1. Improve the academic achievement of students with disabilities and those who are at risk of being identified as eligible for special education;
2. Meet the state and federal requirements for educating students with disabilities; and 
3. Participate in the self-review process for the Ohio Department of Education, Office for Exceptional Children’s special education on-site reviews.

• Develops a Special Education Profile for each district, displaying the district's performance on the indicators included in Ohio’s Annual Performance Report.
• Reports to the public on the performance of each district's special education program. This annual report includes the state’s targets for each indicator and each district’s performance compared to those targets.

• Indicator 1 - Graduation
• Indicator 2 - Dropout
• Indicator 3 - Alternate Assessment
• Indicator 4  -Suspension/Expulsion
• Indicators 9 and 10 - Disproportionality (Identification, Placement, Discipline)
• Indicator 11 - Timely completion of ETRs
• Indicator 12 - Early Childhood Transition
• Indicator 13 - Secondary Transition
• Indicator 14 - Post School Outcomes

SST3 has created a web-based resource to support schools and districts in using best practices for IEPs, ETRs, and systemic improvement related to special education. This website contains five sections that address common special education needs.  Each section breaks down those needs into “mini modules” that districts can use with their staff based on their own data. 

SST3 also offers a three-day series, IEP/ETR Best Practices, using these resources. See our Professional Development Calendar for more information.

Ohio’s Alternate Assessment for Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities (AASCD) is aligned to Ohio’s Learning Standards–Extended (OLS-E) and designed to allow students with significant cognitive disabilities to demonstrate their knowledge and skills in an appropriately rigorous assessment. The AASCD will be administered by grade level. Students in grades 3, 4, 6, and 7 will be assessed in English language arts and mathematics. Students in grades 5 and 8 will be assessed in English language arts, mathematics, and science. Students taking the HS-AASCD will be assessed in English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies.

To guide and support individualized education program (IEP) teams in determining whether a student is most appropriately assessed with an alternate assessment, the Ohio Department of Education, in consultation with parents, teachers, administrators, and other stakeholders, has developed a new Alternate Assessment Participation Decision-Making Tool. 

This narrated Powerpoint presentation is provided to give teams an overview of the new Alternate Assessment Participation Decision-Making Tool and emphasizes the importance of the IEP team’s review of the data in making the decision regarding whether or not a student would participate in the Alternate Assessment.