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Date Message Sent Subject Sent By
1/10/2013  [RIDE] - IMPORTANT - Memo from the Office of Student, Community, and Academic Supports  Deanna Raphael-State 
Good afternoon, Please see the following memo from the Office of Student, Community and Academic Supports. -Deanna DATE: January 10, 2013 TO: Directors of Special Education and District Data Managers FROM: J. David Sienko, Director Office of Student, Community and Academic Supports SUBJECT: Districts asked to update by January 25thth in Student Contact File: Data for students with disabilities: Home address and parents’ primary language (for printed material) We are preparing to conduct the annual Special Education Statewide Parent Survey, entitled the School Efforts to Partner with Parents Scale (SEPPS). This is a federally mandated activity of our State Performance Plan, Indicator 8 (Parent Involvement). The SEPPS measures and publicly reports the “percentage of parents who report that schools facilitate parent involvement as a means of improving services and results for children with disabilities.” Each year, approximately 25,000 parents of Rhode Island children aged three through graduation or age 21 whose children have an Individualized Education Program (IEP) receive the Special Education Statewide Parent Survey in their mailbox. This year’s survey represents the 7th annual administration of this measure. Maximizing parent participation is critical to ensuring that school departments and RIDE obtain fair, balanced, and useful feedback from the approximately Rhode Island families whose children receive special education services within our public education system; that parents’ voices are heard; and that we meet compliance targets. Here is where we need your assistance: RIDE contracts with a survey vendor who administers the direct mailing of the survey. Each student’s home address and parent’s primary language for printed material is utilized for this mailing. This information is extracted directly from the Enrollment Census Collection and cross-referenced with the Special Education Census to confirm that the student has an IEP. RIDE transmits this data to our survey vendor to enable the survey distribution through direct mailing to the home in the parent’s language used for printed material. At this time, we respectfully request that district personnel be sure that student address and parents’ primary language information is up-to-date in your Student Contact File. Data managers will be required to submit the Student Contact file via the Enrollment Census by close of business on Friday, January 25th. The Commissioner has also sent this notice to Superintendents. Principals and district data managers will also be notified. Your assistance is appreciated.