide six-year Program Review cycle together with the Department's Mid-cycle follow-up monitoring schedule is posted at <<http://www.doe.mass.edu/pqa/review/cpr/6yrcycle.html>>.

Criteria: The Program Review criteria for each program encompass the requirements that have been selected for review.  The requirements selected for review in all of the regulated programs are those that are most closely aligned with the goals of the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993 to promote student achievement and high standards for all students.

Methods: Methods used in reviewing programs include:

Note on collaborative programs and services. Where the district is a member of a collaborative approved by the Department of Education and is a site for programs or services operated by the collaborative, interviews, student record review, and observation of classrooms are conducted for the collaborative.

Report: Preparation:

At the end of the onsite visit, the onsite team will hold an informal exit meeting to summarize its preliminary findings for the Superintendent or Charter School Leader and anyone else he or she chooses. Within approximately 45 business days of the onsite visit, the Onsite Chairperson will forward to the Superintendent or Charter School Leader (and Collaborative Director where applicable) a Draft Report containing specific findings from the Program Review. The district (and collaborative) will then have 10 business days to review the report for factual accuracy before the publication of a Final Report. The Final Report will be issued within approximately 60 business days of the conclusion of the onsite visit and posted on the Department's website at <http://www.doe.mass.edu/pqa/review/cpr/reports/>.

Content:

Ratings. The onsite team gives a rating for each compliance criterion it reviews; those ratings are “Commendable,” “Implemented” (meaning at least substantially implemented), “Implementation in Progress,” “Partially Implemented,” “Not Implemented” (meaning at least substantially not implemented), and “Not Applicable or Not Rated.” “Implementation in Progress,” used for criteria containing new legal requirements, means that the district has implemented any old requirements contained in the criterion and is training staff or beginning to implement the new requirements in such a way that the onsite team anticipates that the new requirements will be implemented by the end of the school year.

Findings. The onsite team includes a finding for each criterion that it rates “Commendable,” “Partially Implemented,” or “Not Implemented,” explaining the basis for the rating. It may also include findings for other criteria.

Response: Where criteria are found “Partially Implemented” or “Not Implemented”, the district or charter school must propose corrective action to bring those areas into compliance with the relevant statutes and regulations.  This corrective action plan will be due to the Department within 30 business days after the issuance of the Final Report and is subject to the Department's review and approval.

As the school or district is implementing the approved corrective action, Department staff will provide ongoing technical assistance. To assist in the implementation of corrective action related to the area of special education, schools and districts may apply for limited special education technical assistance funds. School districts and charter schools must demonstrate effective resolution of noncompliance identified by the Department as soon as possible but in no case later than one year from the issuance of the Department's Final Program Review Report.

The Department believes that the Coordinated Program Review is a positive experience and that the Final Report is helpful in planning for the continued improvement of programs and services in each school district, charter school, and educational collaborative.

REPORT INTRODUCTION

A four-member Massachusetts Department of Education team visited Auburn Public Schools during the week of October 30, 2006 to evaluate the implementation of selected criteria in the program areas of special education, civil rights and other related general education requirements, and English learner education. The team appreciated the opportunity to interview staff and parents, to observe classroom facilities and to review the programs underway in the district. The onsite team would like to commend the following areas that were brought to its attention and that it believes have a significant and positive impact on the delivery of educational services for students enrolled in the Auburn Public School Districts. These areas are as follows:

Some of the commendations noted above are repeated within the body of the Department's report under the appropriate compliance criteria.

The Department is submitting the following Coordinated Program Review Report containing findings made pursuant to this onsite visit. In preparing this report, the team reviewed extensive written documentation regarding the operation of the district's programs, together with information gathered by means of following Department program review methods:

The report includes findings in the program areas reviewed organized under nine components. These components are:

Component I: Assessment of Students

Component II: Student Identification and Program Placement

Component III: Parent and Community Involvement

Component IV: Curriculum and Instruction

Component V: Student Support Services

Component VI: Faculty, Staff and Administration

Component VII: School Facilities

Component VIII: Program Evaluation

Component IX: Recordkeeping and Fund Use

The findings in each program area explain the “ratings,” determinations by the team about the implementation status of the criteria reviewed. The ratings indicate those criteria that were found by the team to be substantially “Implemented” or implemented in a “Commendable” manner. (Refer to the “Definition of Terms” section of the report.) Where criteria were found to be either "Partially Implemented" or "Not Implemented," the district or charter school must propose to the Department corrective actions to bring those areas into compliance with the controlling statute or regulation. In some instances the team may have rated a requirement as “Implemented” but made a specific comment on the district's implementation methods that also may require response from the district or charter school.

Districts are expected to incorporate the corrective action into their district and school improvement plans, including their professional development plans.

Auburn Public School District

SUMMARY OF COMPLIANCE CRITERIA INCLUDED IN THIS REPORT

REQUIRING CORRECTIVE ACTION PLAN DEVELOPMENT

in response to the following

COORDINATED PROGRAM REVIEW REPORT FINDINGS

NOTE THAT ALL OTHER CRITERIA REVIEWED BY THE DEPARTMENT THAT ARE NOT MENTIONED ABOVE HAVE RECEIVED AN “IMPLEMENTED” OR “NOT APPLICABLE” RATING.

Several special education criteria or portions of special education criteria, as well as a portion of a civil rights criterion, have been bolded in the report below. These bolded areas are being monitored under the Massachusetts Special Education State Performance Plan and/or reported on in the state's Annual Performance Report, both mandated by the Office of Special Education Programs of the U.S. Department of Education. Some of these bolded areas may also be areas that the Massachusetts Department of Education is closely monitoring because of concerns identified through a needs assessment by the statewide special education steering committee.

School districts are reminded that although CPRs may focus in certain key areas, the Department has the legal obligation under its general supervisory responsibilities to review any or all special education requirements as it deems necessary.