Resolved, That a contract for $150,000 be awarded to WestEd to conduct an external review of special education services...However, the Final Report (shown below) that is being presented to the Board of Education presents survey data that is unreliable due to the abysmally low response rates from parents, students and teachers. Even the Final Report notes on page 8 that caution must be used when reviewing the survey data due to the low response rate. There is substantial risk of error in relying on these survey results.
http://www.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/9QLBA76CF1C0/$file/Award%20Cont%20Spec%20Ed%20Proc%20Servcs.pdf
How is it that the Board of Education could only get 9% of their own teachers to complete this important survey? Is the Board of Education going to be making policy decisions based on survey results that barely scratched the surface of parents, students and teachers that are part of the MCPS special education landscape?
What is the public getting for this $150,000?
From the Final Report:
Another limitation is the low survey response rates from parents and most school staff. Although numerous strategies were attempted over an extended period of time, the parent response rate of 10 percent was very low ... caution must be exercised when interpreting survey results. [Page 8]Parent response rate - 10%
Student response rate - 3%
Teacher response rate - 9%
When MCPS minimizes the conclusions of this study, the real problems with this system will not gain the appropriate focus. Where there is smoke, there is fire!
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