State Knowledge Utilization Strategies: Washington

The ability to significantly increase and sustain gains in early literacy for students with disabilities and a desire to bridge the gap between compliance and results-driven accountability (RDA) led Washington State to innovate a solution. This state spotlight will focus on Washington’s improvement strategy to address this early literacy challenge using the state’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) Special Education Consistency Index (SECI). The foundation of the SECI is to measure whether certain requirements—namely, student evaluation, quality of Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), and the special education services provided—correlate to improved student outcomes. This SECI data allows schools to measure the degree to which compliance with IDEA requirements for evaluation, IEP development, and service provisions is attained and how it relates to student achievement. It is based on the hypothesis that greater compliance with the requirements most closely related to educational results will lead to improved outcomes.

August 2019