Author: wa-case

Washington CASE will be hosting virtual conference venues throughout Washington State on March 7 and March 8. These locations will be hosting live presentations of the CASE Winter Conference that will be occurring in New Mexico. A key presenter for this conference is Julie Weatherly, ESQ, who will be presenting on Thursday Morning. Additionally, there will be a team from the National Association of School Psychologists presenting on Thursday and Friday. Options for attending one or both days will be available. Please watch this space and Facebook for further information, including registration information.

The Guidance for Individualized Education Program Teams: Student Participation in Statewide Assessments for Accountability and Graduation has been posted to the Special Education Resource Library and on the Technical Assistance page for Statewide Assessment. The purpose of the updated document is to provide guidance to Individualized Education Program (IEP) teams on their authority related to decisions around accountability and graduation and to help guide IEP teams in determining the appropriate assessment for accountability or graduation purposes.  

The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction has released an Online SEL Module. This CASEL-aligned training tool came out of the work done by an OSPI SEL workgroup, with WSASP participation and representation. This module is designed for educators, administrators, school staff, other professionals and parents who interact with youth as a means to help them build and improve their understanding of social emotional skills. This online module has been designed in five distinct learning segments: Introduction to SEL, Embedding SEL Schoolwide, Creating a Professional Culture Based on SEL, Integrating SEL into Culturally Responsive Classrooms, and Identifying and Selecting Evidence-Based Programs. READ MORE

6.7 million young people are disconnected from school and work. Only one in three adults with a disability is employed. CAST partners with education and training providers that are working to change this reality—agencies, schools and postsecondary institutions working with talented young people to help them build the skills and habits they need to access middle and high income careers.  READ MORE

Kimberly Jay, a contributor for eSchool News, writes: “When Florida State Assessment scores revealed that our third-graders were under-performing in reading, my colleagues and I analyzed the data to determine the root cause of performance. The data showed a need for an explicit, phonics-based approach to literacy for our young students. Unless they develop foundational reading skills early, students will experience literacy deficits across all subjects, and phonics instruction embedded in comprehensive reading instruction is the most effective way to teach them how to read.”  READ MORE

There is a gap in education between the knowledge of prevention and the act of prevention. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics early universal screening for the risk of learning disabilities leads to better intervention, improved student performance throughout her or his education career, and less money invested in IEPs. Yet, we do not embrace universal testing in our K-12 education system. Today’s interview with Dr. Vincent Alfonso, dean the School of Education at Gonzaga University, dives into the world of early childhood development testing, why we do and do not test more, what can be done in your school to help support your special education program and opportunities to improve your processes.  READ MORE

Jennifer Ruef, a contributor for The Conversation, writes: “I teach people how to teach math, and I’ve been working in this field for 30 years. Across those decades, I’ve met many people who suffer from varying degrees of math trauma — a form of debilitating mental shutdown when it comes to doing mathematics. When people share their stories with me, there are common themes. These include someone telling them they were ‘not good at math,’ panicking over timed math tests, or getting stuck on some math topic and struggling to move past it. The topics can be as broad as fractions or an entire class, such as Algebra or Geometry.”  READ MORE

For an elementary school teacher who works with economically disadvantaged students, it can be discouraging to hear phrases like “significant achievement gap” or “30-million-word gap” in discussions of the reading and vocabulary development of our students. But research does bear those phrases out: There are clear trends of underachievement in academics for students of low socioeconomic status.  READ MORE

In a school or district, as in any organization, the leader is responsible for setting the tone, and one way leaders can nourish organizational harmony is to consider three spaces: the physical, the interpersonal and the historical. Only by balancing these three spaces will leaders cultivate the influence that permeates an entire organizational culture, and only by attending to these critical human needs will leaders experience the deep happiness that keeps them engaged and attentive for the long haul.  READ MORE