MONTGOMERY COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Superintendent’s Spring Forum on Special Education
April 16, 2012
KEY FACTS
 MCPS serves nearly 17,500 students with disabilities representing, 11.9 percent of the student
population
 MCPS serves the largest number of students ages 3–5 with disabilities in Maryland, totaling 2,482
 MCPS serves the largest number of students with autism in Maryland, totaling 1,727
Percentage of Special Education Population by Disability
2011-2012*
35.0%
5,601
30.0%
25.0%
20.0%
2,948
2,814
2,392
15.0%
1,727
10.0%
5.0%
649
631
159 106
53
62
0.0%
276
**
24
*Official MSDE Census Data: 2011-2012 is preliminary data.
**Data suppressed due to insufficient cell size.
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MCPS has achieved the Least Restrictive Environment target for students with disabilities ages 6–21
for the past six years
o 67.6 percent of students with disabilities ages 6–21 are served inside the general education
classroom 80 percent or more of the time
o 39.9 percent of prekindergarten students with disabilities ages 3–5 are served in a regular
early childhood program at least 80 percent or more of the time
MCPS has not met the Adequate Yearly Progress target, but continues to perform above the state
average on the Maryland School Assessments
IMPORTANT TERMS
 Least Restrictive Environment defines the percentage of time students with disabilities are removed
from the general education environment
PARENT OUTREACH SERVICES
 The Special Education Advisory Committee works directly with families and the Office of Special
Education and Student Services (OSESS) to advise and address matters regarding the implementation
of special education services
 The Department of Student Services’ pupil personnel workers and the Department of Family and
Community Partnerships (DFCP) provide parents with support during Individualized Education
Program meetings. The Department of Special Education and DFCP provide community information
sessions on various topics regarding the special education process and services
 The OSESS Parent Outreach Committee is designed to systematically develop processes to gather
parent feedback as a way to improve services and implement professional development related to
working with families for staff members
STUDENT PERFORMANCE
 While a gap remains between the performance of MCPS students with disabilities and all MCPS
students on the Maryland School Assessments, from 2003–2011 greater gains were made by students
with disabilities in the percent performing at proficient or advanced than all students
o Grade 3 reading and mathematics: The increase in students with disabilities performing at
proficient or advanced in reading went from 30.3 percent to 69.4 percent; the increase in
mathematics from 45.8 percent to 63.8 percent
o Grade 5 reading and mathematics: The increase in students with disabilities performing at
proficient or advanced in reading went from 46.9 percent to 77.3 percent; the increase in
mathematics from 31.0 percent to 64.5 percent
o Grade 8 reading and math: The increase in students with disabilities performing at proficient or
advanced in reading went from 34.5 percent to 69.2 percent; the increase in mathematics from
20.8 percent to 39.2 percent
 The four-year 2011 adjusted cohort graduation rate for students with disabilities was 62.5 percent
 The 2011 lever graduation rate used by the Maryland State Department of Education in previous
years was 84.2 percent
CHALLENGES
National Issues
Common Core State Standards
and College/ Partnership for
Assessment of Readiness of
College and Careers (PARCC)
Disproportionality
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Graduation Requirements
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Implications for MCPS
Ensuring students with disabilities gain meaningful access to the
curriculum and demonstrate improved performance outcomes on the
PARCC assessments
Offering an array of courses that provide students with disabilities
opportunities to prepare for careers
Ensuring MCPS implements strategies to decrease and eliminate the
disproportionate representation of African American students identified
with the code of Emotional Disabilities
Diploma-bound special education students are expected to complete all high
school course requirements within four years in order to meet the
requirements of the cohort model for calculating the graduation rate
Students who receive a certificate of completion are included in the formula
even though they do not receive a diploma
On the Horizon
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Pending partnership with MSDE and Kennedy Kreiger to build capacity of staff to serve students with
autism
Expand Bright Futures, a program that provides direct transition services to middle school students
to explore interests and prepare for high school transition services
Expand inclusive opportunities for prekindergarten special education students
Enhance transition services