Special Education
Program Improvement Monitoring
The Mississippi Program Improvement Monitoring (MPIM) system, Mississippi’s newly revised model for monitoring, seeks to address the need for focusing on areas of compliance that impact on results for children. Conceptually, a system that previously focused upon procedural compliance now focuses on program effectiveness and student results. Procedurally, a system that had always depended upon Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) site reviews now involves the district and the department collaborating in the analysis of program effectiveness and in the implementation of Improvement Plans. The goal of the collaborative review is to make programs more effective and to impact upon outcomes for students. In addition, the process ensures that Federal requirements as well as State law and regulations are implemented and that protections guaranteed to students with disabilities and their parents are enforced. There are predictable sets of rewards, technical assistance for improving results, and sanctions for districts that do not improve.
The MPIM system is designed around critical areas that reflect the themes of the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) continuous improvement monitoring process (CIMP) and concepts of focused monitoring supported by OSEP. Those critical areas are:
* Continuity
* Partnership with stakeholders
* District accountability
* Self-review
* Data-driven process
* Technical assistance
* Predictable rewards and sanctions
The MPIM system is designed around priorities, indicators, and the district data profiles. Each district will conduct annual self-reviews and improvement planning based on an analysis of data for priority indicators using a standard instrument provided by the MDE. The self-review and resulting Improvement Plan must be submitted as part of the district’s Project Application. Districts targeted for onsite monitoring visits must complete a corrective action plan developed by the district review team that outlines the proposed strategies to improve results for children relative to the priority indicators.