Special Education Services
Compliance Monitoring Reviews
Special Education monitoring activities are comprised of two types of compliance reviews: Focused and Comprehensive Compliance Reviews.
Focused Compliance Reviews
Focused Compliance Reviews may be conducted by staff of the Special Education Compliance Division as a result of any of the following:
- An allegation or reason to believe that a violation of compliance exists based on data from staff responsible for program approval and/or compliance. These "triggers" may arise from within the Special Education Compliance Division, other divisions within ISBE, or from outside agencies or constituency groups. Focused reviews may also result from complaint investigations.
- Statewide issues as determined by a data analysis of all districts/joint agreements within the state that rank ordered them in terms of identified statewide issues, e.g., over-identification of children with disabilities, least restrictive environment and ethnicity. Those districts with significant discrepancies will be subject to review.
- Deficiencies in compliance identified in previous years and noted again in the current year.
Comprehensive Compliance Reviews
Comprehensive Compliance Reviews are monitoring visits designed to examine compliance with all applicable state and federal requirements. The Comprehensive reviews are conducted on a periodic, cyclical basis, with each joint agreement and single member district reviewed every six years. The reviews consist of both on-site and pre-site procedures. Procedures for on-site investigation include student file reviews, staff interviews, and the use of peer monitors. Pre-site investigation procedures include a review of the compliance data bank (a systematic collection and review of compliance data), data analysis (identification of data sources and analysis to be performed), and parent surveys.
For further information, please contact Special Education Services at 217/782-5589.
