400 MARYLAND AVE., S.W., WASHINGTON, D.C. 20202-2600 

www.ed.gov

The Department of Education’s mission is to promote student achievement and preparedness for global competitiveness by 

fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION AND REHABILITATIVE SERVICES

OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS

DIRECTOR

March 21, 2024 

By Email

Honorable Jacob Oliva

Secretary of Education

Arkansas Department of Education

Four Capitol Mall, Room 304-A

Little Rock, Arkansas 72201

Email: Jacob.Oliva@ade.arkansas.gov

Dear Secretary Oliva:

The purpose of this letter is to provide an update on the status of the finding and corrective actions identified by 

the U.S. Department of Education’s (the Department) Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) reported in 

the September 28, 2023, Differentiated Monitoring and Support (DMS) monitoring report issued to the 

Arkansas Department of Education (ADE). 

This letter is in response to ADE’s December 22, 2023, email correspondence to OSEP to address the corrective 

actions required in the September 28, 2023, DMS report. The finding and corrective actions were identified as a 

result of the DMS activities conducted by OSEP with staff of ADE’s Office of Special Education virtually on 

November 7-9, 2022. 

The summary of monitoring priorities and outcomes chart below includes the monitoring component, finding, 

required actions, OSEP analysis, and status of finding(s) based on the evidence received by OSEP to date.

We appreciate your efforts to ensure compliance and improve results for children with disabilities. If you have 

any questions, please contact your OSEP State Lead.

Sincerely,

Valerie C. Williams

cc: Part B State Director
2 | Page

ARKANSAS PART B

SUMMARY OF MONITORING PRIORITIES AND OUTCOMES

MONITORING COMPONENT AND

FINDING REQUIRED ACTIONS OSEP ANALYSIS AND COMMENTS

NEXT STEPS/REQUIRED 

ACTIONS/STATUS

Monitoring and Improvement

1.1 The State does not have a 

general supervision system that 

is reasonably designed to 

identify noncompliance in a 

timely manner as required under 

34 C.F.R. §§ 300.149 and 

300.600 through 300.602. 

Specifically, the State was not 

issuing its written notifications 

of noncompliance (i.e., a 

findings) to its [local educational 

agencies] (LEAs), generally 

within three months of the 

State’s identification of 

noncompliance. Further, the 

State may not use the 

“pre-finding” flexibility to allow 

its LEAs an indiscriminate 

amount of time to correct any 

noncompliance prior to a finding 

being issued. “Pre-finding

correction” should generally 

occur within three months of the 

Policies and Procedures—

within 90 days of the date of this 

monitoring report the State must 

submit to OSEP:

1. Updated policies and 

procedures documenting its 

process for identifying 

noncompliance in a timely 

manner to include issuing a 

written notification of 

noncompliance (i.e., a 

finding) to LEAs, generally 

within three months of the 

State’s identification of 

noncompliance unless the 

LEA immediately (i.e., 

before the State issues a 

finding) corrects the 

noncompliance and the State 

is able to verify the 

correction. 

In a December 22, 2023, email to OSEP, the 

State submitted the following documents for 

OSEP review:

• Division of Elementary and Secondary 

Education (DESE)-Office of Special 

Education (OSE) Special Education 

Monitoring Manual (2023)

• DESE-OSE Tiered Monitoring 

Graphic (2023)

The State’s submissions reflect a revised 

process in which the State issues written 

notification of noncompliance to LEAs within 

three months of the State’s identification of the 

noncompliance. The State’s submissions also 

reflect a revised process that allows for 

pre-finding correction to occur within the three 

months between the State’s identification of 

noncompliance and written notification of the 

noncompliance. 

Therefore, based on the State’s submissions, 

OSEP has determined that the State has 

completed the first required action identified in 

the September 28, 2023, DMS report. 

CLOSED
3 | Page

ARKANSAS PART B

MONITORING COMPONENT AND

FINDING REQUIRED ACTIONS OSEP ANALYSIS AND COMMENTS

NEXT STEPS/REQUIRED 

ACTIONS/STATUS

State’s monitoring. Evidence of Implementation—

as soon as possible, but no later 

than one year from the date of 

this monitoring report the State 

must submit to OSEP:

1. Evidence of timely 

identification of 

noncompliance consistent 

with the State’s updated 

policies and procedures for 

identifying noncompliance in 

a timely manner, generally 

within three months of the 

State’s identification of 

noncompliance, including 

notification letters, evidence 

of integrated monitoring 

activities and letters of 

findings to its LEAs. 

In its December 22, 2023, email to OSEP, the 

State did not submit evidence of 

implementation to address this finding.

The State must provide evidence of 

implementation, as soon as possible, but no 

later than September 28, 2024 (one year from 

the date of DMS monitoring report).

OPEN

OSEP reminds the State 

that, as detailed in the 

September 28, 2023, 

DMS report, the State 

must submit evidence of 

implementation of the 

State’s revised policies 

and procedures as soon 

as possible, but no later 

than 

September 28, 2024, one 

year from the date of the 

DMS report.