CT Partners With Consulting Group For Special Ed Data System

CONNECTICUT — The Connecticut State Department of Education will be entering into a partnership with the Public Consulting Group to develop a statewide Special Education Data System, to be made available to the local school districts.

The CSDE said the new system will improve the efficiency of the system, servicing Connecticut’s more than 84,000 students with disabilities, their families and educators.

"At the forefront of our commitment to ensuring all students are provided a high quality education is prioritizing equity and access for our most vulnerable students including students with disabilities," said Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona. "The implementation of this system will allow local school districts to redeploy funds toward a streamlined special education data collection process and student based programming needs that were previously used to support an online IEP (Individual Education Program) system. This statewide initiative will reduce the overall reporting burdens on local school districts and schools a necessary resource to better serve students with disabilities and their families. We are excited to partner with PCG and get this extremely important work underway."

The new system includes a parent portal for families to access their student's IEP and other information as well as a language translation feature to ensure that parents receive information in their native language. The new document will also assist planning and placement teams in navigating the special education process. School districts will also have access to additional modules within the system to support Scientific Research Based Interventions Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, Section 504, Gifted and Talented, and Medicaid Reimbursement processes.

"Public Consulting Group is excited to partner with the Connecticut State Department of Education in the development of its new statewide special education data management system," said Grant Blair, director of PCG's Education practice. "Our team is successfully supporting similar efforts in a handful of other states and we look forward to bringing that hands-on experience and lessons learned to Connecticut. We’re thrilled to embark on this project that will ultimately lead to improved student outcomes across the State.”

The 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years will be devoted to standing up and customizing the system to meet Connecticut's needs, according to a news release. This will involve piloting the system with select districts, making necessary adjustments to system functionality and, to the greatest extent possible, migrating historical data. Ensuring a thoughtful and deliberate implementation timeline will allow for extensive system testing, comprehensive end-user training, and provide time for existing school district software contracts to expire in advance of full implementation during the 2022-23 school year, officials said.