Category: Updates

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

A commentary from Amy Temple:

For the past year, you have read about my experiences living with learning disabilities. I have shared moments of being bullied and harassed in school, and being discriminated against and rejected by family members, prospective employers and society as a whole because of my condition. I have described my feelings of anger and bitterness over the mistreatment, but I honestly felt so much worse than that. I didn’t trust anyone. I’m sure I missed out on great opportunities and relationships because I was so afraid of getting hurt.  READ MORE

This month’s update highlights two recent federal court decisions that are of general significance: (a) one with multiple issues that extend to evaluation and FAPE under Section 504, and (b) another that illustrates the employee “whistleblower” side of special education. Both decisions are not officially published and are at the trial court level, thus of limited precedential weight, but their issues contribute to practitioners’ legal currency. More detailed analyses of these various issues and related case law are available on the Publications page of perryzirkel.com.

Mark Schultz Named New Assistant Secretary for OSERS

OSEP has welcomed Mark Schultz as the new Assistant Secretary for OSERS, the position recently vacated by Johnny Collett.  In addition to his new position, Mark is also the Rehabilitation Services Commissioner for OSERS.

Mark joined the Department in August after a long career in vocational rehabilitation. Most recently, Mark was a deputy commissioner at the Nebraska Department of Education where his division included the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation and the Office of Special Education. Prior to his role at the Nebraska Department of Education, he served as both the director and associate director with Nebraska Vocational Rehabilitation, director of the Nebraska Assistive Technology Partnership and as a barrier-free design specialist for the League of Human Dignity, a Center for Independent Living. He has also served as a president of the Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation and a member of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Information Technology Steering Committee. (OSEP, 10-29-19).

 

Five Programs Funded by OSEP in Fiscal Year 2019

Promoting Rigorous Outcomes and Growth by Redesigning Educational Services for Students with Disabilities (PROGRESS Center). The PROGRESS Center will help private, public, and charter schools improve their capacity to design and implement high-quality, evidence-based educational programs to meet the standards of the Endrew F. decision. The expected outcomes are an increase in knowledge, awareness, and use of resources to improve quality and implementation, and ultimately an ecosystem of educators who can design and implement quality special education programs. Its website will launch soon.

National Center for Systemic Improvement (NCSI). NCSI will provide differentiated support to states through universal, targeted, and intensive technical assistance to help states best use their general supervision and professional development systems to establish and meet high expectations for each child with a disability.

National Center on Accessible Educational Materials (AEM 2.0). AEM 2.0 will continue improving systems that provide accessible educational materials and technologies for individuals with disabilities in early learning, K-12, higher education, and workforce settings.

The Center for IDEA Early Childhood Data Systems (DaSy Center). The DaSy Center will provide technical assistance to (1) improve states’ capacity to collect, report, analyze and use high-quality IDEA Part C data required under IDEA sections 618 and 616 and IDEA Part B preschool data for those indicators that are not solely based on IDEA section 618 data (e.g., Indicators B7 and B12); and (2) enhance, streamline, and integrate statewide child-level early childhood data systems to address critical policy questions that will facilitate program improvement, improve compliance accountability, and improve outcomes for children served under Part C and Part B preschool special education programs.

IDEA Data Center (IDC). IDC provides technical assistance to build state capacity for collecting, reporting, analyzing, and using IDEA Part B data, including preschool data. IDC also provides technical assistance to local education agencies (LEA), in partnership with states, to improve LEA data quality.

Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) published four policy letters addressing a variety of issues:

July 3: Letter to Zirkel addresses a series of questions regarding a state educational agency’s complaint procedures, in particular, resolution of state complaints and enforcement actions.

September 9: Letter to Anonymous addresses questions regarding: (1) the participation of children with disabilities in IEP team meetings and other meetings held to discuss the results of testing, the child’s evaluation or reevaluation, or the child’s identified disability category (particularly secondary transition-aged youth); and (2) provision of assessment reports to meeting participants, including the parents, prior to the meeting at which the assessment results will be discussed.

September 9: Letter to Rowland addresses a series of questions regarding the development of IEPs of children placed in certain preschool programs, including whether a public agency may restrict the provision of a specific related service based solely on the child’s placement in a particular program.

September 17: Increasing Postsecondary Opportunities and Success for Students and Youth with Disabilities describes how state educational agencies, local educational agencies, and state vocational rehabilitation agencies may coordinate to assist students and youth with disabilities, including students and youth with intellectual disabilities who are in high school and at postsecondary education institutions, through appropriate supports funded under the IDEA and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended by Title IV of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.