The Evaluation of States Monitoring and Improvement Practices

The evaluation of states' monitoring and improvement practices under IDEA will:

• describe the strengths and weaknesses of current state monitoring activities;
• provide the basis for making recommendations for system improvements and targeting technical assistance; and
• examine the relationship between monitoring system quality and observed improvements in compliance with IDEA and outcomes for children with disabilities.

It will not evaluate states' compliance with the requirements of IDEA.

The evaluation is being implemented in three phases. During the first phase, a mail survey was used to gain a general understanding of states' monitoring and improvement systems for Parts B and C of IDEA. During the second phase, site visits will be conducted with a systematic random sample of 20 states to gather in-depth information on the quality of both their Part B and Part C monitoring systems. During the third and final phase, the relationship between the quality of states' monitoring systems and improvements in their compliance with Parts B and C of IDEA as well as outcomes for children with disabilities and their families will be examined.