Press Releases
09/01/2020
CSDE Announces Procurement of New Statewide Special Education Data Management System
(HARTFORD) - The Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) today announced, after a thorough procurement process, the department is entering into a partnership with the Public Consulting Group (PCG) to support its goals and vision of developing a comprehensive statewide Special Education Data System (CT-SEDS) to make available to all of its local school district partners. CSDE’s commitment to improved efficiency for the state’s special education general monitoring and supervision system will provide numerous benefits for Connecticut’s more than 84,000 students with disabilities, their families and educators.
“At the forefront of our commitment to ensuring all students are provided a high quality education is prioritizing equity and access for our most vulnerable students including students with disabilities,” said Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona. “The implementation of this system will allow local school districts to redeploy funds toward a streamlined special education data collection process and student based programming needs that were previously used to support an online IEP system. This statewide initiative will reduce the overall reporting burdens on local school districts and provide schools a necessary resource to better serve students with disabilities and their families. We are excited to partner with PCG and get this extremely important work underway.”
CT-SEDS adaptive electronic Individual Education Program (IEP) document was designed to improve format and flow of information with intuitive, easy to use displays. The new system includes a parent portal for families to access their student’s IEP and other important information as well as a language translation feature to ensure that parents receive information in their native language. The new and improved document will also assist planning and placement teams (PPTs) in navigating the special education process, leading to the development of high quality IEPs for Connecticut’s students. School districts will also have access to additional modules within the system to support Scientific Research Based Interventions (SRBI)/Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), Section 504, Gifted and Talented, and Medicaid Reimbursement processes.
“Public Consulting Group is excited to partner with the Connecticut State Department of Education in the development of its new statewide special education data management system,” said Grant Blair, Director of PCG’s Education practice. “Our team is successfully supporting similar efforts in a handful of other states and we look forward to bringing that hands-on experience and lessons learned to Connecticut. We’re thrilled to embark on this project that will ultimately lead to improved student outcomes across the State.”
The 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years will be devoted to standing up and customizing the system to meet Connecticut’s needs. This complex endeavor will involve piloting the system with select districts, making necessary adjustments to system functionality and, to the greatest extent possible, migrating historical data. Ensuring a thoughtful and deliberate implementation timeline will allow for extensive system testing, comprehensive end-user training, and provide time for existing school district software contracts to expire in advance of full implementation during the 2022-23 school year.
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