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Special Education

Special Education State Performance Plan (SPP)/Annual Performance Report (APR)

State Performance Plan (SPP) Indicator 8: Parent Involvement

General Information about SPP Indicator 8

SPP Indicator 8 - Parent Involvement Percent of parents with a child receiving special education services who report that schools facilitated parent involvement as a means of improving services and results for children with disabilities.Ìý

General Information on the SPP/APR can be found on the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education'sÌý.

The New York State Education Department'sÌýSPP/APR Stakeholder Engagement WebsiteÌýprovides information regarding Indicator 8, including a descriptive handout explaining the measurement and current strategies to increase parent involvement.

SPP Indicator 8ÌýResources for Families and School Districts

SPP Indicator 8 Flyer for Families - Updated August 2025

SPP Indicator 8 Fact Sheet for School Districts - Updated August 2025

The SPP Indicator 8 Survey questions can be viewed below for informational purposes.

SPP Indicator 8 Survey Questions
  1. Written information I receive is provided to me in an understandable way.
  2. School staff help me to understand the rules in the federal law that protect the rights of parents (the Procedural Safeguards).
  3. The school offers different ways to communicate with school staff.
  4. My child’s school is willing to work with me when scheduling meetings.
  5. School staff ask me about my child’s needs.
  6. I have been asked to share my opinion about how well special education services are meeting my child’s needs.
  7. The school communicates regularly with me regarding my child’s progress on individualized education program (IEP) goals and other important issues.
  8. School staff encourage me and/or my child to participate in decision making at meetings.
  9. School staff help me play an active role in my child’s education.
  10. The school sends me information related to special education, such as trainings for parents and activities for families.
  11. School staff explain what options I have if I disagree with a decision of the school.
  12. School staff set a positive and welcoming tone in the school.
  13. School staff respect the unique characteristics of my family.

Information on Survey and Data Submission

The New York State Education Department (С槼ºÖ±²¥) uses a modified version of a parent survey developed by the National Center for Special Education Accountability Measures (NCSEAM) to collect data for Indicator 8.Ìý Thirteen (13) items from NCSEAM’s Parent Survey – Part B have been selected based on the rules established for item selection to ensure reliability and validity of the use of the survey.Ìý

Each year, one-sixth of the school districts in New York State plus the New York City Public Schools are selected to report data on Indicator 8. School districts are responsible to provide the parent survey to a sample of parents of students for whom their school district has IEP responsibility (i.e., parents of students who are provided special education services in district-operated programs or under contract with other service providers).ÌýParents of both preschool and school age students must be surveyed.Ìý ÌýAll school districts have a choice of reporting data on all eligible students for this indicator or they may submit data on a randomly selected sample of minimum number of students using the sampling guidelines provided by С槼ºÖ±²¥.ÌýSchools are encouraged to over sample to ensure statistically sound response rates.

С槼ºÖ±²¥ has a contract with theÌý(PIAR) at SUNY Potsdam to administer the Parent Survey.Ìý Surveys are collected only for school districts scheduled to report on Indicator 8 in a given year. The school district must provide the parents of students with disabilities with an authorized copy of the survey along with directions on how to complete and submit the survey. School districts are directed to employ a variety of methods to encourage parents to complete the survey. The surveys may be distributed between September 1 and August 31 of the year in which a school district is required to report on Indicator 8. Surveys must be postmarked by August 31 of the reporting year. Authorized copies of the Parent Survey are available only through PIAR. The surveys are printed in a scannable format in English and in Spanish, and by request in twelve other languages. The school district may also instruct the parent to complete the survey online, providing the identifying code of the school building and school district codes.ÌýA parent’s individual responses are confidential.ÌýWhether submitted electronically or in hard copy, the surveys are forwarded directly to PIAR, not to the school district, for processing to ensure confidentiality.ÌýSchool districts should not photocopy the surveys for dissemination and should only use the official scannable parent surveys provided by PIAR.

°Õ³ó±ðÌýprovides information for school districts, includingÌý Frequently Asked Questions, the link to order survey forms and check submission status; and the link to the online survey form or parents.ÌýIf you experience technical difficulties with the PIAR web site or with any of the online surveys, please contact PIAR at SUNY Potsdam directly at 888-419-2698 (toll free) or 315-267-3466 or send an e-mail toÌýparentsurvey@potsdam.edu(link sends e-mail).

Tools for Data Collection and Submission

Sample LetterÌýto Parents from District