Resource Library

Release Date: May 26, 2022

Guests: Jody Fields, Part B Data Manager, Arkansas Department of Education

In this episode, we throw a spotlight on the implications of both the pandemic and the changes to the SPP/APR for FFY 2020—2025 on Arkansas’s data quality, results, and trends. Jody and Amy discuss how Arkansas mitigated the data challenges it encountered due to the pandemic and SPP/APR changes. Jody also shares the state’s strategy for successfully communicating the changes to the data and the SPP/APR indicators to districts and other stakeholders. 

IDC and the Partner Support Center (PSC) are both available to help states with IDEA Part B 618 data needs. However, each center has a different primary purpose. This resource helps guide states about contacting IDC or PSC when they have Part B 618 data questions or concerns. 

The IDEA Data Center Part B Data System Framework is an overarching structure designed to support SEA staff responsible for working with and responding to IDEA Part B requirements related to the collection, analysis, use, and reporting of high-quality special education data. The framework contains broad concepts and principles that states can tailor to reflect their individual needs and approaches. 

IDC designed these two technical assistance products to be used by state personnel responsible for IDEA 618 and/or 616 data. The products include a step-by-step guide on completing an outlier analysis, with a brief introduction on the principles of outlier analyses, and a tool state staff can use to conduct outlier analyses with their local data. IDEA Part B state staff working with LEAs also can use both products to analyze their local data.

The IDEA Part B Confidentiality Checklist can aid state and local agencies in identifying actions, policies, and procedures needed to meet confidentiality provisions outlined in the IDEA Part B, 20 U.S.C. §1400.

The IDEA Part B Data Manager Competencies tool outlines foundational knowledge and skills necessary for typical data manager roles and responsibilities. The competencies reflect principles for effective management, support, and use of high-quality IDEA Part B data and fall under one of three overarching categories: content knowledge and skills, technical knowledge and skills, and interpersonal skills. 

The purpose of this document is to assist states with the collection of data on children with disabilities served under IDEA who were subject to disciplinary removal. States can use this document to supplement the instructions provided in the EDFacts file specifications for the EDFacts files that are used to report IDEA disciplinary removal data (C005, C006, C007, C088, C143, and C144).