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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION AND REHABILITATIVE SERVICES

NOV 22, 2017

Honorable Michael W. Kirst

President

California State Board of Education

1430 N Street, Suite 5111

Sacramento, California 95814-5901

Honorable Tom Torlakson

State Superintendent of Public Instruction

California Department of Education

1430 N Street, Suite 5602

Sacramento, California 95814-5901

Dear President Kirst and Superintendent Torlakson:

The purpose of this correspondence is to provide a summary of the monitoring and support 

activities conducted by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) for the California 

Department of Education (CDE) during the period of October 2016 through September 2017. In 

2016, OSEP began providing differentiated monitoring and support (DMS) to States as part of its 

Results Driven Accountability (RDA) framework. Under RDA, OSEP made a shift from 

monitoring based solely on compliance to monitoring and support focused on both compliance 

and improving results for students with disabilities. OSEP differentiates its approach for each 

State based on the State’s unique strengths, progress, challenges, and needs.

With the DMS process, OSEP conducts an organizational assessment (OA) of risk factors to 

identify States’ progress in meeting performance standards and compliance with the legal 

requirements of Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Education 

Department General Administrative Regulations and the Uniform Administrative Requirements, 

Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards. OSEP uses the information from 

the OA and an Engagement Decision Tree to make designations of universal, targeted, or 

intensive monitoring and support (DMS) for the fiscal year. The 2016 DMS areas were: 

1) results; 2) compliance; 3) State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP); 4) correctional education; 

and 5) fiscal.

On October 19, 2016, OSEP sent Kristin Wright, Director of Special Education, the DMS notice 

for California. That notice provided a designation of universal, targeted, or intensive 

engagement in each of five areas: results, compliance, SSIP, correctional education, and fiscal. 

The information in the notice was based on FFY 2014 data in the five areas, along with 

information about the factors contributing to elevated needs, the support your State has accessed, 

your State’s capacity to improve results and compliance, and additional contextual information. 

We have attached a copy of the DMS notice for your convenience.
Page 2 - Honorable Michael W. Kirst and Honorable Tom Torlakson

As part of the engagement, OSEP discussed issues related to each of the five areas. Attached is 

a summary of the fiscal engagement provided by OSEP during the monitoring and support 

activity. Although OSEP also engaged with CDE staff regarding results, compliance, SSIP, and 

correctional education, these were more informal discussions, and we are not including a written 

summary of these discussions. As indicated on the fiscal enclosure, OSEP did not identify 

noncompliance with IDEA requirements as a result of the monitoring activity.

We appreciate your efforts to improve results for students with disabilities, and the full 

cooperation of CDE staff in our engagement around the identified areas. If you have any 

questions, please contact Susan Murray, your OSEP State Lead, at 202-245-8247.

Sincerely,

/s/

Ruth E. Ryder

Acting Director

Office of Special Education Programs 

cc: Kristin Wright, State Director of Special Education

Attachments