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NHDOE Special Education Program Approval & Improvement Process

A Powerful Way to Use Data
 "Deep beliefs and assumptions can change as experience changes, and when this happens culture changes. The carrier of culture is, as author Daniel Quinn says, the story we tell ourselves over and over again. As we gradually see and experience the work anew, we start to tell a new story." The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook


The New Hampshire Department of Education (NHDOE) is responsible for assessing the impact and effectiveness of state and local efforts to provide a "Free Appropriate Public Education" (FAPE) to children and youth with disabilities, ages 3-21. Over more than 20 years, the NHDOE has contracted with SERESC to work with families, students, educators and communities of New Hampshire to shape its special education program approval work in a way that drives and supports results for children and youth with disabilities.

Focused Monitoring

The New Hampshire Department of Education’s Bureau of Special Education has launched a new model of special education monitoring, piloted with 3 NH school districts in 2006-07 and now in full use for the 2007- 2008 school year. The Focused Monitoring process replaces the state’s cyclical review of all NH school districts with a data driven process that selects districts for monitoring through an annual review of data in one or more key areas.

Case Study Compliance Review

The core Case Study Compliance Review is required of all private special education schools at the time of their cyclical NHDOE Special Education Program Approval. The Case Study Compliance Review involves teams of general and special educators, parents, students, administrators and school board members working together to assess the work of the school and review related outcomes for students with educational disabilities. The NHDOE Special Education Program Approval and Improvement Process is designed to result in improvement planning that addresses issues of non-compliance in addition to identifying goals, activities, and timelines for continuous improvement.