Author: wa-case

In a recently published letter, Laurie VanderPloeg, Director of OSEP, issued a response to an inquiry by an anonymous author regarding the provision of compensatory education after a family relocates to a new state. Read more.

As part of its continued efforts to improve the ability to attract, prepare, and retain effective personnel for children with disabilities, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) is seeking targeted input from many stakeholders across the State and local levels.

One of the most important stakeholder groups is teachers – and especially those who directly serve children with disabilities like YOU!

Make your voice heard by filling out this 5-question survey to help support special educators and make a positive impact for our profession and for the children you serve. Your responses will be used to help inform and guide improvements in this critical area.

Provide Feedback!

Have you, too, been wondering, “what’s happening in Washington” lately? Then join CEC on Tuesday, December 10, 4-5pm ET, for a webinar with Senior Policy Advisors Kuna Tavalin and Laura Kaloi. They’ll provide an update about recent action in Washington, D.C., and discuss how it impacts your work in the field. And best of all, this webinar is FREE for CEC members!

Register Now!

Jillian Kaster, a contributor for EdSurge, writes: “As a kid, I used to sneak into my sister’s bedroom, pull out each of her ‘Baby-Sitters Club’ books, look at the covers, and wonder what each one was about. I’d make up stories to what I thought was going to happen, but never once cracked the books open to attempt to read the print. Everyone in my family was an avid reader, so I wanted to be a reader, too. But I didn’t think I had access to that knowledge.”  READ MORE

The special education department in Atlanta’s Fulton County Schools had focused heavily on compliance and legal requirements, perhaps to the detriment of instruction and special education professional development, leaders there say. In a shift to improve special needs students’ academic performance, the district recently hired 22 instructional coaches to provide special education PD, says Blake McGaha, executive director of Services for Exceptional Children.  READ MORE

New York may begin screening preschoolers for dyslexia as parents in that state and around the country put more pressure on schools to enhance interventions provided to students with the reading disability, the Times Union in Albany reported. Until last year, New York school officials did not use the word “dyslexia” in individualized education plans for students with learning disabilities. But a law passed last year allows the mention of specific learning disorders — such as dyslexia, dysgraphia or dyscalculia — in IEPs, the newspaper reported.  READ MORE

The primary mechanism for ensuring students with disabilities receive the right educational content and rigor at the right moment in their education is the individualized education plan. This new CCSSO resource, Ensuring an Equitable Opportunity: Providing a High-Quality Education for Students with Disabilities, details policy and practice considerations around individualized education plans chiefs and state education leaders can reflect upon and implement in ensuring all students, especially students with disabilities, have access to a high-quality education.

The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 marked a historic win for civil rights when the doors to public education were opened for all students. For the first time, children with disabilities had access to public education and the hope of a productive and fulfilling future. Today, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004, the most recent iteration of that law, aims to deliver on that promise; namely, that all students with disabilities have equitable access to a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment.

The Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA), the recently reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, also aims to deliver on that promise; namely that all students, across all backgrounds and circumstances, are provided the opportunity to receive a high-quality education. However, effectively preparing students with disabilities for life after high school remains a challenge for states as evidenced by the significant educational achievement and opportunity gaps that persist between students with disabilities and their non-disabled peers. The increased alignment between the federal laws bolstered further by an increased focus on improving the educational benefit for students with disabilities required by the unanimous Supreme Court ruling in the Endrew F. v. Douglas County School Dist. RE–1, presents an opportunity for state leaders to support school and district leaders in understanding a new landscape of delivering appropriate and effective educational services and supports for students with disabilities. This CCSSO document discusses policy and practice opportunities within this new landscape to ensure each and every child, especially children with disabilities, has an excellent education.  READ MORE

Jessica Cabeen, a contributor for Edutopia, writes: “In working with children and families, we’ll all encounter what I call ‘ouch moments’ — a phone message with a parent’s complaint about an interaction gone wrong, for example, or a social post taken out of context. The ouch can take the form of an email in 60-point font, bold, capitalized, and underlined; or a post on social media painting you or your school in a less-than-positive light.”  READ MORE

Building successful partnerships with parents does not happen overnight or by accident. Start off on the right foot by training Section 504 coordinators and school staff to facilitate productive team meetings, build trust with parents and address common disagreements that can arise in Section 504. To assist with that training, LRP Media Group, a recognized leader in the special education publishing industry, is announcing the release of Facilitating Section 504 Meetings Through Building Collaborative Parent-School Partnerships.  READ MORE