CASDA's Special Education Program and Services Reviews provide an in-depth, independent appraisal to help you strengthen outcomes, align with compliance standards, and support every student’s success. Conducted by expert consultants who possess extensive classroom and leadership experience and deep knowledge in their areas of specialization, these reviews will help improve your district's operations to better provide engaging, rigorous, and equitable education to all students.

 

While customizable to what your district's needs are, CASDA's Special Education Reviews encompass the following:

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• A special education program review to assess and analyze the current special education processes, procedures and services, as well as personnel support involved in the implementation of CSE programs. 

• Review and analysis of District data relating to special education students K-12.

• Review of the current CSE structure and organization, including roles and responsibilities and administrative/supervisory structure.

• Review of the continuum of services and programs available to special education students.

• Assessment and analysis of the effectiveness of the District's organizational model and staff structure regarding effective and efficient use of human resources to support the instructional, social/emotional, and behavioral needs of struggling students. 

• Examination of staff resources and allocation with a primary focus on the structure and responsibilities of Intervention Assistants (IA’s/TA’s) across the district.

• Review and analysis of the District's use of an MTSS/RtI Model, continuity, effectiveness and future plans. 

• Review of the entry and exit criteria for related services.

• Review and analysis of proper development of IEPs. 

• A curriculum review of District self-contained classes and resource rooms to assess the effectiveness of teaching and learning within the programs.

• Focus group interviews aligned to all aspects of the Scope of Work.

• Concluding with a written report with specific actionable recommendations and next steps.

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​Take the first step toward transformative support for your students. Contact CASDA Executive Director Tim Backus today at tbackus@casdany.org to learn more.

 

“The Program Review was EXTREMELY comprehensive. As a former Director of Special Education/PPS, I was highly impressed with

Colleen and Tony’s  knowledge base and practical experience. They quickly built trustful relationships where they were able to obtain first-hand (primary source) qualitative data from key personnel.  In addition, the quantitative and comparison data will help us make better decisions

in the future. This information would never have been able to be obtained by our personnel. This data will most likely be the most important data

we collect all year to establish goals and create a culture where all teachers are willing to engage in collaborative teaching practices that

address students with different learning profiles.

 

“ I am certain that these recommendations will not only address the diverse needs of our students but will support our teachers

with the work they  currently do. I am especially grateful for the honest dialogue exchange.“

-Locust Valley CSD

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Consultant Bios:

Anthony Albanese, MS, CAS, SAS, SDA, Consultant to CASDA, talbanese@casdany.org

Longtime educational leader and retired school superintendent, Tony Albanese joined CASDA’s faculty in the fall of 2017. In 2018, he and Colleen blended their areas of expertise to conduct special education reviews through CASDA. With a background in special education, school and mental health counseling, he was hired as the Deputy Director of Education at Wildwood School in Schenectady, NY serving children with significant learning challenges and autism for more than 20 years. To meet the challenges of including more children in the mainstream, he served as the Director of Pupil Personnel Services and Special Education at the Scotia-Glenville CSD establishing many new integrated programs for children with a disability including programs for children with autism. After six years of service as the Superintendent of the Margaretville Central School District in rural Delaware County, he moved on to meet the needs of students as Director of Pupil Personnel Services in the City School District of Albany. He also served as Interim Director of Special Education at Niskayuna, Watervliet, and Schodack. For several years he also provided services as a consultant to LaSalle School in Albany, in addition to mentoring administrative interns. Most recently, (2022-2024) he was the Transition Coordinator at Watervliet CSD assisting students and parents in obtaining access to post high school work/life experiences in coordination with ACCES-VR and OPWDD. 

 

Colleen Ulrich, MS, SAS, SDA, Consultant to CASDA, culrich@casdany.org

Colleen Ulrich began her career in the field of special education more than 40 years ago. During those years she served as a special education teacher, CSE/CPSE Chairperson, and Director of Student Support/Special Education Services in several school districts. She has worked in both rural schools and small city school districts and has learned to successfully navigate through the ever-changing regulations and requirements of special education. In June 2015, she retired after working 12 years in the Gloversville Enlarged School District as their Director of Student Support Services. 

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During her tenure there she was involved in special education program restructuring, DTSDE training, facilitating team and building initiatives, and grant writing. Since retiring, she has worked as an interim Director of Special Education in the Mayfield, Gloversville, and Mechanicville School Districts. She has been a faculty member of CASDA since February 2016 and currently serves as an independent Educational Consultant to numerous schools in NYS. A large focus of her consultant work has been with conducting Special Education Program Reviews and providing staff development to provide guidance and support to districts and agencies to help improve overall achievement for students with disabilities and struggling learners. To date, she has conducted 23 Special Education Programs and Services reviews in districts across NYS.