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State
Superintendent Tom Watkins Challenges Michigan's Special Ed
Advisory Committee (SEAC) to Set a Proactive Agenda for the
Coming Year
A Bridges4Kids Report on
the October 2nd meeting by Deborah Canja
For more articles on disabilities and special ed visit
www.bridges4kids.org.
State Superintendent Tom Watkins took time from a busy
schedule Wednesday to urge Michigan's Special Education
Advisory Committee (SEAC) members to become even more involved
in education and policy issues. At the invitation of SEAC
Chair Shari Krishnan, Watkins met with SEAC Executive
Committee members at their monthly October meeting and urged
them to help develop a unified state and federal education
agenda for Michigan. "We want to be proactive," he urged them.
"When I go to Washington, when you represent Michigan, we want
to be able to say 'these are our priorities.'" He urged
members to find effective ways to communicate those priorities
to the groups they represent.
As Krishnan explained, "The SEAC Executive Committee wanted to
find a way to make meaningful contributions to Michigan's
education policies. To do this, we knew that we had to
understand what was happening outside of the world of special
education. As an advisory body to the Michigan Department of
Education and the State Board of Education, we needed to know
what Tom's expectations are for advisory bodies. We wanted to
know what, in his mind, would constitute a successful year.
From the State Board, we wanted to know how to better
communicate with them and be a truly helpful partner for the
benefit of all students in Michigan."
"We now have direction from the Board and our State
Superintendent. We are thinking about how to link this to our
work this year. We now realize that communication is not only
important, but it is expected and applauded. Most of all, we
expect to be a value-added committee with results that will
make a difference at many levels, for the benefit of
Michigan's kids."
In his visit Watkins urged the SEAC to help communicate the
State Board of Education's number one priority - uplifting
under-performing schools. "When I walk up to people and ask
them if they know the Board's number one priority, it is
amazing to me that they don't. We have to do a better job of
sharing our vision."
Watkins mentioned new legislation introduced by Representative
Doug Hart (R- Rockford) which would bring within the
Department of Education several education programs which have
been moved in recent years, including MEAP, vocational and
adult education, the Center for Educational Performance and
Information, and Michigan Virtual University. "Over the past
several years, education programs have been scattered
throughout government like the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz,"
he said, "a little bit here, and a little bit there. We need a
unified approach to education within our state."
Finally, he admonished SEAC members to keep in mind the cost
involved in coming together on a monthly basis and asked
whether or not that money could be better spent providing
direct services to children.
State Director of Special Education and Early Intervention
Services (OSE/EIS), Dr. Jacquelyn Thompson, later addressed
the entire SEAC and told members that Watkins' leadership of
the Department has included a focus "on some very specific
visions about what we need to be doing collectively within the
Department and across the State and how we should be
supporting some common agendas." She noted that he has
emphasized the critical importance of the State's new
accreditation system, Education Yes!, and its alignment with
the Title 1 No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act recently passed by
the United States Congress.
"Tom recognizes that we all have issues with the politics of
No Child Left Behind," she said, "but now we need to move
forward and develop a 'MDE federal policy agenda - not a
special ed agenda, and a Title 1 agenda, and a general ed
agenda, but a unified agenda for Michigan.'"
Thompson also told the group that the MDE Office of Special
Education had just been awarded a $549,000 competitive federal
grant to blend the priorities of the State Board of
Education's task force reports on "Elevating Educational
Leadership" and "Ensuring Excellent Educators" with the work
of the SEAC on the recruitment, retention, and professional
development of special education personnel. "That's an example
of how we see Tom's bigger vision of a unified approach to our
education initiatives."
Thompson also reported that the Department would soon be
issuing a Request For Proposals (RFP) to develop an Integrated
Behavior and Learning Support initiative. This RFP, she
explained, is an outgrowth of Michigan's Positive Behavior
Support initiative. Originally begun within the Office of
Special Education, PBS was soon recognized as an important
tool for all of education, but its acceptance was hampered by
its special education beginnings. The new initiative will
apply to both general and special education and will focus on
under-performing schools. The RFP is still in the draft
stages, but a letter inviting potential applicants to sign up
to receive the RFP is scheduled to be released this week.
Finally, Thompson noted, "Tom was very pointed in his comments
to us, particularly about all of our meetings. He challenged
us to take a serious look at our meeting agendas and our
expenditures on meetings, and asked how that money spent on
meetings might be better spent on services to kids."
On other matters, SEAC Chair Krishnan thanked SEAC members for
the work done at the annual SEAC retreat held September 8-9 at
Brook Lodge in Augusta. She noted that as a follow-up, she met
with SEAC facilitator, Sandi Laham, and together they
developed a tool for members to consider using to communicate
back to their member organizations. "This is not a required
methodology," she emphasized, "just what we hope will be a
helpful tool. When we are asked, we want to be able to
describe how SEAC shares its work with the public." She also
echoed Watkins' comments saying, "We need to really be aware
as a SEAC of the Board's priorities - particularly uplifting
under-performing schools. We need to be on the offensive not
on the defensive and we need to be sure that when we walk out
of our meetings that we have added value."
Steve Wessels, SEAC Executive Board member representing the MI
Association of Teachers of Emotionally Disturbed Children,
reported on SEAC's appearance at the September 12, 2002
meeting of the State Board of Education. The appearance was
prompted by SEAC's work last year to develop an updated
policy recommendation to the State Board of Education on
inclusive education and the least restrictive environment
that reflects changes brought about when the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was reauthorized in
1997. The SEAC Policy Committee, and later the full SEAC,
worked on the policy recommendation for many months. It is
now before the public for public comment.
David Brock, OSE/EIS Supervisor of Policy, Planning, and
Compliance, noted that the public comment has been extended
through October 31, 2002 in response to Watkins' request that
an additional hearing, on this policy and other Department of
Education special education documents, be held in the Detroit
area. Those hearings will be held on October 29 and 30 at
Focus Hope - a community center in Detroit. (Visit this
address for more information on the hearing schedule:
https://www.bridges4kids.org/conferences.html#2).
"We are receiving minimal public comment on these
documents during the public hearings, but a steady stream of
written comment," he said. "We may be able to summarize the
public comment by the November SEAC meeting for SEAC to
consider and make recommendations back to the State Board.
The final decision belongs to the State Board as it is their
policy."
With respect to the State Board's consideration of that
policy, Steve Wessels reported that State Board of Education
President Kathleen Strauss had appeared at the SEAC retreat
and had provided input on the policy statement revisions. In
particular, she emphasized the Board's past commitment to a
"full continuum" of services and asked that the statement
reflect that commitment. SEAC Chair Krishnan noted that
Strauss' visit to the retreat had also raised another issue -
the fact that the SEAC, an advisory body to the State Board of
Education, was working on a Board policy statement without the
knowledge of the Board. At the September State Board of
Education meeting, Krishnan pledged a closer working
relationship with the State Board and more effective
communication. That pledge was shared with the SEAC as a
whole.
Wessels noted, "I believe that it was a good thing for us to
appear before the Board because it gave them an opportunity to
see that the committee [SEAC] is out there and that we
wrestled with this for a considerable amount of time."
SEAC Member-At-Large, Debs Roush (CHADD), asked what role SEAC
could play to ensure that policies are implemented. State
Director Thompson responded, "You are advisory to the State
Board of Education. You have to take advantage of where the
State Board is in terms of policy and see where SEAC can have
input. When we talk about implementation, that raises our
communication challenge. How does the participation of people
on SEAC translate back to the organizations represented?"
Randy VanGasse, SEAC Executive Committee member representing
The Michigan Association of School Administrators, noted,
"That's kind of where Tom was going today. What Tom was
proposing was for us to try to identify three issues that are
important to the State and to the group and try to move those
forward. Try to be proactive. Instead, of leading it seems
that we are always catching up. In the past we seem to have
been saying, 'here's the law, how do we put it into action?'
Tom is suggesting that we get ahead of the curve."
Dr. Thompson responded, "It is important to keep in mind that
this [OSE/EIS] is a state education agency, special education
division. We are federally funded. Our work is supposed to
focus on overseeing the implementation of federal policy. At
the same time, Tom is asking us, where should we be going and
how do we focus on the Board's priority of lifting up
under-performing schools? That is a collective decision. It is
a proactive approach which is, as Tom challenged us, very
different from how we have operated in the past. Quite
honestly, it is a new challenge, a new level of expectation
from our State Superintendent."
Deb Russell, representing the Michigan Association of School
Boards, asked, "When you talk about the focus of the Board
being on under-performing schools, will there be a look at
schools that are under-performing in different program areas,
or will we be looking at the under-performing schools on the
NCLB list and deciding that this is where the money is going
to go? I am feeling that it is not necessarily true that
schools that are performing well or not well on MEAP scores
are performing well in terms of services to children with
special needs. How will it help the average school district
serve children with special needs if we put money into
under-performing schools based upon the NCLB scale?"
Thompson responded, "There are schools in this state that Tom
has described as ones that we would not want our own children
to attend. We need to focus on those."
Randy VanGasse again encouraged the group to focus on an
agenda. "Tom was asking us to take our issues and integrate
them into a blue print for the State Board so that they will
know how to react. Maybe we should get some kind of consensus
from ourselves about sitting down and hammering out three
items. I just feel that there is a lot of potential in this
group to hammer something like that out. We need to come up
with ways to integrate general ed and special ed concepts."
Herb Yamanishi, Executive Director of the Learning
Disabilities Association, suggested that SEAC place the
development of a blueprint on the SEAC agenda so that it could
be formally considered. SEAC Chair, Shari Krishnan, then asked
past Chair, Laurie VanderPloeg, to explain the process that
SEAC has developed for placing issues on the agenda for
discussion and action.
"Sequentially," VanderPloeg explained, "we address information
items at one meeting and open it up for discussion. The issue
then rolls over to the next month's agenda as an action item.
Sequentially, it takes a couple of months to get to an action
item and I'm not sure we are even ready to put anything on the
agenda as a discussion item."
The suggestion was then made that in order to make an informed
policy recommendation, SEAC members would first need a
presentation on the report recently released by the
President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education as
well as an understanding of the requirements contained in
Title 1 and NCLB.
David Brock then reported on upcoming State Board of Education
issues. He noted that in October the Superintendent's agenda
will recommend approval of one new intermediate school
district (ISD) plan with another one coming up for approval in
November. He explained that these are plans that have sought
to take advantage of new administrative rule provisions which
allow for increased flexibility. He also noted that one ISD is
currently completely rewriting their entire ISD plan. The ISDs
were not identified.
This prompted Linda Keway, alternate SEAC member representing
the Michigan Education Association, to ask, "weren't there
going to be some rules and procedures developed around that?"
Brock responded by noting, "One of the documents currently out
for public comment describes how to implement the current
rules and how to file an objection to an ISD plan. There has
been some confusion - about who can object - how does the PAC
(Parent Advisory Committee) object to the plan, and can any
parent object to the plan, and we haven't determined that
yet."
Dr. Fran Loose, OSE/EIS staff, reported on the Continuous
Improvement Monitoring Process (CIMP) currently underway in
response to federal monitoring of the delivery of special
education services in Michigan. She noted that last year the
CIMP Steering Committee analyzed several areas in depth and
developed strategic directives for each. This year
implementation will begin on those directives. New strategic
committees have been formed to address two areas: issues
surrounding students with disabilities who are "school age"
and those surrounding "transitions" for students from high
school to college or community. She noted that those two new
committees will begin meeting during the month of October.
Loose also reported that part of the $549,000 recently awarded
by the federal government will support the second phase of the
OSE/EIS Personnel Development Collaborative Initiative. This
is an effort designed to look at ways to enhance personnel
development options which increase the capacity of families
and schools to meet the learning needs of children with
disabilities and their families. Last year and over the
summer, teams from a variety of representative organizations
came together to develop action plans to implement successful
personnel development. The teams examined seven areas
including: ensuring equity, building professional culture,
developing leadership, building capacity, getting public
support, developing standards of measurement for progress, and
evaluating personnel.
Loose explained, "We had the PD Collaborative this summer and
as part of the new grant money we will have a second
collaborative meeting from May 20-22, 2003. At that time, a
second round of teams, consisting of from 8-10 members from
local school districts and intermediate school districts, will
come together to develop district-specific personnel
development plans. Once the formal invitations go out, all
SEAC members will receive a copy inviting them to apply to
become a member of their own local team." She also noted that
due to intensive state efforts to collect more and better
data, the next round will be "heavily data driven."
Finally, she announced that a statewide transition follow-up
survey is being mailed from the ISD's to every special
education student 16 and older to help the Department track
student outcomes. The survey will also serve as a good source
of collective data for the work that will be done by the CIMP
transition strategic directives committee.
Her reference to the CIMP process prompted Debs Roush to
compliment Department staff on the recent CIMP report filed
with the federal government. A copy of the two-inch thick
report was mailed to each CIMP committee member this month.
Roush reported that when she first received her copy she
dreaded opening it, but was pleased to find it is an excellent
presentation of the substantial work done by the CIMP
committees. (The report is available from the OSE/EIS by
calling 517-373-9433.)
Every SEAC meeting includes reports from Ex-Officio members
who represent various departments and agencies within state
government. Two ex-officio members reported in October. Dr.
Mark Larson, Wayne State University professor representing
Institutions of Higher Education (IHE's), advised SEAC that
the special education faculty of the IHE's meet monthly. "This
year we are looking at the accreditation standards and a
continuous improvement model for our programs. We are also
looking at the reading programs we offer training in
throughout the state." In response to a question about
reported teacher shortages, he noted that the highest
enrollment areas at Wayne State for prospective teachers comes
in programs offering creative ways of securing endorsements.
Programs that look at certification for those who already have
a BA are also high.
"When the economy turns down, more people come back to become
teachers and special ed is seen as a specialty area in high
demand. But the question that students typically have is where
will I be teaching and how many kids will I have? The interest
is there, but the concern is where will I end up." He also
noted that the Michigan Legislature had recently come up with
funding to support an initiative to address the needs of
students with autism by encouraging more teacher development
in that area. Six universities have now come together to
create a collaboratively offered online course.
Ric Hogerheide, representing the Michigan Education
Association, commented on the recent program passed by the
Michigan Legislature to support nursing scholarships with
tobacco settlement money. "They have created an interest free
loan program for nurses. Any discussion about doing something
like that for special education teachers and professionals?
When I went to school there were incentives to become a
teacher and those are not there now."
Another SEAC member asked, "If there is a shortage of
teachers, OT's, and PT's, for example, is there a means of
helping those with some training get endorsements?" Larson
responded that Wayne State had developed a creative program to
help people who are already in the field get into a program
where they can earn a master's degree.
Larson was asked whether the IHE's are focusing on how to
better educate general education and special education
teachers to work together. He responded, "That directive comes
to us from the federal level Our special ed group in the past
couple of years has included more general ed educators. Our
group is meeting next month with the reading forum. All of our
reading programs that are teacher preparation sites are being
asked to change their programs so that they are aligned with
the federal focus. But, there is some concern that the
Paige/President Bush focus is a little narrow - that the focus
on teacher director and rote work is good, but a little
narrow."
Ex-Officio member, Roseann Renauer , representing Michigan
Rehabilitation Services, now a Division within the Michigan
Department of Career Development, noted that her office works
with individuals, including students, to help them secure
jobs. She commented, "I am personally working with transition
issues and we are very invested and interested in IDEA
reauthorization issues as they relate to transition."
General questions were raised from the floor regarding
staffing losses within the Office of Special Education and
Early Intervention Services. One member wanted to know, "who
is the new Frank Rowell? (the OSE/EIS webmaster who recently
retired). Thompson responded, "We don't have a new Frank
Rowell. Part of the early retirement plan was that we were not
allowed to replace people. We now have a staffer from one of
our grantees helping us on one day a week."
She was asked about losses from the compliance and monitoring
division. "We are only losing one staff, Joe Gomez, from
compliance. We are meeting as a team to determine how we can
meet our staffing needs. We are going to be doing some
temporary staffing reorganization. As you know, Ted Beck
retired and Karen Rockhold is now the new temporary director
of Quality Assurance. Carol Regnier, Supervisor of Finance
and Program Management, is retiring in November and Hugh
Reid left us to go to the U.S. Department of Education to
work on special education monitoring at the federal level.
As of the end of this month I will have 10 people retire in
addition to Hugh leaving."
The discussion then turned to priority setting for the
upcoming year. During the June SEAC meeting, last year's
members listed priorities for the upcoming year. That list
included the following, sorted into proposed areas for the
three standing SEAC committees to take up during the current
year:
Potential Priorities
(As recommended in June 2002)
sorted for subcommittee work beginning October 2002
OPERATIONS COMMITTEE
» Communication from SEAC
» Operations: How to do work of
operations and meet task of committees
» Review membership to determine how
to involve General Education and student representation
» Other?
POLICY COMMITTEE
» Review of new procedures
associated with implementation of new administrative rules
» Initial development of new rule
language/concepts for targeted areas: ISD Plan, autism,
deaf-blind, transition coordinator, etc. (Note: If "language"
this could go to the Policy Committee. If "concepts" this
could go to the SIP Committee.)
» PAC practices (partnerships, info
dissemination role/responsibility, and relationship with ISD).
Guidance, practices-collaborative/?relationships
» Revisit qualifications for
learning disabilities
SIP (State Improvement Plan) COMMITTEE
» Initial development of new
rule language/concepts for targeted areas: ISD Plan, autism,
deaf-blind, transition coordinator, etc. (Note: If "language"
this could go to the Policy Committee. If "concepts" this
could go to the SIP Committee.)
» Maze decoding chart-Fed-MI-Local
regs in 7-11 language
»
Accommodations/adaptations/modifications -what,how,who (Gen Ed
need Sp.Ed. Role)
» 504 Supports
» Initiatives radar screen - what
they are, where they're at, how they fit together
» Over representation of males and
minorities in Special Ed
INFORMATIONAL TOPICS SUGGESTED BY SEAC MEMBERSHIP
AS-A-WHOLE FOR FUTURE PRESENTATIONS:
School Finance
Access to the general curriculum
Low incidence handicaps - Fetal Alcohol
Results and student outcomes as a result of previous and
ongoing grants/projects
ESEA
SEAC Chair Krishnan asked for additional suggestions/comments
from the floor and several were made including:
» Universities are closing programs.
"When we have concerns over school violence and teaching
positive behavior support strategies, we face the closing of
school psychologist programs at the university level because
the departments are dominated by the clinical psychologists."
» A need to be aware of the
political environment. "We will have a new governor, maybe a
change at the US level, new legislature. We need to determine
how we can best manage that impact that so that changes do not
hurt our children."
» "A need to align what we are doing
in terms of Superintendent Tom Watkins' request that we help
craft a cohesive policy."
» "There is going to be money
available under NCLB to reimburse tuition and training costs
as well as out-of-pocket expenditures by teachers, but we need
to get the word out to special ed personnel on how to access
those resources. That information isn't available yet."
» "It's time for general ed to
become more like special ed - to be more individual focused."
SEAC 2002-2003 Delegates (* designates a parent of a child
with a disability or a person with a disability)
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Shari Krishnan - Chair - Member-At-Large/ Parent*
Kathleen Clegg - Member-At-Large/ Director of Special
Education - Lapeer ISD
Pam Mish - Representing the Michigan Association of
Administrators of Special Education*
Ginny Palubin - Representing the Michigan Federation of
Teachers & School Related Personnel
Randall VanGasse - Representing the Michigan Association of
School Administrators*
Steve Wessels - Representing the MI Assn of Teachers of
Emotionally Disturbed Children*
Other SEAC Delegates
Patt Clement - The Arc Michigan*
Pansy Coleman - Member-at-Large/Parent*
Cheryl Ervin - Member-at-Large
Janice Fialka - Member-at-Large/Parent*
Ric Hogerheide - Michigan Education Association
Nancy Jackson - Michigan Association for Children with
Emotional Disorders*
Jill Jacobs - Michigan Association of Nonpublic Schools*
Patricia Keller - Citizens Alliance to Uphold Special
Education*
Brenda Kotsis - Member-at-Large*
Jim Jubaiko -Michigan Association of Public School Academies*
Peggy McNeilly - Michigan Transition Services Association*
Bob Opsommer - Autism Society of Michigan*
Sue Rabidoux - Michigan Speech-Language-Hearing Association
Debs Roush - Member-at-Large/CHADD*
Deb Russell - Michigan Association of School Boards*
Steve Schwartz - MI Association of School Psychologists
Larry Simpson - Member-at-Large/Student Support Services -
Flint Community Schools
Deborah Smith - Special Education Supervisors of Michigan*
Donald Spencer - Michigan Association of Intermediate School
Administrators*
Don Trapp - Michigan Association of Intermediate Special
Education Administrators*
Laurie VanderPloeg - Council for Exceptional Children*
Collette Ward - Statewide Parent Advisory Committee*
Herb Yamanishi - Learning Disabilities Association of
Michigan*
SEAC Alternate Delegates
Gloria Anderson - Michigan Speech-Language-Hearing
Association
Lynn Boza - Michigan Department of Career
Development/Rehabilitation Services
John Bretschneider - Michigan Association of Administrators of
Special Education
Nels Bullock - Council for Exceptional Children
Phyllis Cox Rebori - Michigan Transition Services Association
Sam Davis - Michigan Association for Children with Emotional
Disorders
Glenda Hammond - Learning Disabilities Association of Michigan
Lynda Jackson - Michigan Association of School Boards
Kathy Johnson - Autism Society of Michigan
Marge Joslin - Michigan Assn of Intermediate Special Education
Administrators
Linda Keway - Michigan Education Association
Paul Kubicek - MI Assn of Teachers of Emotionally Disturbed
Children/ MALDE
Christine Lerchen - The Arc Michigan*
Lois Lofton Doniver - Michigan Federation of Teachers & School
Related Personnel
Patricia MacQuarrie - Michigan Association of School
Administrators
Barbara Stork - Michigan Association of Nonpublic Schools
Lynne Tamor - Statewide Parent Advisory Committee
Brian Wilmot - Special Education Supervisors of Michigan
Martha Wilson - Citizens Alliance to Uphold Special Education*
Jon Wurdock - Michigan Association of School Social Workers
TENTATIVE SEAC SUB-COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS
SIP - (State Improvement Plan)
Randy VanGasse
Jill Jacobs
Deb Russell
Patt Clement
Debs Roush
Ric Hogerheide
Larry Simpson
Jim Jubaiko
Laurie VanderPloeg
Shari Krishnan
Deb Smith
Pam Mish
OPERATIONS
Cheryl Ervin
Nancy Jackson
Pat Keller
Bob Opsommer
Don Spencer
Kathy Clegg
Ginny Palubin
POLICY
Don Trapp
Pansy Coleman
Janice Fialka
Herb Yamanishi
Steve Schwartz
Brenda Kotsis
Sue Robidoux
Steve Wessels
Colette Ward
Peggy McNeilly
To comment on this article, contact Deborah Canja at
deb@bridges4kids.org.
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