Students with Exceptional Needs

Continuous Improvement Monitoring Process (CIMP)

The Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) is responsible for ensuring local education agency (LEA) compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Louisiana's Regulations for Implementation of the Children with Exceptionalities Act (Bulletin 1706). IDEA guarantees the free appropriate public education (FAPE) of children with disabilities in the least restrictive environment (LRE); Bulletin 1706 supports IDEA and also guarantees FAPE to preschool children and gifted and talented students. To assist LEAs in meeting the needs of exceptional students, DSP uses a continuous improvement monitoring process.

Focused monitoring is a critical component of the continuous improvement monitoring process. In focused monitoring, a group of stakeholders identify priorities considered essential to the successful provision of special education services in Louisiana. These priorities indicate which data reports will be used in the selection process for determining on-site monitoring visits. In this way, system-level data is examined and compared to state norms in those areas deemed most critical for the successful performance of exceptional students, and the State uses its resources to monitor where closer scrutiny is most warranted.

At the conclusion of every on-site monitoring visit, a written report is issued by DSP to the system summarizing the monitoring team's findings. With every report, there is a letter from the State Superintendent of Education outlining the steps necessary for completing a Corrective Action Plan (CAP). After the System has implemented its CAP, a follow-up visit is conducted to determine if past findings of noncompliance are no longer evident.

The Compliance Monitoring Procedures Handbook, Bulletin 1922, provides more detail about the monitoring process:

Bulletin 1922: Compliance Monitoring Procedures HandbookPDF

OSEP -- Continuous Improvement Monitoring Process

CIMP Reports