CIMP & Compliance Monitoring

What is CIMP and why do we do it?

"CIMP" refers to our Continuous Improvement Monitoring Process. SCRED's member districts participate in annual self-monitoring because districts that continuously self-monitor and submit an annual continuous improvement plan can extend the gaps between official compliance monitoring by MDE auditors (see "State Monitoring" below for more details).

SCRED's CIMP Process

1. Each year, every case manager selects an IEP they wrote during the current school year that will be reviewed.

2. Special Services Supervisors, Services Coordinators, and School Psychologists gather at the SCRED office in January for three days of file review. To support accurate and reliable ratings, training is provided, raters use the IEP rubric (see below), and two independent raters are assigned to each file. School Psychologists do not rate files from case managers in their own building(s).

3. As soon as possible, SCRED staff generate district-, building-, and case-manager-specific reports, which are shared with building administrators. Building administrators have discretion for when and how these results are shared with individual case managers.

4. SCRED's Special Services Team and Services Coordinators use CIMP results to inform training priorities for the upcoming school year.

If Due Process Secretaries identify missing and/or inaccurate items while filing new due process paperwork, they must notify case managers via a Due Process Memo:

1. After receiving a Due Process Memo, the case manager has 1 week to locate and/or correct the identified items.

2. If the identified paperwork is not completed within 1 week, the school psychologist is notified. The case manager must contact them within one day with a plan to address the identified paperwork. 

3. If the identified paperwork is not completed within 1 week of the school psychologist’s notification, the building administrator is notified. The case manager must provide the building admin. and school psych with a plan ASAP.

4. If the identified paperwork is not completed within 1 week of the building admin’s notification, the Special Services Supervisor (SSS) is notified. The case manager must provide the SSS, building admin., and school psych with a plan ASAP.

5. The building admin. or SSS may request a formal meeting to discuss a plan.

On a scheduled multi-year cycle, districts must engage in Self-Review, Self-Correction, and MDE Review. During years where none of these activities are required, districts have "free" years. If districts engage in some form of self-monitoring during these free years (i.e., CIMP - see above) and submit an annual continuous improvement plan, they can extend the gaps between official compliance monitoring.

Multi-Year Monitoring Cycle

Self-Review

MDE provides record review training for district representatives, and the district then conducts a self-review of records for compliance with state and federal laws. MDE verifies the review and issues findings. The district and MDE determine corrective action to implement based on record review findings.

Self-Correction

The district must correct all identified noncompliance, both within individual student records and for noncompliance deemed systemic in nature through Corrective Action Plans (CAPs).

MDE Review

MDE provides record review training for district representatives, the district conducts a self-review of records, and MDE verifies the review and issues findings. MDE also, among other monitoring activities, interviews district staff, conducts a site visit, issues a report containing a summary of findings related to the LEA’s compliance with state and federal laws, and orders corrective action to address findings of noncompliance.

Corrective Action Plans (CAPs)

If noncompliance is identified, districts are responsible for developing and implementing Corrective Action Plans (CAPs) during the year following review. Most CAPs focus on staff training followed by file review to ensure that the training was effective. Districts have been able to use CAPs to address training needs, to further clarify requirements, and to achieve compliance in previously identified problem areas.