OTHER DISABILITIES

OTHER DISABILITIESA study funded by the Chancellors Office, awarded to The Galvin GroupApril, 20111Who cares and why??Other Disabilities category has grown to 1/3 of all reported disabilitiesMore accurate accounting is neededNew Coordinators may need trainingNew Disability categories may be neededHow do we represent our needs to the legislature without knowing who we serve?

2The RFP posed 6 questions:What different impairments, by number and percent, are being reported in the Other Disabilities?

How are students disabilities reported under the Other Disabilities being documented and verified by the DSPS program?

3How many students, by number and percent, are originally reported under the Other Disabilities and eventually moved to another disability reporting category?

At what point in the students educational plan and in the reporting cycle are students who are being temporarily reported in this category moved to a different reporting category?

4How many colleges, within their existing MIS systems, are internally coding students reported to the state under Other Disabilities as having a more specific disability type?

What are the average costs of each of the various disabilities reported under Other Disabilities?

5What motivates a DSPS staff to use Other?

6The project planned 6 activities:Online survey of 115 colleges and centers for information on students served in the Other Disabilities category.

Partnering with a minimum of 20 colleges for comprehensive review of student files for those designated in the Other Disabilities MIS data reporting category. 7One-on-one interviews with a minimum of 30 colleges regarding the Other Disabilities category are underway. Town Hall meeting at CAPED 2011 has been scheduled for October 18, 2011.

8Partnering with a minimum of 8 colleges in order to conduct a comprehensive data and cost analysis of serving students designated in the Other Disabilities MIS data reporting category.

Thorough review of all pertinent literature, laws and regulations regarding Weighted Student Counts. 9Plans for Year Two of the StudyTo be conducted October 1, 2011 through March 31, 201210Activity One: File review6066 files were reviewedData now being analyzed

11Activity Two: Longitudinal Study8 colleges and 2633 student records from 2009-10 to be analyzed

12Activity Three: Costs of service deliverySurvey of costs of delivering DSPS services Data combined with results from activities 1 and 2 to develop profiles of service usage by cohort

13Activity Four: One-on-one interviewsInterviews with DSPS staff to tease out issues arising from survey and data collection11 814Activity Five: The Final ReportStudy completedresults publishedchanges ahead

15Some Context to Get Started16Some Context to Get Started, continued111 out of 115 colleges responded

Mean % in Other = 31.5%

Median % in Other = 32%

Range: 1.05% to 65.5%

Standard deviation = 12.5%

Standard Error = 1.2%

Variance = 1.5%17Who determines if a student should be included in the Other Disabilities category?18Who determines disability category, continued19Who determines disability category, continued20Initial ObservationsSignificantly less in Other Disabilities category with 2 or fewer Determiners

Size of College not a factor

Need for consistency and standardization

Need for training and comprehensive guidance21What types of disabling conditions has your college served under Other?22Disabling Conditions in Other: please specify*Alcohol/Substance AbuseAnxietyArthritisAsthmaBack InjuryCerebral PalsyChronic FatigueFibromyalgiaHepatitisHigh Risk PregnancyHypertensionHypoglycemiaIQ gapKidney DiseaseLiver Disease

LD K-12 documentation/not sufficient for the / LD model LupusLyme DiseaseMental Retardation w/o cognitive scoresMultiple SclerosisMyelopathyPulmonary DiseaseRare Genetic DisordersScotopic VisionSeizure DisorderSpeech DisordersAnything not otherwise covered

23Initial ObservationsThe extent of medical knowledge needed to appropriately assess the educational limitations of a population with this variety of medical conditions is vast and complex.

Aspergers Syndrome is included in the commonly held definition of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Once again, the responses point toward a need for standardization in category definitions, guidelines and training on categorization of disabling conditions.

24What sources of documentation are used to determine eligibility for Other category?*Other Responses Licensed Marriage/Family TherapistAgency History Reference 25What category does your college use to classify Autism Spectrum Disorder?26What category does your college use to classify Asperger's Syndrome?27Initial ObservationsAutism is under Psychological conditions - Citation DSM-IV Aspergers Syndrome is under Autism

Potential conflict colleges face correct placement vs. money?

ADD/ADHD same issue

28Where do you initially place students whomay be LD but have not completed the LDESM process?29

Initial ObservationsDisparity of service and consistency across colleges for service provision

30How would you describe your college demographic Urban/Suburban/Rural?31What is your current DSPS staffing?32In terms of obtaining timely referrals and documentation how would you rate your colleges outside relationships?33In terms of obtaining timely referrals and documentation, how would you rate your colleges outside relationships?34

Initial ObservationsDoes not appear to be a significant variable

35What is your most common practice and/or procedure for serving students while awaiting documentation?36Common Practice while awaiting documentation, continued37Initial ObservationsDisparity across colleges and potential inequities exist across the state

The slippery slope of provisional services38What are your main reasons for using the Other Disabilities MIS reporting category?39Other ResponsesOther categories are not inclusiveWe have no LD Specialist to do testing presentlyDocumentation is insufficient, nonspecific, incompleteVagueness of records: clearly indicates a disability but not a diagnosisWe have a list of disabilities and use this as a specific category at this timeWhen the verified disability does not match the criteria of the other categoriesStudents in this category have obvious learning issues that require accommodationsThey may not meet LD eligibility criteria, but have a history of services, a disability and functional limitationsSometimes there are disabilities and educational limitations that simply do not fit into the specific categories

40Initial ObservationsInterviews validate inconsistency in use of Other

Inconsistences between and within colleges41Please share any other comments, thoughts or concerns that you have related to the Other Disabilities category 42ThoughtsWe need to fix Other. It should not be a catch all. We should create new categories for data tracking purposes. Psych should be fixed. It is our second most expensive category.

Vs.

We are pretty comfortable with the use of this category, though it makes sense to provide separate categories for Autism spectrum, ADD/ADHD, and general health limitations.

43File Review Preview6169 Records Sampled44