Category: Updates

The Trump administration is planning to rethink existing regulations that radically altered the transition from school to work for people with disabilities. The U.S. Department of Education is expected to issue a proposal this month changing how the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act is implemented. The 2014 law requires that individuals with disabilities age 24 and younger pursue competitive integrated employment before they can work in jobs paying less than minimum wage.  READ MORE

Guidance issued during the Obama administration, which was aimed at ensuring that minorities and students with disabilities weren’t unfairly disciplined, is no more. The U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Education indicated in late December that a 2014 “Dear Colleague” letter informing schools of their responsibilities when meting out discipline has officially been rescinded. The move came just days after a federal school safety panel chaired by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos recommended abandoning the guidance.  READ MORE

In September of 2018 the CEC Board of Directors approved a new policy concerning the prevention of and response to maltreatment (i.e., neglect & abuse). The policy is designed to improve the safety and wellbeing of all children with disabilities through enhancements in research, teacher preparation standards, professional development opportunities, school policies, advocacy programs, curricular resources, and instructional strategies. This policy was designed to expand the current professional focus upon recognition and reporting, to a focus upon prevention of and response to maltreatment. The change in focus is supported by a broad coalition of agencies and organizations, including the CEC Board of Directors, several CEC Divisions, IDC members and the CEC Representative Assembly. The new CEC policy is guided by data concerning the long term risks associated with child maltreatment and the fact that children with disabilities are three times more likely to be maltreated than their nondisabled peers.

CASE is collaborating with the IDC Maltreatment Work Group in the design, development and dissemination of K-12 policies, professional development opportunities and curricular resources. At this initial stage of the work CASE is seeking to identify “Bright Spots,” i.e., school leaders who have existing expertise concerning maltreatment as experienced by children with disabilities. CASE members with this expertise are asked to contact Dr. Harold Johnson/CoChair of the IDC Maltreatment Work Group (3hjohnson@nullgmail.com) or Jamie Hopkins (jamiehopkins777@nullgmail.com), member IDC Maltreatment Work Group. Dr. Johnson or Ms. Hopkins will then follow up to provide more information concerning the “Bright Spot” initiative.

Additional information and collaborative opportunities regarding the new CEC policy on maltreatment will be provided in subsequent CASE communications.  READ MORE

The National Center for Systemic Improvement is pleased to present a two-part webinar series: Got Evidence? Where to Find and How to Use It to Make Sound Decisions About Evidence-Based Practices. The term “evidence-based practice” in early childhood has its roots in evidence-based medicine and relies upon identifying and combining multiple sources of evidence to make decisions about services for young children and their families. The NCSI has created an interconnected suite of tools that explain the history and rationale behind using these multiple sources, where to look for evidence, and how to appraise and combine the evidence to inform the selection, implementation, and evaluation of specific practices for individuals or groups of children and families.

The first webinar on Feb. 15 will introduce the suite of tools and engage participants in considering real world vignettes that illustrate their application in early childhood programs. Click here to register for webinar 1.

The second webinar on March 1 will engage participants more deeply in using the tools to conduct the search for evidence, evaluate information from different sources, and synthesize it to make decisions about practices to implement and how to ensure they improve outcomes for the children and families in participants’ specific contexts. Click here to register for webinar 2.

For further information, please contact: Taletha Derrington, tderrington@nullair.org or Monica Mathur-Kalluri, mmathur@nullwested.org

This month’s update concerns two issues that were subject to recent court decisions and are of practical significance: (a) contingent IEPs for students in third-party placements, such as Medicaid-provided residential treatment facilities; and (b) restrictions on parental communications to district personnel based on a previous pattern of excessive or intimidating e-mails, calls, and/or visits.  READ MORE

Last October, the National Association of State Directors of Special Education issued new guidelines for educating deaf and hard of hearing students titled: “Optimizing Outcomes for Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing: Educational Service Guidelines.” The Conference of Educational Administrators of Schools and Programs for the Deaf is collaborating with the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center (the Clerc Center) to offer a free all-day summit on the new guidelines as well as other salient topics related to the education of deaf and hard of hearing students in all educational settings. The summit will be held at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 26.

This summit is for special education directors and deaf education administrators/professionals in the areas of policy, best practices, and innovation related to educating deaf and hard of hearing students.

The summit is an opportunity to engage in discussion with school administrators from around the country whose schools serve large number of deaf and hard of hearing students about federally implemented programs based on laws impacting the education of deaf and hard of hearing students ages 0-21. The summit will also explore broader questions relating to early hearing detection and language acquisition and STEM programs at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

The summit is offered free of cost through a collaboration with CEASD and the Clerc Center. It will be conducted in American Sign Language and spoken English. Hotel accommodations are available on the campus of Gallaudet University. Please click here to view the flyer for details. Click here to register.

The midterm elections were good for supporters of expanding early-childhood education, with the majority of newly elected governors expressing support for programs targeted at teaching and caring for young people. Though there may be widespread support on the need for early-childhood education programs, there is no consensus over what those programs should focus on and look like.  READ MORE

Over this past year, lifestyle blogger Aileen Xu has kept a monthly gratitude list. Sometimes it was the big stuff: “I’m grateful that my family is so understanding. I’m grateful so many people care.” And sometimes it was life’s little blessings: “July 2018: I’m grateful for good hair after I shower.”  READ MORE

Children should have equal access to a high-quality education. It’s a popular talking point among both the left and the right because it’s non-objectionable — yet it’s far from the reality of American primary and secondary education. As the landmark Reagan-administration report, A Nation at Risk, put it 35 years ago, “If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war.”  READ MORE

Imagine if each school day every teacher arrived with a contagious, optimistic attitude. Research suggests that positive emotions can help solve problems, reinforce resilience, strengthen relationships and even improve educational outcomes. An important aspect of effective leadership is creating and supporting environments that cultivate optimism. Here are four practical strategies for creating a positive and optimistic school culture.  READ MORE