Welcome The Justification Forms webinar will begin in

Welcome! • The Justification Forms webinar will begin in a few moments. • The webinar will be recorded and posted on the Catamaran Training Website under Past Events (https: //training. catamaran. partners/pastevents/) • The Power. Point presentation materials will also be posted and available for download on the Catamaran Training Website (https: //training. catamaran. partners) • To communicate with the presenters during the webinar, please use the Chat feature. • Closed captioning is available for this webinar. To select this option, click the closed caption icon on your webinar player. Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

January 2020 Justification Forms Training Webinar For Districts and ISDs Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

Meet the Team • Office of Special Education (OSE) • Marcia O’Brien, State Complaint Coordinator • Office of Educational Assessment and Accountability • John Jaquith, Test Development Manager • Antoinette Dorsett, Assessment Consultant for Students with Disabilities • Public Sector Consultants (PSC) • Brooke Wirth, Senior Consultant 3 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

Agenda • About Justification Forms • Justification Forms Activity in Catamaran • Catamaran Navigation Tips • Resources • Questions 4 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

About District and ISD Justification Forms 5 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

What is required on a District Justification Form? • Justification Forms require member districts to demonstrate a thorough review of alternate assessment participation rates when participation rates exceed 1%. Some areas to consider, could include but are not limited to: • Students taking the Functional Independence level assessment. • Alignment between instructional standards taught and assessment selected. • Differences in participation between one building and another, or one staff member’s caseload another. • Eligibility areas not typical for alternate assessments (if known). • Students who consistently perform at “exceeds standards” level. • Member district justification forms must be submitted in Catamaran by February 24, 2020. 6 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

Why is a District Justification Form Available to ISDs? • ISDs operating one or more Center-Based Program(s) will need to complete a District Justification Form. • Please note: If the ISD operates more than one Center-Based Program, the alternate assessment data is averaged in the report – this is the information that will need to be provided in the data portion of the District Justification Form. • The District Justification Form will be available as a link on all ISD menus. • Completion of this form is only required for ISDs with Center-Based Programs. • When applicable, this data will be found in the first row of the 2019 Alternate Assessment Data Report with the ISD listed as the member district name. 7 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

For the 2019 -2020 forms, please note the following: • Many calculations are being done for districts via Catamaran, but member districts must input the raw data. • The professional development section is no longer a checklist. Member districts are required to outline all professional development activities related to alternate assessment participation. • Contributing factors, when they apply, do not change the 1% rule, but provide additional guidance for member districts to think about their data. • A space is provided for other justifications. This is an opportunity for the member district to hypothesize any other factors contributing to participation rates. 8 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

For the 2019 -2020 forms, please note the following (cont. ): • New this year is a requirement to project a participation rate for the 2020 assessment based on current student IEP designations. • A template is provided for member districts to outline their professional development plan to further address participation rates. • Disproportionality must be addressed in this form, only when a member district has been flagged. 9 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

What is required on an ISD Summary Justification Form? • This justification is a review and summary of all constituent member districts within an ISD. • These forms can be worked on at anytime but cannot be submitted until 100% of the member districts have submitted their forms. This is in place to ensure all member district data and justification forms are accounted for and considered. • Some areas to consider, could include but are not limited to: • Students taking the Functional Independence level assessment. • Differences in participation between one district and another. • Differences in participation between grade bands. • Eligibility areas not typical for alternate assessments (if known). • Students who consistently perform at “exceeds standards” level. • Member district participation rate trends. 10 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

New for ISDs this year: • MDE will schedule regional meetings in April 2020 to support the ISDs in the analysis of the member district data in order to provide individualized and targeted feedback to each member district. • MDE will provide direct input and support for member districts who fall within Tier II and Tier III designations as outlined in the waiver request. The waiver is available on the MI-Access website. • The goal of this new approach is for member districts to receive feedback in a timely manner and to provide the opportunity to receive sustained technical assistance from the ISD. 11 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

ISD and District Director Reminders • The Justification Forms activity will be available in Catamaran on Monday, February 3, 2020. • The Justification Forms activity will be completed by ISD directors and district directors in Catamaran. • Data for this activity can be found in tables 1 -3 of the 2019 Alternate Assessment Data Reports. • All district justification forms must be reviewed and accepted before ISD directors can submit the ISD Summary Justification Form. • District Justification Forms only need to be completed by ISDs if they are operating one or more center-based programs. • District Justification Forms are due February 24, 2020. • ISD Summary Justification Forms are due March 23, 2020. 12 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

Justification Forms Activity in Catamaran 13 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

Login https: //catamaran. partners 14 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

Locate the Activity • Once you log in, locate the Justification Forms activity on your Tasks Overview. 15 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

Districts: Complete Data Table • District Directors will review and complete the data table using the 2019 Alternate Assessment Data Reports. • Submit the data table by clicking Complete Data Table. • If any Spring 2019 participation rate is 1. 1 or higher, there will be additional pages to complete. • If all Spring 2019 participation rates are 1. 0 or below, your activity is complete. 16 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

District Justification Form • The District Justification Form consists of 7 pages. If a member district has been flagged for disproportionality, there will be 8 pages. • The number of pages will be auto-loaded for the district. 17 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

District Justification Form (cont. ) • Proceed through the District Justification Form using the Save/Next button or the navigation panel on the left. • When Complete, click Submit to ISD. 18 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

ISD Directors: Review Member District Submissions • ISD Directors must review member district submissions using the Member District Review Tool. • The status of member district submissions can be tracked within the status column. • ISD Directors will see a Review Submission link when a member district form has been submitted and is ready for review. • ISD Directors will see a View link when a member district form has been submitted and accepted. 19 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

ISD Directors: Review Member District Submissions (cont. ) • Utilize the 2019 Alternate Assessment Data Report to assist in reviewing member district submissions. • ISD Directors must review and either: • Accept the district form as submitted. • Return the district form for modifications (comments to the district will be necessary in this case). 20 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

District Directors: What to do with a Returned Submission • Review comments from the ISD Director. • Utilize the 2019 Alternate Assessment Data Report to assist in submitting accurate data. • Proceed through the district justification form as done previously using the Save/Next button. • When completed, click Submit to ISD. • Please note: if a district data table is returned because it is determined that one or more of the Spring 2019 participation rates is above the 1. 0% cap, additional pages will need to be completed. 21 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

ISD Directors: Submit Summary Justification Forms to MDE • Once all member district submissions have been received and accepted, an ISD Summary Justification Form must be submitted. • The ISD Summary Justification Form consists of 3 pages. • Proceed through the form using the Save/Next button. • When complete, click Submit to MDE. 22 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

Guidance on Entering Information • For both the district and ISD forms, summarize the information as best as possible. • Read the How-To Documents in the resources section of the menu for important guidance. • Member districts should contact ISD Directors with any questions about data for the Justification Form. 23 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

Catamaran Navigation Tips 24 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

Feedback Feature • Feature available to offer feedback about Catamaran at any time • Enter contact information • Choose to be contacted about feedback 25 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

Chat Feature • The Help Desk is available by chat during business hours • Click on the Chat icon in the lower right corner of the screen to begin a chat • The issue will still be logged in the Help Desk database (just like a phone call or email) • Help Desk email address and phone number is at the bottom of every Catamaran page. 26 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

Use breadcrumbs to navigate • Use the breadcrumbs menu to navigate in Catamaran • The breadcrumbs are a trail to follow back to a previous location • Clicking on the Catamaran logo will return to the Dashboard 27 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

Resources 28 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

Training Website • Catamaran Training Website (https: //training. catamaran. partners) • All resources organized by topic area • • Monitoring Policy Finance General Catamaran Resources • And audience • District • ISD 29 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

Training Materials • How to Access and Complete a Justification Form for Districts https: //training. catamaran. partners/how-to-access-and-complete-the-justification-form-for-districts/ • How to Access and Complete a Justification Form for ISDs https: //training. catamaran. partners/how-to-access-and-complete-the-justification-form-for-isds/ 30 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

Search Function • Search the entire training website • Enter a key word or phrase and click Search • Narrow the search by choosing a category, if desired 31 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

Training Resource Content • All content will be organized by topic (e. g. Policy) • Then organized by audience (e. g. district directors and ISD directors) 32 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

Events – Under the Resources Tab • Find recordings and presentation materials for past events (including this webinar) • Find upcoming events in the Events Menu 33 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

Questions? 34 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education

Contact Us Catamaran Team MDE-OSE Catamaran Help Desk Teri Chapman 877 -474 -9023 Director help@catamaran. partners chapmant 2@Michigan. gov Kelly Rogers Rebecca Mc. Intyre Project Director Supervisor krogers@publicsectorconsultants. com mcintyrer 1@Michigan. gov Brooke Wirth Marcia O’Brien Senior Consultant State Complaint Coordinator bwirth@publicsectorconsultants. com obrienm 6@Michigan. gov 35 Michigan Department of Education | Office of Special Education