June 6, 2008

Honorable Lyonel Tracy

Commissioner of Education

New Hampshire Department of Education

101 Pleasant Street

Concord, New Hampshire 03301-3860

Dear Commissioner Tracy:

Thank you for the timely submission of New Hampshire's FFY 2006 Annual
Performance Report (APR) and revised State Performance Plan (SPP) under
Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), as
amended in 2004. We also acknowledge the revisions to New Hampshire's
APR received on April 14, 2008. We appreciate the State's efforts in
preparing these documents.

The Department has determined that, under IDEA section 616(d), New
Hampshire needs assistance in meeting the requirements of Part B of the
IDEA. The Department's determination is based on the totality of the
State's data and information including the State's FFY 2006 APR and
revised SPP, other State-reported data, and other publicly available
information. See the enclosure entitled "How the Department Made
Determinations under Section 616(d) of the IDEA in 2008" for further
details.

The specific factor that affected OSEP's determination of needs
assistance for New Hampshire is the State's reported FFY 2006 data of
72% compliance for Indicator 15, which remained the same from FFY 2005.
For this reason, we were unable to determine that New Hampshire met
requirements under section 616(d). OSEP notes that the State's high
level of compliance for Indicators 11 and 17 and that the State reported
correction of all noncompliance for Indicators 12 and 13. We hope that
New Hampshire will be able to demonstrate that it meets requirements in
its next APR.

The enclosed table provides OSEP's analysis of the State's FFY 2006 APR
and revised SPP and identifies, by indicator, OSEP's review of any
revisions made by the State to its targets, improvement activities
(timelines and resources) and baseline data in the State's SPP. It also
identifies, by indicator, the State's status in meeting its targets,
whether the State's data reflect progress or slippage, and whether the
State corrected noncompliance and provided valid and reliable data.

The State's determination for the FFY 2005 APR also was needs
assistance. In accordance with section 616(e) of the IDEA and 34 CFR
§300.604, if a State is determined to need assistance for two
consecutive years, the Secretary must take one or more of the following
actions: 1) Advise the State of available sources of technical
assistance that may help the State address the areas in which the State
needs assistance; 2) Direct the use of State-level funds on the area or
areas in which the State needs assistance; or 3) Identify the State as a
high-risk grantee and impose special conditions on the State's Part B
grant award. Pursuant to these requirements, the Secretary is advising
the State of available sources of technical assistance related to
Indicator 15, General

Supervision. A list of sources of technical assistance related to the
SPP/APR indicators is available by clicking on the "Technical Assistance
Related to Determinations" box on the opening page of the SPP/APR
Planning Calendar website at <http://spp-apr-calendar.rrfcnetwork.org/>.
You will be directed to a list of indicators. Click on specific
indicators for a list of centers, documents, web seminars and other
sources of relevant technical assistance for that indicator. For the
indicator listed above, your State must report with its FFY 2007 APR
submission (due February 1, 2009) on: 1) the technical assistance
sources from which the State received assistance and 2) what actions the
State took as a result of that technical assistance. The extent to which
your State takes advantage of available technical assistance for this
indicator may affect the actions we take under section 616 should your
State not be identified as meets requirements next year. We encourage
States to take advantage of available sources of technical assistance in
other areas as well, particularly if the State is reporting low
compliance data for an indicator.

As required by section 616(e)(7) and 34 CFR §300.606, the State must
notify the public that the Secretary of Education has taken the above
enforcement action. This notification must be sufficient to notify the
public within the State and may include such mechanisms as posting on
the agency's website, distribution through the media and distribution
through public agencies.

As you know, your State must report annually to the public on the
performance of each local educational agency (LEA) located in the State
on the targets in the SPP under IDEA section 616(b)(2)(C)(ii)(l). In
addition, your State must review LEA performance against targets in the
State's SPP, determine if each LEA meets the requirements of the IDEA
and inform each LEA of its determination. For further information
regarding these requirements, see the SPP/APR Calendar at
<http://spp-apr-calendar.rrfcnetwork.org/>. Finally, if you included
revisions to baseline, targets or improvement activities in your APR
submission, and OSEP accepted those revisions, please ensure that you
update your SPP accordingly and that the updated SPP is made available
to the public.

OSEP is committed to supporting New Hampshire's efforts to improve
results for children with disabilities and looks forward to working with
your State over the next year. If you have any questions, would like to
discuss this further, or want to request technical assistance, please do
not hesitate to call Susan Falkenhan, your OSEP State Contact, at
202-245-7242.

 

Sincerely,

 

  /s/ William W. Knudsen

 

William W. Knudsen

Acting Director

> Office of Special Education Programs

 

Enclosures

 

cc: State Director of Special Education