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A. State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report (SPP/APR)
Authority: The requirements for the State performance plan and annual performance report are found in the regulations at 34 CFR §§300.601 and 300.602(b)(2).

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Question A-1: Are States required to report their determinations (meets requirements, needs assistance, needs intervention, or needs substantial intervention) of each LEA’s performance in their APRs submitted to OSEP?

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Answer: No. A State is not required to report in the State’s APR the determinations the State made about each LEA.

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Question A-2: What years are covered by the SPP submitted in December 2005?

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Answer: For the SPP submitted in December 2005, States must annually report on performance for the academic years 2005-2006 through 2010-2011.  The first APR, due February 1, 2007, was for the 2005-2006 year.  Therefore, the six years began with the data for the 2005-2006 year.  Under this schedule, the last APR under this SPP will be for the 2010-2011 academic year and will be due February 1, 2012.

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Question A-3: OSEP published a guidance document, entitled Part B SPP/APR Related Requirements, which contains a detailed list of statutory and regulatory requirements related to each indicator. Are States required to monitor the requirements related to each indicator included in this document for every year that an LEA fails to meet a target in the SPP?  

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Answer: No.  The “Related Requirements” guidance document, which OSEP distributes to Chief State School Officers, State Directors of Special Education, and State Data Managers, with the Part B SPP/APR materials, includes a list of the Part B monitoring priorities and indicators and the requirements from statutes (Part B of the IDEA and the General Educations Provisions Act) and regulations that are related to each priority and indicator.  The purpose of this document is to inform States of the statutory and regulatory requirements related to each indicator that will be reviewed by OSEP as part of Focused Monitoring.  That is, if OSEP determines that it will do Focused Monitoring in a State because that State is low performing or in noncompliance with a specific indicator, OSEP will review the related requirements for that indicator as part of the Focused Monitoring.  OSEP encourages States to examine their general supervision systems to determine how they address the related requirements, but States are not required to do so.  

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Question A-4: If a State changes or updates its SPP, must the State resubmit the entire document or just those portions that have changed?  

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Answer: The decision to resubmit the entire SPP or just those portions that have been changed or updated is left to the State.  

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Question A-5: Where should a State report on correction of noncompliance identified by OSEP in its response to the State’s SPP/APR?

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Answer: States should report on the correction of any noncompliance identified by OSEP in the same section of the APR for which noncompliance was originally identified in the prior year’s SPP/APR response table.  For example, if, in its Federal fiscal year (FFY) 2006 APR, OSEP identified noncompliance for Indicator B-12, Early Childhood Transition, the State would report on correction of noncompliance related to early childhood transition in the APR section for Indicator B-12 in its FFY 2007 APR.  In addition, the State should provide data in Indicator B-15 in its FFY 2007 APR on the status of timely correction of noncompliance identified in the FFY 2006 APR for Indicator B-15.  

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Question A-6: When the Department changes an indicator, or the measurement for an indicator, such as Indicator B-7 Preschool Early Childhood Outcomes, is it permissible for a State to change the baseline and targets for that indicator in its SPP? 

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Answer: Yes. It is permissible for a State to change baseline and targets for an SPP indicator when the Department changes an indicator or measurement, unless the target is for a compliance indicator.  Targets for compliance indicators are always 100 percent.  Any State that considers revising a baseline or target should involve stakeholders in the process and include a justification for the change in the APR.

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Resource: SPP/APR Online Sumission Module

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