PLANNING AND ADMINISTRATION POLICY AREA 110 110 Program Evaluation The local educational agency should establish policies for conducting an • Questions to be answered concerning program effectiveness (based on Data required to provide answers to questions. Methods of obtaining data. • Person(s) responsible for conducting the evaluation. • Criteria for determining success. • Presentation of findings. 11 POLICY DEVELOPMENT GUIDELINES P.L. 94-482 requires that the state be responsible during the 5 year period of the state plan for evaluating in quantitative terms the effectiveness of each formally organized program or project supported by federal, state, and local funds. A specific requirement is the evaluation of vocational education provided for handicapped persons. In developing an evaluation plan, the local educational agency should consider the federal criteria for evaluating programs but should not be limited by these criteria. The plan should address the needs for evaluation that are of concern locally. Evaluation Requirements of P.L. 94-482 The regulations of P.L. 94-482 specify that program evaluations shall be in terms of: Effectiveness of planning and operational processes, such as: • Quality and availability of instructional offerings. • Guidance, counseling, and placement and followup services. • Capacity and conditions of facilities and equipment. • Employer participation in cooperative programs of vocational education. • Teacher/pupil ratios. • Teacher qualifications. Results of student achievement as measured, for example, by: Standard occupational proficiency measures. • Criterion referenced tests. • Other examinations of students' skills, knowledge, attitudes, and readiness for entering employment. Results of student employment success as méasured, for example, by: • Rates of employment and unemployment. • Wage rates. ⚫ Duration of employment. • Employer satisfaction with performance of vocational education students as compared with performance of persons who have not had vocational education. • Assessment of employee satisfaction with the job (not required by P.L. 94-482). Use of Findings Information obtained during the evaluation should be used to compare program performance and outcomes with program intent in order to identify areas that should be changed or terminated. The findings may serve to determine alterations in program design, changes in program operation, or termination of program components. 200 Definitions of Handicapped Students 201 Processes for Determining Handicapped Population 202 Publicizing Availability of Vocational Education for Handicapped Students 203 Notification to Out-of-School Handicapped Youth of Availability of Vocational Education 204 Referrals to Vocational Education 205 Referral to Vocational Rehabilitation Services POLICY AREA 200 Definitions of Handicapped Students The local educational agency should have written definitions concerning 200.1 POLICY DEVELOPMENT GUIDELINES In developing a definitions policy, the following questions should be considered: • What definitions are presently being used by the local educational agency? Are they in writing? • What definitions has the state educational agency adopted? • Do current local educational agency definitions meet state requirements? • Do local educational agency definitions meet federal requirements? Definitions implementing federal statutes are presented here as a guide for policy development. It should be noted that the definition contained in P.L. 93-112, Section 504, is an access definition defining a broader population of handicapped persons. There may be persons covered by Section 504 regulations who are not covered under P.L. 94-482 and P.L. 94-142. These two laws limit the handicapped population to students who need special education. In addition, P.L. 94-482 specifies that those students who are identified as requiring special education must be unable to succeed in the regular vocational education program without special educational assistance or must require a modified program. Thus, a student who is receiving special education but can function in a regular vocational education program without specially designed instruction is not considered handicapped in terms of vocational education. The definition of special education (refer to Definition of Terms) is particularly important since a student is not handicapped unless he or she needs special education. The definition of related services (see Definition of Terms) also depends on this definition, since a related service must be necessary for a student to benefit from special education. Therefore, if a student does not need special education, there can be no related services, and the student is not considered handicapped under P.L. 94-142. The definitions that follow are from the Federal Register (May 4, 1977; August 23, 1977; October 3, 1977). P.L. 94-482 Definition "Handicapped" means a person who is mentally retarded; hard of hearing; deaf; speech impaired; visually handicapped; seriously emotionally disturbed; orthopedically impaired; or other health impaired person, or persons with specific learning disabilities; and who by reason of the above: IDENTIFICATION OF STUDENTS 15 • Requires special education and related services, and • Cannot succeed in the regular vocational education program without special educational assistance; or • Requires a modified vocational education program. P.L. 94-142 Definition "Handicapped children" means those children evaluated as being mentally retarded, hard of hearing, deaf, speech impaired, visually handicapped, seriously emotionally disturbed, orthopedically impaired, other health impaired, deaf-blind, multihandicapped, or as having specific learning disabilities, who because of those impairments need special education and related services. The terms used in this definition are defined as follows: • "Deaf" means a hearing impairment which is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification, which adversely affects educational performance. • "Deaf-blind" means concomitant hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational problems that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for deaf or blind children. "Hard of hearing" means a hearing impairment, whether permanent or fluctuating, which adversely affects a child's educational performance but which is not included under the definition of "deaf" in this section. • "Mentally retarded" means significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period, which adversely affects a child's educational performance. • "Multihandicapped" means concomitant impairments (such as mentally retarded-blind, mentally retarded-orthopedically impaired, etc.), the combination of which caused such severe educational problems that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for one of the impairments. The term does not include deaf-blind children. "Orthopedically impaired" means a severe orthopedic impairment which adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term includes impairments caused by congenital anomaly (e.g., clubfoot, absence of some member, etc.) impairments caused by disease (e.g., poliomyelitis, bone tuberculosis, etc.) and impairments from other causes (e.g., cerebral palsy, amputations, and fractures or burns which cause contractures). "Other health impaired" means limited strength, vitality or alertness, due to chronic or acute health problems such as a heart condition, tuberculosis, rheumatic fever, nephritis, asthma, sickle cell anemia, hemophilia, epilepsy, lead poisoning, leukemia, or diabetes, which adversely affects a child's educational performance. • "Seriously emotionally disturbed" means a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree, which adversely affects educational performance: |