Indicator 8 is the percentage of parents with a child receiving special education services who report that schools facilitated parent involvement as a means of improving services and results for children with disabilities.
Embedded Files
Terms to Know:
Involvement: Parental involvement and engagement refers to the two-way partnerships between schools and families, where families are involved and meaningfully engaged in their child's education. For students with disabilities, parent engagement includes parents’ capacity to meaningfully participate in the special education process. Parent: For purposes of the Indicator 8 survey, the term “Parent” is defined by the Kentucky Administrative Regulations for Special Education Programs (KARs) in 707 KAR 1:002, Section 1 (43):
Parent means:
(a) A biological or adoptive parent of a child;
(b) A guardian generally authorized to act as the child’s parent or authorized to make educational decisions for the child, but not the state if the child is a ward of the state;
(c) A person acting in the place of a biological or adoptive parent such as a grandparent, stepparent or other relative with whom the child lives or a person who is legally responsible for the child’s welfare;
(d) A foster parent if the biological or adoptive parents’ authority to make educational decisions on the child’s behalf has been extinguished and the foster parent has an ongoing, long-term parental relationship with the child, is willing to make the educational decisions required of parents under 707 KAR Chapter 1 and has no interest that would conflict with the interests of the child;
(e) A foster parent if the biological or adoptive parents grant authority in writing for the foster parent to make educational decisions on the child’s behalf and the foster parent is willing to make educational decisions required of parents under 707 KAR Chapter 1 and has no interest that would conflict with the interests of the child; or
(f) A surrogate parent who has been appointed in accordance with 707 KAR 1:340, Section 6.
School facilitated: School facilitated refers to the specific responsibilities schools have in facilitating family engagement and ensuring families are supported through equitable practices, policies and programs. The IDEA outlines the schools' responsibilities in facilitating meaningful engagement with parents of students with IEPs. For example, the 18 school has specific requirements in facilitating parent involvement in meeting participation, IEP development and informed decision making.
Data Collection:
The OSEEL sends an email to all LEA DoSEs within the state as part of the process to obtain data for Indicator 8. The email contains information about the survey, as well as suggestions on how the DoSE could promote completion of the survey among students’ families. The LEA’s DoSE then facilitates survey completion using the method that best meets the needs of all parents of students with active IEPs within the LEA. The email to DoSE also includes a sample letter to parents explaining the purpose of the survey, as well as a QR code and active link to an electronic survey. Sample parent letters and parent surveys are provided in English, Spanish and Arabic.
Moreover, the OSEEL Parent and Family Engagement Consultant engages in regular meetings with a variety of stakeholder groups, including but not limited to, the Kentucky Collaborative for Families and Schools (KYCFS), the State Advisory Panel for Exceptional Children (SAPEC) and the Kentucky Special Parent Involvement Network (KY-SPIN). Both KY-SPIN and KYCFS regularly hold events to train, support and inform parents. The OSEEL engages with these groups to provide links to the survey and emphasize the importance and impact of the data to encourage participation.
Measurement:
The OSEEL calculates indicator 8 by dividing the number of respondent parents who report schools facilitated parent involvement as a means of improving services and results for children with disabilities by the total number of respondent parents of children with disabilities and converting the result to a percentage.
Additional Data Analysis & Reporting:
In addition to the data analysis completed for every indicator, the OSEEL completes data analysis specific to Indicator 8, analyzing the demographics of survey respondents. The OSEEL disaggregates the survey data by preschool or school-age students, race or ethnicity, LEA, age, gender and disability category.
In addition to the public reporting of all SPP/APR indicator data, DoSEs may contact the Human Development Institute (HDI) at the University of Kentucky for LEA-specific results from all items on the Parent Survey. These reports show both LEA and state figures for each item, supporting LEA's ability to analyze their local data.
Investigative Questions:
To stimulate thinking and discussion among district and school personnel regarding the root causes of Indicator 8 performance, investigative questions may be accessed HERE.
Resources:
Kentucky Special Parent Involvement Network (KY-SPIN)
Kentucky Collaborative for Families and Schools
National Center for Special Education Accountability Monitoring
Parent Survey Strategies-Wisconsin
Strategies to Increase Representativeness for Indicator 8
District Guide to Indicator 8:Annual Parent Engagement Survey PowerPoint
District Guide to Indicator 8:Annual Parent Engagement Survey Video
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