NCSEAM to hold orientation on focus monitoring for SPED

The National Center for Special Education Accountability Monitoring recently indicated that it would hold a focus monitoring orientation for a group representing the Public School System next month.

Focus monitoring, as defined by the NCSEAM, is “a process that purposefully selects priority areas to examine for compliance while not specifically examining other areas for compliance to maximize resources, emphasize important variables, and increase the probability of improved results.”

The orientation, which was announced yesterday by Nieves Flores of the University of Guam during the Special Education State Advisory Panel meeting at the Pacific Gardenia Hotel, is scheduled to take place on Oct. 15-19.

Flores, who facilitated the meeting, said the orientation is intended for “a select group of individuals making up a core team from the PSS.”

“The whole purpose is to provide basic information in focus monitoring,” she said of the orientation.

Federally funded by the Office of Special Education Programs under the U.S. Department of Education, the NCSEAM is responsible for assisting states, local agencies, as well as the OSEP in implementing focus monitoring and “evidence-based decision-making” on complying with federal law through work plans based on self-assessment and continuous progress evaluation.

Meanwhile, the Special Education State Advisory Panel’s meeting was intended mainly to elect officers; however, a quorum was not in place, resulting in the process being put on hold. The panel is a required for all jurisdictions by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

According to NMI special education coordinator Joanne Nicholls, 51 percent of the attendees must be parents of children with disabilities for a quorum to be met.

“It’s very hard to bring it together because it must have a certain composition. It must be composed 51 percent of parents of children with disabilities in order to reach a quorum, which is one of the hardest things for us to here, especially since we’re dealing with three islands [Saipan Rota, and Tinian.]

Nicholls indicated that the panel can help dictate or direct special education policy, as well as make recommendations to the State Board of Education about matters regarding children with disabilities in both public and private schools.

The panel is also required to conduct meetings and advise the PSS upon unmet needs related to students with all types of disabilities.

In addition, the Nicholls said the panel also works on attaining grants for programs in the Commonwealth.

Flores, for her part, had the role of providing technical assistance as part of a subcontract that the UOG receives through the Western Regional Resources Center out of University of Oregon.

“This is part of my responsibility…to help them set up their advisory panel,” she said.