The SANDI:
A DISTRICTWIDE SYSTEM TO SUPPORT
STUDENTS WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES
The Riverside County
Office of Education is
raising the expectation
for what all students
can achieve, including
those students with
significant intellectual
disabilities, by using
the nationally vetted
Student Annual
Needs Determination
Inventory.
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Leadership
The principal had reservations going into
the IEP meeting. The parents had been vocal,
unhappy with the minimal progress their child
with intellectual disabilities had made in a pre-
vious district. They were bringing an advocate
to the IEP. The teacher had assured the principal
that she had communicated frequently with the
parents prior to the IEP, and had what she felt
were valid and reliable results from the SANDI
assessment, prioritized need areas, and chal-
lenging but realistic IEP goals.
As the IEP meeting progressed, the principal
felt the tension in the room quickly dissipate. The
teacher had data from the assessment that she
shared with the parents, then discussed possible
IEP goals and services giving the student access
to grade level standards.
The mother became emotional, and said to the
team, “My son is 12 years old, and in all these
years of IEP meetings I have never felt like the
school actually knew who he was, or thought he
could achieve more. Now I do. Thank you.”
This same scenario has been played out
repeatedly in Individualized Education
Program meetings across the United States,
as teachers, parents, and districts come to-
gether to support the achievement of stu-
dents with intellectual disabilities.
Support for students
The adoption of Common Core State
Standards across the U.S. signif icantly
raised the expectation for what all students
can achieve, including those students with
significant intellectual disabilities. How-
ever, students with disabilities needed
meaningful, reliable data – both summative
and formative – based on multiple measures.
Riverside County Office of Education
(RCOE) set out on a path to address this
need. The Student Annual Needs Determi-
nation Inventory, better known as SANDI,
was created for students with intellectual
disabilities as a response to the general edu-
cation focus on data-driven instruction as a
result of ESSA, NCLB and IDEA.
The recent Supreme Court decision, En-
drew v. Douglas County, 2017, rejecting a
low-bar of expectations for students with
disabilities to make progress and show edu-
cational benefit further highlights the need
for districts to be equipped to show growth
and student progress over time.
By Kate Cahill, Rebecca Silva and
Chun-Wu Li