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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Garcia, M.H.

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

01/31/08

HB 401

SHORT TITLE Elementary School Intervention Response

SB

ANALYST Escudero

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$27,130.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY08

FY09

FY10 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total $ NFI

$ 119.4 $ 116.8 $ 236.3 Recurring General

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates To: HB341

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Public Education Department (PED)

Department of Finance (DFA)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 401 appropriates $27.13 million to the Public Education Department for the hiring of

reading and mathematics specialists and other school personnel in elementary schools to comply

with federal Individuals with Disability Education Act (IDEA) requirements.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $27,130.0 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY09 shall revert to the

general fund.

House Bill 401 – Page

2

According to PED:

•

The funding appropriated by this bill may

be supplemented with 15% of a district’s

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Part B funding for the

implementation of scientific, research-based interventions (e.g. RTI). IDEA allows

school districts to use up to 15% of IDEA, Part B funding for EIS for kindergarten

through grade 12 students who are at risk of being referred to special education and need

additional academic and behavioral support to succeed in a general education

environment (34 CFR § 300.226).

•

IDEA does not require states to provide additional funds for Early Intervening Services

or making special education eligibility determinations for students with specific learning

disabilities, and it does not prohibit states from providing additional funds.

•

The bill does not appropriate funding to the PED for additional administrative

responsibilities to provide leadership, professional development, and technical assistance

to implement RTI in the elementary schools.

•

It is anticipated that the PED will need to employ 1.5 FTEs as Education Administrators

– Advanced to manage the responsibilities of implementing RTI statewide and

administering the funding appropriation to the school districts.

o

The addition of 1.5 employees ($25.50 X 3,120 + 30% benefits = $103.4), rental

of office space ($8.0), office furnishings ($3.0), 2 computers ($3.0), and supplies

($2.0) will require funding in the amount of $119.5 in FY09.

o

The addition of 1.5 employees, rental of office space, and supplies with a 3%

inflation rate will require funding in the amount of $116.8 in FY10.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

According to PED, the bill appropriates $27,130.0 to the Public Education Department from the

general fund in FY09 to implement the Response to Intervention process (RTI) in New Mexico

elementary schools in order to comply with federal requirements regarding RTI set forth in the

Individuals with Disabilities Act of 2004 (IDEA; Public Law 108-446). Specifically, the

proposed funding is for hiring reading and mathematics specialists and other school personnel to

put RTI methods into practice.

•

RTI Interventions and Monitoring

o

RTI is a systematic process for identifying and meeting the instructional needs of all

students that are at risk of failing in core subject areas or are not making significant

gains to achieve proficiency in the New Mexico content standards. The RTI model

applies research-based procedures to identify at-risk students, determine factors

contributing to failure, select high-quality, evidence-based instructional and

behavioral interventions (called Early Intervention Services), and continuously

measure academic growth using standardized methods. More intensive interventions

and assessments are gradually applied until the student’s instructional needs are met,

and it is evident that the student is growing academically.

New Mexico’s three-tiered conceptual model for RTI was developed in 2006 by a

House Bill 401 – Page

3

statewide panel of educators, diagnosticians, school administrators, and PED staff

members. The model is published in the guidance document, Response to

Intervention: A Systematic Process to Increase Learning Outcomes for All Students,

available on the PED website at

http://www.ped.state.nm.us/parents.students/dl08/RTIManualFinalCombo2006%201

2-06.pdf

.

In Tier I, all students receive appropriate, standards-based instruction and

monitoring using short-cycle and curriculum-based assessments, and the New

Mexico Standards-Based Assessments. Students that are not reaching

performance targets are referred to the school’s Student Assistance Team (SAT)

to be evaluated for an individual intervention plan. IDEA Part B funds cannot be

used for Tier I interventions.

.

The intervention plan will prescribe more intensive Tier 2 interventions including

targeted individual or small group instruction, increased duration of instruction,

and increased attendance. Students that continue to struggle academically under

Tier 2 interventions might be referred to the district evaluation team, and a

comprehensive assessment of all suspected areas of disability is conducted. IDEA

Part B funds can be used to implement Tier II interventions for students at risk.

.

If the student meets well-defined eligibility criteria for special education services,

an individualized educational plan (IEP) is developed and the student is referred

to special education services in Tier 3.

•

RTI at the National Level

o

RTI is a national initiative that is supported by the US Department of Education,

Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), the Office of Elementary and

Secondary Education (ESE), the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA),

and the Institute of Education Sciences (IES).

A National RTI Center was recently established to provide technical assistance and disseminate

information about proven and promising models for RTI and Early Intervening Services to state

and local educators, families, and other stakeholders. The RTI Center’s

o

activities and resources can be viewed at its website, go to

http://www.RTI4success.org/

.

•

Federal Requirements Regarding RTI

o

IDEA sets requirements in two areas regarding scientific research-based interventions

(e.g. RTI): (1) use of IDEA, Part B funding for Early Intervening Services (EIS) and

(2) making special education eligibility determinations for students with specific

learning disabilities (SLD). School districts must declare their intent to use 15% of

Part B funds for EIS on the IDEA funding application. The districts are also required

to submit an EIS plan to the PED Special Education Bureau.

House Bill 401 – Page

4

•

IDEA allows school districts to use up to 15% of IDEA Part B funding for EIS for

kindergarten through grade 12 students who are at risk of being referred to special

education and need additional academic and behavioral support to succeed in a

general education environment (34 CFR § 300.226). The use of these funds for

EIS services is discretionary, except where the state identifies a school district

that disproportionately disciplines or places children with disabilities in separated

educational settings by race and ethnicity. The funding appropriated by this bill

may be supplemented with 15% of a district’s IDEA, Part B funding for the

implementation of RTI.

IDEA requires that states allow school districts to use information on a student’s response to

scientific research-based interventions (e.g. RTI) as part of a comprehensive SLD evaluation and

determination for special education and related services (34 CFR § 300.307). New Mexico

Administrative Code §6.32.2.10 provides school districts the option of using RTI information in

SLD determinations, and requires its use starting on July 1, 2009.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

According to PED, the bill impacts the following Public School Support performance measures:

Percent of elementary school students who achieve the No Child Left Behind Act annual

measurable objective for proficiency or above on standards-based assessments in reading and

language arts.

Percent of elementary school students who achieve the No Child Left Behind Act annual

measurable objective for proficiency or above on standards-based assessments in mathematics.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

PED will need to determine appropriate uses of this funding and establish criteria for

determining disbursement amounts and awarding these funds to the school districts. In addition,

the PED must ensure that IDEA Part B EIS funds are used to supplement, not supplant, the

state’s funding. This will place additional responsibilities on PED program staff to manage

budget adjustment requests for these funds

The PED will need to identify strategies and goals, material and human resources, and prepare

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

As stated by PED, the bill appropriates funding that will support the monitoring of RTI by PED

in the school districts, as requested by SJM009. Part of this funding might be used for the

purchase of vendor-produced short-cycle assessments needed by 29 of the school districts not

now using these assessments, in addition to implementing the academic and behavior

interventions

for all students.

House Bill 401 – Page

5

OTHER SUBSTANTIATIVE ISSUES

According to PED, the bill appropriates funds to implement RTI only in the elementary schools.

RTI is a K-12 process that will require funding in the middle schools and high schools for a

comprehensive implementation in New Mexico.

The bill emphasizes the application of RTI to reading and mathematics, the only two content

areas now used to evaluate the adequate yearly progress (AYP) of schools and school districts.

Other content areas will need to be included to align with the RTI model.

The bill appropriates funding for FY09 only. Because funding will not be available to districts

until after July 1, 2008, staff will not be hired and effectively working on implementing RTI until

after the beginning of the school year. Further, recruitment of staff after July 1, 2008, will be

very limited because most highly qualified teachers will be committed to a position by that date.

It is recommended that the language of the bill be amended to extend funding into FY10 to

address these difficulties

PME/mt