Special Education Could See $1B Increase

Early yesterday morning, Congress released the text of a bipartisan spending package for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023, the fiscal year which officially began on October 1. The massive year-end agreement, which includes appropriations as well as a wide range of additional priorities, is coming together just in the nick of time as Congress winds down the 117th session this week. READ MORE

NCLD Report Examines Disproportionate Involvement of Youth with Disabilities with the Juvenile Justice System

On Thursday, the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) released a report, “Unlocking Futures: Youth with Disabilities and the Juvenile Justice System.” The report argues that systemic failures such as the “school-to-prison pipeline” result in more youth with disabilities coming in contact with the juvenile justice system. Approximately 65-70 percent of justice-involved youth have a disability, and while data collected about incarcerated youth vary widely, it is estimated that 30-60 percent have disabilities. These statistics are even more disproportionate for the youth of color with disabilities. Involvement with the juvenile justice system has a damaging snowball effect on youth with disabilities- limited and poor quality education while incarcerated and violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) put youth far behind, and reentry to school is a major challenge. NCLD offers a variety of policy recommendations to address these issues, including that the U.S. Department of Education should update its guidance on requirements under IDEA for incarcerated youth with disabilities, strengthened oversight and enforcement; oversight from Congress; and federal, state, and local efforts to provide better community-level services for youth including diversion programs and mental health services.

Review the report.

Nominations Open

Washington CASE is soliciting nominations for executive board members and officers. Positions start July 1. The open positions include President, Secretary, CAN Coordinator, and Member-at-Large, each of which has a two-year term.

You are encouraged to nominate your peers (or yourself) but please contact them beforehand. We want everyone to feel welcomed and to be willing to grow our organization.

https://forms.gle/5QQmTpZncAxpS3Q46

Reclaiming the Joy of Teaching

Many faculty aspired to a career in education because teaching, learning, and connecting with students brought joy. Yes, we recognized the work involved would be demanding. But we also got excited about the first day of class, spent inspired-hours crafting new learning activities, and smiled when students we met as first-years came back to connect when they neared graduation. Unfortunately, COVID-19, political unrest, climate change, and economic disruption has affected both us and students. Over the past semesters of teaching through the pandemic, the four of us ended each semester thinking, “That was the hardest semester we’ve ever had.” And now we’re anxious about what the next semester has in store. We hope, like us, you are looking for ways to thrive in these difficult conditions that are not going to change anytime soon. If so, we invite you to join us in taking the first steps towards joy, even if joy seems a long way off.

How recess helps students learn

As parents and schools seek to support students’ social and emotional needs—and teach them what they need to learn—some education leaders are missing one particularly effective opportunity.

The U.S. Department of Education has offered guidance on how to help students navigate the stress and trauma of the pandemic and readjust to in-person schooling after long periods of closed schools. But as someone who studies recess in connection with child development, I couldn’t help but notice recess was missing from the federal guidance and from many local efforts to support students as the pandemic continues to unfold.

Is team-teaching the future of education?

America does not have a shortage of licensed teachers. It does, however, have a shortage of people who want to teach.

High pressure. Low pay. Little encouragement. More responsibilities heaped on each year. These are a few of the reasons the profession is bleeding personnel.

But that could change if educational institutions consider systemic and structural approaches that spark imagination, encourage collaboration and improve outcomes for both teachers and students.

Creating more accessible classrooms in 3, 2, 1…

Equity became one of the top issues as the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the globe. Educators in every building acknowledged the continuing need to create more equitable education environments.

The interruption of in-person learning environments has impacted everyone but has particularly challenged those with specific learning needs. Students deserve the resources and support they need to fully engage in learning, and when you design for inclusion, everyone benefits.

Early Literacy Strategies That Work

As a first-grade teacher, I thought I knew how to teach reading—I’ve even received accolades for my pedagogy. During guided reading I would pull small groups of kids based on ability, spending 15–20 minutes with each. We would read through our story of the week by taking a picture walk to help us understand the story. If students were stuck on a word, I would cue them to sound it out and look at the picture.

A simple routine to support literacy development in all subjects

When you look at the five components of reading and how teachers’ emphasis on them changes as students learn to read, one constant is word learning. This shouldn’t be surprising for those familiar with Scarborough’s Reading Rope, which suggests that vocabulary and background knowledge are essential components of skilled reading. These two strands of the rope can account for a 50-60 percent variation in reading comprehension scores. Not only do students need to know how to decode words, but they must also know the meaning of words in order to apply their meaning toward comprehension.