wa-case

February 24, 2020

Hot Topic: Rescheduled

Hot Topic Flyer with Date Changes

February 3, 2020January 25, 2020

Hot Topic Series: Related Services

Session One – Defining types of services SLP, OT and PT’s provide-Click to register

Direct
Related
SAS
SSP/Consultation
Professional Development:

For Related Service providers
Related Service providers to teachers/paras

Session Two – Caseloads and What to Know about Eligibility-Click to register

How are decisions being made as to who is being qualified for services?
Is it consistent across buildings and programs?
Has your department discussed/agreed upon some guidelines for qualifying students?
Do your service providers consider the three prongs?
Does the support require the expertise of a related service provider – are they the only one that can provide the support?
How do you embed Related Services into general education and special education?

Session Three – Accountability-Click to register

How are you monitoring caseloads?
SLPs – evals, case manager, re-evals
Progress Reporting?

January 31, 2020January 25, 2020

U.S. ED Provides Technical Assistance Webinar on Restraint and Seclusion

On January 17, 2019, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced an initiative to examine the possible inappropriate use of restraint and seclusion in our nation’s schools. As a part of this initiative, the Office for Civil Rights has partnered with the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services to support teachers, school leaders, parents, and stakeholders as they work to address the behavioral needs of children with disabilities.

One primary component of the Department’s initiative has focused on providing technical assistance to support schools in understanding how Section 504, Title II, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) informs the development and implementation of policies governing the use of restraint and seclusion.

To this end, OCR and OSERS are pleased to present the following webinar, Students with Disabilities and the Use of Restraint and Seclusion in K-12 Public Schools, as technical assistance to both support children with disabilities — and support the needs of those within school systems serving students.

We hope that you will find this tool to be a helpful resource and valuable technical assistance on how federal laws apply to the use of restraint and seclusion. OCR and OSERS will continue to seek ways to support schools to improve outcomes for children with disabilities and ensure access to technical assistance and available resources. READ MORE

January 30, 2020January 25, 2020

Zirkel’s Legal Alert

This month’s update concerns issues that were subject to recent, unpublished federal court decisions of general significance: (a) liability for money damages under the IDEA, and (b) the reverse effect of general education interventions on IDEA child find and eligibility. For further examination of both of these issues, see perryzirkel.com.

January 29, 2020January 25, 2020

Hot Topic Series: Related Services

Session One – Defining types of services SLP, OT and PT’s provide-Click to register

Direct
Related
SAS
SSP/Consultation
Professional Development:

For Related Service providers
Related Service providers to teachers/paras

Session Two – Caseloads and What to Know about Eligibility-Click to register

Session Three – Accountability-Click to register

How are you monitoring caseloads?
SLPs – evals, case manager, re-evals
Progress Reporting?

January 28, 2020January 25, 2020

Hot Topic Series: Related Services

Session One – Defining types of services SLP, OT and PT’s provide-Click to register

Direct
Related
SAS
SSP/Consultation
Professional Development:

For Related Service providers
Related Service providers to teachers/paras

Session Two – Caseloads and What to Know about Eligibility-Click to register

Session Three – Accountability-Click to register

How are you monitoring caseloads?
SLPs – evals, case manager, re-evals
Progress Reporting?

January 27, 2020January 25, 2020

Tips for Analyzing Your Data

Discipline is an important topic in every school and LEA across the nation. Excessive disciplinary actions, particularly those that remove children from their classrooms, can hinder learning. Such removals can cause children to miss instruction and opportunities to learn content and build skills. These children may have lower academic performance, they may be more likely to drop out of school, and they may be less likely to pursue higher education. Understanding your school’s or LEA’s discipline data can be critical in helping you support these students. By analyzing your discipline data, you can identify patterns and trends to inform your school and LEA discipline-related policies.

The following are some simple tips for analyzing discipline data and practices:

Pull all discipline records, including out-of-school suspensions and in-school suspensions (both less than or equal to 10 days and greater than 10 days), placements in alternative settings, and expulsions.
- To do this, student information system administrators can pull data through system reports or queries.
Disaggregate discipline data to capture different student subgroups, such as:
- schools in which students are disciplined (are there one or two schools that discipline students more than other schools do?);
- ages of students being disciplined (are more middle school students being disciplined than high school students?);
- disability of students being disciplined (are students with particular disabilities being disciplined more than other students?); and
- race/ethnicity of students being disciplined (are students within a particular racial/ethnic group being disciplined more than students in other racial/ethnic groups?).
Frame the data meaningfully for students. When analyzing data, think less about the number of days students missed and more about the hours of instruction they lost. For example, a student suspended out of school for 2 school days missed out on 16 hours of instruction. Framing the data around student learning can be extremely powerful.
Review LEA policies for discipline. This may reveal that there are no uniform policies in your school or LEA. Thus, discipline decisions are based on the thoughts and judgments of the individuals making the decisions rather than on a school or LEA policy.