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The Office of Student Assessment provides support to school personnel related to the assessment of Mississippi students under the Mississippi Statewide Assessment System (MSAS). Staff in the OSE and OSA work collaboratively to address the participation of SWD in State and LEA assessments, and have

provided trainings statewide with co- presenters from the OSE and the OSA.

Training opportunities were provided by the OSA and the OSE during the 2011- 2012 school year that focused on increasing the participation and

performance of children with disabilities on statewide assessments.

At the new Special Education Supervisors Training on October 24-25, 2011, special education directors were provided training on statewide testing.

Information was presented at the January 2012 MASS Winter Conference.

Training was provided regionally to Directors of Special Education on the Mississippi Alternate Assessment of the Extended Curriculum Frameworks (MAAECF).

○ Pearl, MS – September 26, 2011 A number of training opportunities are

provided by the OSE and the OSA regarding the participation and

performance of SWD in the (MSAS). The resource manual Testing Students

w/Disabilities Regulations Statewide Assessment System has been

developed and provided to LEA personnel. Use the link

http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/student- assessment/student-assessment-special- populations to find the publication on the MDE website.

MAAECF training was provided in regional locations for teachers who administer the MAAECF. Training was provided as noted below: o Pearl, MS – August 25, 2011 o Pearl, MS – August 26, 2011 o Pearl, MS – September 1, 2011 o Pearl, MS – September 27, 2011 o Pearl, MS – September 28, 2011 o Pearl, MS – September 29, 2011 o Gulfport, MS – October 3, 2011 o Hattiesburg, MS – October 4, 2011 o Jackson, MS – October 5, 2011 o Jackson, MS – October 6, 2011 o Oxford, MS – October 11, 2011 o Desoto, MS – October 12, 2011

State Performance Plan 2005-2012

Improvement Activities

Improvement Activities FFY 2011

(SY 2011-2012)

Additional webinars were provided regarding MAAECF evidence collection and administration and scoring of the MAAECF.

Information was communicated on a regular and ongoing basis through

Listservs maintained by the OSA and OSE regarding updates, training opportunities, and pertinent information.

Information was presented at the January 2012 MASS Winter Conference.

Information was presented to New Special Education Directors at the New Special Education Supervisor’s Training on October 25, 2011 and January 18, 2012. Guidance is provided to school

personnel, parents, and students to ensure that informed decisions are being made regarding the MSAS. The guidance is in accordance with IDEA 1997 and IDEA 2004 and the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act.

Guidance was provided to school

personnel, parents, and students to ensure that informed decisions were being made regarding the MSAS. The guidance was in accordance with IDEA 2004 and the NCLB Act. In accordance with Mississippi Code 37-16-3, all eligible students enrolled in public schools participate in the MSAS. Superintendents of each LEA certify annually that all eligible students enrolled in designated grades/courses are tested. Information was presented at the January

2012 MASS Winter Conference.

The following additional improvement activities occurred during FFY 2011 (SY 20011 – 2012): A Listserv was routinely utilized to provide important communication with Directors of

Special Education regarding pertinent information.

Key supervisory staff in the OSA and OSE worked collaboratively to provide support and guidance to staff in an effort to keep staff informed of updates and share information. Staff from both offices worked together to support the major initiatives. Both offices are under the same Deputy Superintendent, which facilitates support and collaboration. OSE staff assist with the review and collection of information submitted to the OSA. Information obtained

through these collaborative reviews informs staff in these two offices of areas in need of additional guidance and technical assistance to LEA personnel.

Joint training was provided to the LEAs by OSA and OSE.

The Special Education Advisory Council provided feedback on two separate occasions regarding the State’s ESEA Flexibility Request.

Mississippi adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in August 2010 and these will be fully implemented by the 2014-2015 school year. Mississippi is participating in the

Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) consortium. Implementation for grades K-2 began in school year 2011-2012. To prepare for this, training that includes teachers of students with disabilities began in October 2010. MDE has a dedicated webpage that houses all training materials regarding the CCSS initiative at http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/curriculum-and-instruction/curriculum-and-instruction-other- links/common-core-state-standards .

As part of this implementation, a supplement to the Response to Intervention manual that focuses on literacy interventions for low-achieving students, students with disabilities, and English Language learners, was developed and disseminated by the Offices of Special Education and Curriculum and Instruction in May and August of 2012.

MDE OSE offered 12 training opportunities during the 2011-2012 school year on the topics of Accommodating Students in the Classroom and LRE: The Decision-Making Process. OSE also co-sponsored a co-teaching mini conference with the Mississippi Association of Educators (MAE). At the two-day conference, school teams of teachers heard presentations about common core standards, career pathways, co-teaching, inclusion, differentiating instruction, and bullying. OSE also provided professional development on the topic of inclusion throughout the school year, at the request of various school districts.

Mississippi is a governing member of The Dynamic Learning Maps (DLM) Alternate

Assessment System Consortium. DLM is a multi-state consortium awarded a grant by OSEP to develop a new alternative assessment system. The Dynamic Learning Maps Alternate

Assessment (DLM-AAS), which is based on learning maps, will provide an instructionally

embedded assessment integrated into the teaching process, and will incorporate instructionally relevant item types. These characteristics will provide an alternative assessment that is

matched to the rigor and challenge of the CCSS. The timeline for administration of DLM is currently aligned with the PARCC implementation.

Public Reporting Information: The public reports of assessment results conforming with 34

CFR §300.160(f) can be found at:

http://ors.mde.k12.ms.us/report1/r2011-12.aspx

To locate participation results for students with disabilities, click the link for ‘Participation Statistics’ on the above URL. The direct link for the file is:

Proficiency results for students with disabilities can be found under the heading “2011-2012 Student Assessment Data Disaggregated by NCLB Subgroup.” The file “Spring 2012

Mississippi Curriculum Test, 2nd Edition” contains columns labeled “DOB” and “DOP.” These columns correspond to the percentage of students with disabilities who scored “Basic and Above” and “Proficient and Above” on the assessment. The direct link for the file is:

http://ors.mde.k12.ms.us/xls/a/2011-12/MCT2_12-RC-Special.xls. Column heading definitions and further file layout information is contained in the document “Data Layout and Information for Using Disaggregated Test Data Files,” also located under the heading “2011-2012 Student Assessment Data Disaggregated by NCLB Subgroup.”

You can also view data by district and school at the following interactive website that contains the same information as the links above:

Explanation of Progress or Slippage that Occurred for FFY 2011 (SY 2011-2012): 3A.2 – Percent of LEAs that met AMO targets

Actual = 17.3% - Baselines reset for FFY 2011

Reading Target = 95% / Actual = 98% – Target Met Math Target = 95% / Actual = 97.9% – Target Met

The State demonstrated progress for RLA and Math participation and exceeded the 95% target for participation. All SPP Improvement Activities will continue throughout the next school year.

3C – Proficiency

Reading/Language Arts Actual = 22.2% – Baselines reset for FFY 2011 Mathematics Actual = 31.1% – Baselines reset for FFY 2011

Revisions, with Justification, to Proposed Targets / Improvement Activities / Timelines / Resources for FFY 2012:

None 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 95 ₉₅ 95 95 95 95 ₉₅ 95 95 95 95 95 93.8 95.7 95.7 97.7 _97.5 98 93.6 95.6 96.4 97.6 97.4 _97.9