This impact story from the Early Childhood Technical Assistance (ECTA) Center at FPG spotlights how it, along with its partners, provided technical assistance to help states prepare for the DMS 2.0 process and Office of Special Education Programs OSEP monitoring visit.

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In 2016, the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) implemented differentiated monitoring and support (DMS) as part of its results-driven accountability (RDA) framework. Through RDA, OSEP transitioned from exclusively compliance-based monitoring to an approach that prioritizes both compliance and enhancement of outcomes for children with disabilities. States were identified for technical assistance (TA) and monitoring visits according to their assessed risk factors. OSEP tailored its strategies by considering each state's distinct strengths, progress, challenges, and needs. In autumn 2020, OSEP introduced DMS 2.0, comprising five cohorts of states scheduled for monitoring on a cyclical basis beginning in 2022.

As part of DMS 2.0, OSEP primarily concentrates on four key areas: fiscal management, monitoring, data analysis, and dispute resolution. Additional topics, such as child find and early childhood transition, may be included in the state's DMS engagement based on challenges or needs identified by OSEP. The Early Childhood Technical Assistance (ECTA) Center, in collaboration with its partners—Center for IDEA Fiscal Reporting (CIFR), Center for IDEA Early Childhood Data System (DaSy), and The Center for Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Special Education (CADRE)—provides technical assistance to support states' preparation for the DMS 2.0 process and OSEP monitoring visit.

The DMS TA team members provided a combination of cross-state and individualized TA to help states:

Prepare for the OSEP DMS visit.
Share information with OSEP about how they are implementing their systems.
Improve their systems and address all required actions outlined in their OSEP DMS reports.

Cross-state quarterly DMS TA calls began in January 2023. They included content presentations, state sharing of their DMS experiences, and opportunities for discussion in relation to the four key topic areas.

ECTA identified Indiana and Montana as states that realized positive impacts resulting from the technical assistance. Interviews were conducted with each of these states to obtain detailed information about their experiences and the associated impacts related to engaging in the DMS 2.0 technical assistance.

Read the full report to find impact stories from Indiana and Montana and a list of key takeaways from this work.