2020-2021 Manifestation Determination Review Specialist

JobID: 3019

Position Type:
Special Education
Date Posted:
1/26/2021
Location:
OKCPS Central Office
Reports To: Special Education Director
Department:Special Education
FSLA Status: Exempt
Compensation: 912
Work Days: 181
FTE: 100


Manifestation Determination Review SpecialistPosition Summary:
Complete all Manifestation Determination Reviews for Special Education students as required under the IDEA and in compliance with the Oklahoma State Department of Education Special Education Handbook policies and procedures. Including preparation for the meeting through review of a Student’s Special Education and General Education records and leading the meeting and consideration of relevant aspects of compliance under the IDEA.

Essential Duties:

• Contact parents and school team to schedule an MDR meeting when this becomes necessary (e.g. when a Special Education Student has reached eleven (11) or more cumulative days suspension in a school year).
• Coordinates with family and school staff to ensure parents/guardians are able to attend via video-conferencing if they need to attend virtually due to health concerns
• Prepare for the MDR meeting by reviewing the student’s Special Education confidential records, general education and disciplinary records and considering all aspects of compliance for the student’s IEP under the IDEA.
• Lead the MDR meeting by listening to circumstances as presented by/from the student’s perspective and by/from the school’s perspective.
• Finalize all Special Education paperwork related to the MDR within the Special Education Student Information System (e.g. Ed Plan)
• Lessons learned during the Spring school closures due to COVID-19 is that MDRs should be completed within 2-3 days after a student receives a suspension that is or is expected to result in 11 cumulative days suspension rather than the week to 10 day waiting that was occurring during traditional school models. When COVID-19 school closures occurred the district had 7 MDRs scheduled and 6 pending, awaiting scheduling. If additional school closures occurred, we must be caught up, not lagging behind because of the many difficulties in ensuring FAPE for a child on an IEP.
• Any support from additional staff that ensures we remain caught up on MDRs as well as ensure that we are able to appropriately research and interview all student’s individual cases will benefit both students and staff during non-traditional school models and in non-traditional school settings. It is expected that in preparing for future school closures or changes, the move for general education students would be faster, more seamless; the same should be true for IEP students, including those who may be in the middle of, or afterwards facing a Manifestation Determination Review. For example, in the Spring instance of school closure/Distance Learning for COVID-19, Spring Break/Non-Instructional days were extended and then student grades and attendance records were frozen; that would not be expected to be the case during future school closures or moves to Distance Learning or other non-traditional school platforms.
• Critical needs related to this position and needed to prepare for changes in school settings and models will include: Additional Special Education Coordinators and MDR Specialists serving as trainers for MANDT. It is expected that changes in this or any proprietary de-escalation and restraint method required to be adopted and used under the IDEA will be written into the methods in order to train staff on de-escalation techniques for non-in-person settings, home settings as well as those school settings where instruction is primarily provided through non-traditional methods such as tele-ed. This likely will result in the need to provide training to a larger number of staff than under a traditional school model. In addition, the trainers may need to adopt non-in-person training methods such as Zoom or similar which will require more time to prepare and present MANDT training.
• The ability to be more flexible in scheduling around a parent’s availability especially accommodations as needed for the family’s health (e.g. video-conferencing for parent instead of in-person attendance at the meeting).
• The ability to spend more time on any single student’s case for records review, student and parent interviews, to ensure that, even when the behavioral setting is at home or other Distance Learning or Tele-Instruction the student’s side and details about the incident is well represented; as well as the need to better research the child’s disability and presentation of symptoms in light of non-traditional school settings.

Minimum Qualifications (Knowledge, Skills and/or Abilities Required):

• Bachelor’s Degree
• Oklahoma Teaching Certification in Special Education
• 3-5 Years of Experience Teaching Special Education

• Specialized Knowledge/Skills/Licenses:
• Experience working in K-12 settings
• Experience working with families
• Ability to communicate well both orally and in writing
• Ability to set up and manage meetings using Zoom or Google video-conferencing applications
• Ability to work with a diverse student population within special and general education populations.
• Able to provide training in de-escalation and restraint method (MANDT or similar)

*Relevant experience may be substituted for formal education at a 2:1 ratio. Therefore for every 1 year of college lacking, 2 years of directly relevant experience may be substituted.

Working Conditions and Physical Requirements:
The working conditions and physical requirements described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

• Able to sit and/or stand for extended periods of time
• Exhibit manual dexterity to enter data into a computer
• Ability to see and read a computer screen and printed material with or without vision aids
• Hear and understand speech at normal classroom levels, outdoors and on the telephone
• Speak in audible tones so that others may understand clearly in normal classrooms, outdoors and on the telephone
• Physical agility, able to bend, stoop, sit on the floor, climb stairs, walk and reach
• Ability to lift, push, pull up to 50 pounds

This job description is not intended to be all inclusive. The employee will also perform other reasonably related business duties as assigned by the supervisor or appropriate administrator. Oklahoma City Public Schools reserves the right to, update, revise or change job duties as the need prevails. This document is for communication only and not intended to imply a written or implied contract of employment. The Board of Education and Superintendent may approve alternatives to the listed qualifications.