The District/School establishes a culture of shared leadership teamwork, and collaboration focusing on continuous improvement.

1. Special education staff are represented on district and building leadership teams.
2. A continuous improvement plan that aligns with the district/school goals is developed and implemented.
3. A professional learning plan that aligns with the continuous improvement plan is developed and meets the needs of the staff.
4. District/School leadership and all-district/school staff develop and
   communicate a common vision for specialized instruction in an ongoing and consistent manner.
5. Leadership proactively tracks and analyzes special education data.
6. There are district and building specific goals inclusive of students with IEPs.
7. District/School leaders allocate human and financial resources to support scheduling and planning time to ensure all students receive rigorous and appropriate instruction throughout the continuum of special education programs and services.
8. Follow-up and support for the implementation of new initiatives or programs and maintenance of established programs are evident.
9. District/School leaders promote an atmosphere conducive to increasing the achievement of students with IEPs.
10. District/School leaders understand and support programs for struggling learners.
11. A comprehensive coordinated program (literacy, math, behavior/SEL) for students with IEPs exists and is implemented with fidelity.
12. District/School leaders ensure that curriculum, instruction, and assessment expectations are communicated to staff and students.

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The District/School implements a multi-tiered system of supports that integrates academic, behavior, and social-emotional instruction and intervention.

1. Educators collect and analyze data to identify individual students in need
   of additional supports and services.
2. Evidence-based interventions are provided in a timely manner to students needing more support and programming.
3. Progress monitoring data are collected and inform decisions about the effectiveness and/or need for modification to tiered based interventions/programs/practices/instruction/eligibility.
4. A problem-solving process is in place for students with IEPs.
5. Interventions are developed and implemented based on data.
6. Educators actively engage families in MTSS.
7. Documented intervention plans are developed based on verified reasons why students are not meeting expectations.
8. A three-tiered model of instruction/intervention is clearly defined across content areas, behavior/social-emotional domains, and grade levels.
9. Data on the fidelity of MTSS implementation are collected and analyzed.
10. Data-based problem solving is utilized for students across content areas, behavior/social-emotional domains, and grade levels.
11. Decision-making guidelines are developed and utilized by problem-solving teams at all tiers.

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A professional development plan is developed based on the needs of the staff and students and is aligned with the District/Building continuous improvement plan.

1. Professional development is outcome-focused, ongoing, and results-driven.
2. The district/school has established an internal procedure to research evidence-based practices focused on improving student performance and outcomes which results in the need for professional development.
3. Opportunities for professional development are differentiated and built into the regular school schedule.
4. Participation is expected of every member of the school community including administration.
5. Professional development activities are facilitated and supported.
6. Professional development is provided for newly hired staff including continued skill development and follow-up.
7. Job embedded technical assistance is a critical element of professional development.
8. Monitoring of carryover of professional development into the classroom.

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The District/School provides high-quality, inclusive programs, and activities in a positive learning environment.

1. Special and general education teachers engage in intentional, collaborative lesson planning to meet the needs of each student with an IEP.
2. The needs of the students are the primary consideration in the configuration of special education programs and services to be provided to students with IEPs.
3. Special and general education staff and administration demonstrate a high level of knowledge about implementing effective programs for students with IEPs.
4. Students with IEPs in inclusive settings are provided the accommodations and explicit, specially designed instruction needed to progress in the curriculum.
5. Students participate in the general education environment including curriculum and instruction, assessment, and social activities based on individual student needs.
6. All students have access to field trips and extra-curricular activities, with supports as needed.
7. The district/school supports the inclusion of all students by providing the whole educational community with training and ongoing assistance to support an inclusive environment.
8. Students are educated with their non-disabled peers in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) to the maximum extent possible as determined by the IEP team.
9. Environmental access allows students with physical disabilities and/or sensory needs to participate in all activities.
10. High expectations for all students are clearly articulated and defined.
11. Programs are in place to help students make successful transitions of all types including but not limited to:
• home to school
• school system to school system
• class to class
• program to program
• building to building
• school to postsecondary

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The District/School establishes an assessment system that provides data for instructional planning and program evaluation.

1. Individual student data are used to inform and design instruction for students with IEPs to progress toward grade-level standards.
2. Rate of improvement data are used to project annual goals that will decrease the achievement gap.
3. Data from multiple sources are used to disaggregate and analyze outcomes for students with IEPs to improve school-wide programs and interventions.
4. Data are presented in visual displays to support evaluation of student learning goals.
5. Data are used to determine the effectiveness of the instruction provided for all students and all student groups.
6. Teachers are trained to administer, score, and interpret assessment measures they administer.
7. Valid, reliable, efficient, and meaningful assessments are selected for specific purposes including screening, diagnostics, progress monitoring, and measuring outcomes.
8. Curriculum-based assessments (both formative and summative) are used to monitor student progress.
9. Teachers use formative assessments aligned with the objectives of the lesson to inform instruction and monitor student progress.
10. The assessment system includes academic, behavior, and social-emotional data sources that address the following purposes:
• Identify students at risk
• Determine why a student is a risk
• Monitor student progress
• nform academic and social-emotional instructional planning
• Determine the attainment of goals

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Special education personnel provide specially designed instruction using evidence-based practices to ensure the opportunity for participation and progress in the general education curriculum.

1. All students receive instruction in curriculum aligned with the State’s Learning Standards.
2. IEPs are developed in consideration of grade-level standards.
3. Student data are used to support development of and changes to student IEPs
4. A collaborative decision-making process is used by the IEP team to inform instruction and program decisions.
5. IEPs are implemented and reviewed by educators, families, and students to ensure that students are meeting their annual goals.
6. Evidence-based practices are implemented.
7. Instruction is individually planned and continually assessed to maximize student learning.
8. Goal directed, explicit instruction is used to teach academic and social emotional content and skills.
9. Instructional groups are appropriate to support learner outcomes.
10. Individualized supports and structures are in place to meet the needs of students within the general education setting.
11. Students with IEPs receive instructional materials in alternative formats at the same time other students in the class receive their instructional materials.
12. Approved adaptations (accommodations and modifications) are individualized to meet each student’s needs and used during instruction and assessment.
13. The district/school supports principles of school-wide positive behavior practices with a proactive approach to behavior.
14. Evidence-based intensive individualized interventions for students with chronic and severe behavioral difficulties are in place.
15. A comprehensive evaluation including a Functional Behavioral Assessment is conducted for each student with behavioral concerns to identify the function of the behavior.
16. Students with behavior supports have individualized positive behavior intervention plans that include all the required components.
17. Self-regulation and executive functioning are an integral part of instruction, compensatory strategies, and effective habits of mind.
18. Students' individualized needs for assistive technology devices and services are considered, accommodated, and incorporated into the daily instruction plan for each student.
19. Students use technology with scaffolded supports building toward independence.
20. Each student has a meaningful communication system (i.e., verbal/AAAC/sign/pictures) that is efficient, effective, functional, and understandable across a variety of people, environments, and content.

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The District/School Establishes Family and Community Partnerships that Facilitate the development of students with IEPs.

1. Families and community representatives are included in the district and school continuous improvement planning.
2. Parents/Guardians actively participate in the development of their child/young adult's IEP.
3. Families and students are respected as essential team members. 
4. Parents understand what their child is expected to know and be able to do based on their individual needs.
5. Parents and educators actively discuss the educational needs of the student on an ongoing basis.
6. Parents have the information they need about effective strategies to support their child’s/young adult’s learning.
7. Parents have the information they need to support their young adult with transition from school to post-school activities.
8. Families, community providers, and school staff work together to ensure students with IEPs have appropriate individual transition plans in place.
9. Parent input and needs are collected through a variety of data-collection tools.
10. The district/school leaders work to sustain collaborative relationships with parents and community organizations to ensure that they are active members in the special education process including providing training on identified topics, as needed.

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Special Education personnel engage students in self-advocacy, determination of their own educational goals/plans, opportunities for career development, participation in work-based learning, and identification of necessary adult services and supports.

1. Students attend their individualized education program (IEP) meetings.
2. The student actively participates in his/her IEP by providing input regarding decisions.
3. Students facilitate their own individualized education program (IEP) meetings.
4. Students provide input regarding the development of academic and social goals as well as reporting on progress toward those goals.
5. Transition planning and exploration of postsecondary opportunities begins when students are 14 and one half.
6. Students and their families actively participate in the transition planning process.
7. Students provide information on their choices, preferences, and interests during planning processes for the development of goals for adulthood.
8. Students engage in career planning, age-appropriate transition assessments, work-based learning opportunities, and the selection of courses of study to prepare them for post-secondary living, working, and learning.
9. Students with IEPs have the opportunity for community-based instruction and work experiences that are linked to the general curriculum and classroom instruction.
10. Students with IEPs and their families are provided early and clear information on graduation requirements and education to 22 years of age.
11. Students are provided instruction to develop lifelong learning skills such as self-advocacy, social-emotional skills, higher-order thinking, employability skills, and consumer and life skills.
12. Schools provide timely student and family connections to post-secondary supports and services through local and state agency programs and services.
13. Community agencies and post-secondary schools are invited to actively participate in IEP meetings, as appropriate for individual students, in which transition services are discussed.
14. Staff and students develop a summary of the performance document that is distributed to necessary adult providers that outline needed services and supports, as well as, current abilities.
15. There is evidence of enrollment in postsecondary education or training, employment, and independent living.

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The District/School plans for the health, safety, and well-being of students with IEPs. 

1. Staff and administration receive specialized training in how to respond to mental health issues, including how to respond in non-academic settings and/or during out-of-school time.
2. A health care plan is written for all students with documented medical/health care needs.
3. All staff working with students with health care plans are trained, understand the content of the plan, and their role in implementation.
4. District/Building safety/emergency plans are developed to address the safety needs of all students and staff in the building.
5. District/Building safety/emergency plans include the special needs of students and staff (e.g., evacuation plan for a second-story classroom for a student who uses a wheelchair with route, equipment, and designated personnel).
6. Students with special needs participate in all practice sessions for safety/emergency situations including drills for fire, tornado, evacuation, and lockdown, etc.

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The District/ School employs highly qualified, licensed special education personnel that demonstrates expertise in working with students with IEPs.

1. Staff hold full credentials/licensure and advanced degrees in content areas.
2. Staff roles and responsibilities are clearly defined and implemented.
3. All staff working with students with IEPs are knowledgeable about their responsibilities in implementing the individualized education programs (IEPs).
4. Staff collaborate with specialized instructional support personnel as specified in a student’s IEP or as needed.
5. All staff working with students with IEPs share and communicate common instructional outcomes.
6. There are systems in place that provide para-educators with instructional plans, training, and the necessary information to successfully support students with IEPs (e.g., disability-specific, IEP goals and objectives, adaptations).
7. Fading para-educator support is pre-planned and outlined in a student’s IEP.
8. All staff involved with students are trained in nonviolent crisis intervention techniques and district/school policy for the use of restraint and time out including the reporting procedure.

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The District/School is in compliance with federal and state-identified indicators/mandates.

1. Educators use the full continuum of services to ensure that students with
   IEPs are educated in the least restrictive environment.
2. Staff proactively track special education data and monitor for equity.
3. The district/school conducts ongoing review of programs and services and, where needed, implement reform to ensure alignment with department and district/school goals.
4. The district/school engages strategically with federal and state agencies, cooperatives, other local entities, grantees and outside organizations to assure that the needs of student’s with IEPs are met.
5. Facilities of the school district, special education cooperatives, or joint agreements used for special education services shall be comparable to those provided to the students in the general education environment.
6. Systematic procedures for identifying and evaluating the provision and need for special education and related services is in place.
7. The district/school understands and implements special education policies, laws and regulations with integrity, fairness and in an ethical manner.

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The District/School allocates finances and resources necessary and appropriate for the provision of equitable services for students with IEPs.

1. The district/school provides adequate resources to support key initiatives.
2. Grant expenditures reflect excess costs necessary to provide equitable services to students with IEPs.
3. Administrators take proactive steps to coordinate and identify funding for special education programs and services within the larger school budget.
4. Funding for special education is understood to be an integral part of the whole school budget.
5. The district/school has a fiscally responsible process to determine if special education services, supports, and program outcomes match the intended purpose of the expenditure.
6. The district/school maximizes special education revenues.
7. The district/school ensures that all purchases are completed in a cost effective manner.
8. Each building allocates and leverages available resources (e.g. funding, personnel, time, facilities, technology) to respond to the needs of student’s with IEPs.

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Websites

• Education Special Education Blog- current topics in education for special educators
• IEP's How Administrators Can Support the Development and Implementation of High-Quality IEP's

Articles

• IEPs: How Administrators Can Support the Development and Implementation of High-Quality IEPs

Tools

• Handbook - A Principals Guide to Sp. Ed. 3rd ed. ISBN 978-0-86586-479-5. #P6136

Websites

• Response to Intervention Institute
• The IRIS Center-Vanderbilt University

Articles

• Effective Leadership within an MTSS Framework, April 14, 2016, By: Dr. Kim Gibbons blog.fastbridge.com
• What is the Difference Between RTI and MTSS?  JUN 05, 2017 ONHANDSCHOOLS.COM
• A Framework for Coherence College and Career Readiness Standards, Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, and Educator Effectiveness, FEBRUARY 2015, Lindsey Hayes Jennifer Lillenstein, Ed.D. American Institute for Research
• MTSS Essentials: Data-Informed Decisions to Support Each Student. (2020), Illuminate Education

Tools

• Keeping MTSS on Track Addressing and Avoiding Errors in Implementation (2017) VanDerHeyden, A.M., Tilly, D.W. III. (2016). Keeping RtI on Track: How to Identify, Repair and Prevent Mistakes That Derail Implementation. LRP Publications. (2)

Websites

• Education Week Blog on Special Education

Websites

• Dr. Paula Kluth- Special Education is Not a Place

Articles

• Curriculum Modification Curriculum Enhancement, National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum- Boston College Published: 2004 (Links updated 2014)
• Special Education is Not a Place
• Special Education: A Service, Not a Sentence

Tools

• Liberty University- Some Approaches to Co-Teaching, Marilyn Friend & Lynne Cook, (1996a)

Articles

• OTISS (Oklahoma Tiered Intervention System of Support) is Oklahoma’s intervention model (2018)
• Accommodations for Students With Special Needs, NAEP TECHNICAL DOCUMENTATION
• NAEP Technical Documentation

Websites

• Illinois Multi-Tiered Systems of Support- Websites for evidence-based practices

Articles

• Strategies for Setting Data-Driven Behavioral Individualized Education Program Goals (February 2020)
• High-Leverage Practices in Special Education By Council for Exceptional Children & CEEDAR Center. 2017. 144 pages. ISBN 978-0-86586-526-6. #P6255
• Curriculum Modification Curriculum Enhancement, National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum- Boston, College Published: 2004 (Links updated 2014)
• Strategies for Setting High-Quality Academic Individualized Education Program Goals, American Institute for Research, (2019)
• The Strategic Instruction Model- The University of Kansas
• Including College and Career Readiness Within a Multi-Tiered System of Support Framework Mary E. Morningstar, Allison Lombardi, David Test, (March 19, 2018)

Books

• Beyond Co-Teaching Basics: A Data-Driven, No-Fail ... - ASCD Book (Oct 2017), Wendy Murawski and Wendy Lochner, www.ascd.org/Publications/Books/.../

Tools

• Visible Learning- 250+ Influences on Student Achievement
• Hattie Visible Learning Ranking (11/07/19)
• Hattie-Visible Learning-research (11/07/19)
• UDL Guidelines Checklist National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum(NCAC), Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST), and the U.S. Department of Education

Websites

• Parent Training and Information Centers
• National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement

Articles

• U.S. Department of Education. Guiding Principles A Resource Guide for Improving School Climate and Discipline. (January 2014)
• Parent Training and Information Centers

Websites

• Transition Self-Advocacy Specialized Care for Children UIC
• Open Letter from Sheli on Charting the LifeCourse Transformation
• Transition Resources- List of resources and toolkits Susan Walter
• Specialized Care for Children UIC

Articles

• Mental Health and Secondary Transition Annotated Bibliography (2018),
• NTACT & Ideas that Work
• Including College and Career Readiness Within a Multi-Tiered System of Support Framework Mary E. Morningstar, Allison Lombardi, David Test, (March 19, 2018)
• Quick Guide: Mental Health-Secondary Transition, (2016) NTACT & Ideas that Work

Books

• Your Complete Guide to Transition Planning and Services (2018), Morningstar, Mary.E. & Clavenna-Deane, Beth
• Transition of youth and young adults with emotional or behavioral difficulties: An evidence-supported handbook, Clark, H. B., & Unruh, D. K.

Tools

• Illinois Team Planning Tool for Student Focused Planning (PPT)
• National Technical Assistance Network “Secondary education and services for students with disabilities

Self-Determination and Person-Centered Planning

• Self Determination and Person-Centered Planning

Parent/Family Traning & Support

• PACER's National Parent Center on Transition and Employment

Evidence-Based Transition Practices-Professional Development and Traning for Professionals and School Personnel Working with Transition-Aged Youth

Student-Directed Transition Planning 

• Secondary Transition: Student-Centered Transition Planning

Creating Access to Post-Secondary Traning Options

• Secondary Transition: Student-Centered Transition Planning

Creating or Increasing Access to Local Transportation Options

• Easter Seals Project ACTION 
• Supporting Independent Travel Through Skills Training 

Websites

• Specialized Care for Children UIC

Articles

• Using a System of Least-to-Most Prompts to Teach Safety Skills Taber, T.A., Alberto, P.A., Seltzer, A., & Hughes, M. (2003). Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, 28, 105-116

Articles

• High-Leverage Practices in Special Education By Council for Exceptional Children & CEEDAR Center. 2017. 144 pages. ISBN 978-0-86586-526-6. #P6255

Tools

• Professional Learning Readiness Self-Assessment Tool- Office of Educational Technology Office of Educational Technology. Professional Learning Readiness Self-Assessment Tool

Websites

• US Department of Education- Laws

Websites

• Evidence-Based Practices

Articles

• Park, Sandra; Hironaka Stephanie; Carver, Penny; Nordstrum, Lee; Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, (2013). Continuous Improvement in Education. Stanford, California:. Carnegie Foundation.