There are 4 upcoming Exiting - Part B Community of Practice teleconferences scheduled for Fall 2007. For current information go to their website by clicking here. To participate, dial 866-393-8073 and enter *2830894* (including the asterisks). (1) The "Putting the ‘I’ in the IEP" teleconference will be held on Thursday, August 30th from 2:00-3:00pm (CDT) and will be led by Dr. Robert Stodden and Dr. Kelly Roberts, University of Hawai’i at Manoa; (2) The "Data Collection for Program Improvement" teleconference will be held on Wednesday, September 5th from 1:00-2:00pm (CDT) and will be led by Ed O’Leary, Mountain Plains Regional Resource Center; (3) The "Check and Connect: An Evidence-Based Strategy for Improving Graduation Rates" teleconference will be held on Tuesday, September 18th from 1:00-2:00pm (CDT) and will be led by Dr. Sandra Christenson, University of Minnesota; (4) Finally, the "Evaluating the Effectiveness of Your Improvement Strategies" teleconference will be held on Wednesday, October 3rd from 1:00-2:00pm (CDT) and will be led by Dr. Michael Sharpe, North Central Regional Resource Center.
Posted on: Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Recent Information Requests Submitted to NCRRC
Information Services provided reports in response to 6 Information Requests in July. The following list describes the requests, using the descriptor terms from the Matrix thesaurus as an organizing device. Attached is a list of the actual questions as well. Please feel free to contact the Coordinator of Information Services, Chris Rogers, at
if you would like further information about these searches. 1. Funding, Fiscal management, LEA 2. Parent professional partnership, Training, Survey 3. IEP, Consent 4. Maintenance, Funding, Fiscal management 5. Monitoring, LEA 6. Funding, Low incidence disabilities
Posted on: Wednesday, August 15, 2007
DEC Annual International Conference
The Division of Early Childhood (DEC) will be holding their 23rd Annual International Conference on Young Children with Special Needs and Their Families conference from October 25-28, 2007 at the Sheraton on the Falls and Brock Plaza in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. The sessions and workshops at this conference are intended to focus on a variety of issues for individuals that work with children of special needs and their families. Additional information about the conference, as well as registering information can be found at the above link.
PACER Center (a National Center based in Minnesota) has drafted a new brief in collaboration with the National Post-School Outcomes Center (NPSO). This brief discusses a survey of students who have already transitioned out of special education. Examples of survey questions and how results from the survey can help improve secondary education and transition are also included.
Posted on: Wednesday, August 1, 2007
DEC's Final Comments on Proposed IDEA Part C Regulations
The Council for Exceptional Children's Division for Early Childhood (DEC) has submitted its final comments on the Part C Notice of Proposed Rule Making. They are available online by clicking here. The deadline for comments was July 23, 2007.
Posted on: Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Measuring Child and Family Outcomes - NECTAC National TA Meeting
Registration is now open for the Measuring Child and Family Outcomes NECTAC National TA Meeting, including Part C and Section 619 Coordinators Meetings, August 26-29, 2007, in Baltimore, MD. This TA meeting will provide opportunities for participants to learn about other states' strategies for measuring child and family outcomes, hear the latest guidance from the Early Childhood Outcomes Center and OSEP, and discuss common challenges and effective practices. For more information on this conference or to register for the conference, go to the above link.
Information Services provided reports in response to 10 Information Requests in June. The following list describes the requests, using the descriptor terms from the Matrix thesaurus as an organizing device. Attached is a list of the actual questions as well. Please feel free to contact the Coordinator of Information Services, Chris Rogers, at
if you would like further information about these searches. 1. Modifications, Assessment 2. Transition, Postsecondary education, IEP, Regulations 3. RtI, Management 4. Consultant 5. Monitoring, LEA, Self assessment 6. State advisory panels 7. RtI, Consultants 8. Monitoring, LEA, Training, Professional development 9. Monitoring, IEP, Service delivery 10. Funding, Accessibility, IEU
Posted on: Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Resolution Meetings: A Guide for Parents
The Technical Assistance ALLIANCE for Parent Centers National Technical Assistance Center and the Consortium for Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Special Education (CADRE) have produced a short document entitled Resolution Meetings: A Guide for Parents. The guide provides information about how disagreements about special education services between parents and schools may be resolved via early dispute resolution.
Posted on: Tuesday, July 17, 2007
NECTAC Notes 24 released: Eligibility for Young Children under IDEA Part B
The National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (NECTAC) has released their latest issue of NECTAC Notes, Eligibility Policies and Practices for Young Children under Part B of IDEA. This document analyzes definitions of developmental delay and summarizes eligibility classifications and criteria for Part B by the states. It can be found at the above link online in PDF format.
Posted on: Tuesday, July 17, 2007
New Product from NDPC-SD
The National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities (NDPC-SD) is pleased to announce the following OSEP approved document Collecting Post-School Outcome Data: Strategies for Increasing Response Rates, prepared in partnership with the National Post-School Outcomes Center (NPSO) at the University of Oregon. In this document, Drs. Sandra Covington Smith and Loujeania Williams Bost from NDPC-SD provide an overview of the IDEA requirements to collect post-school outcome data, challenges faced by states in collecting these data, and recommended strategies from survey literature and state and local practice to secure sufficient response rates, especially from youth who drop out of school.
Posted on: Tuesday, July 17, 2007
New RAND Study on Standards-Based Accountability
The RAND Corporation has released a new study report entitled Standards-Based Accountability Under No Child Left Behind Experiences of Teachers and Administrators in Three States. A study and comparison of policies, practices, and experiences in California, Georgia, and Pennsylvania, it focuses on how accountability policies have been acted upon and are considered at the district, school, and classroom levels. According to the authors, the study was designed to identify factors leading to the improved implementation of standards-based accountability systems, foster change in school and classroom practice, and promote improved student achievement. It can be found for free at the above link.
Posted on: Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Tools for Promoting Educational Success and Reducing Delinquency
The Juvenile Justice/Special Education Shared Agenda, a joint project between the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) and the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN), has released a new collection of information entitled Tools for Promoting Success and Reducing Delinquency (Tools for Success). This compendium collects best practices to further the educational stability of youth at risk of developing or already having disabilities. It includes research-based effective practices for meeting the needs of these students, including in early identification and intervention. Intended for teachers and administrators, it can be found at the above link.
Posted on: Tuesday, July 10, 2007
New Multimedia Presentations from NECTAC
The National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (NECTAC) has released new multimedia presentations on Challenging Behavior and Vulnerable Populations. These presentations are collected from several conference calls held by the center. The presentation on Challenging Behavior concerns social, emotional, and behavioral development and outcomes in young children, while those on Vulnerable Populations concern identification and services. All presentations can be found at the above link.
Posted on: Tuesday, July 10, 2007
ECO Center Released Updated State Activity Maps and Matrices
The Early Childhood Outcomes Center has published updated versions of their state activity tables, matrices, and maps on their website. Based on information reported by Part B/619 and Part C coordinators as of June 28, these documents illustrate how various states plan to meet the OSEP reporting requirements on child and family outcomes. Information on child outcomes can be found here, while information on family outcomes is available here.
Posted on: Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Building the Legacy: A Training Curriculum on IDEA 2004
A new training curriculum for IDEA 2004 has been released by the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY). Entitled Building the Legacy, it is intended to provide training materials for IDEA and the final Part B regulations. It has been organized into five themes, including a welcome and basic primer of changes to IDEA 2004, IDEA and general education, evaluation of children for disabilities, IEPs, and procedural safeguards. These themes in turn contain nineteen training modules relevant to the topic. Seven modules are available at the above link at present, and more will be made available by the close of Summer 2007.
Posted on: Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Connecting the Dots: C to B Transition Training
"Connecting the Dots" is an online C to B transition training, developed by the North Central Regional Resource Center and the Iowa Department of Education. This training is designed to assist Service Coordinators, LEA staff, and parents in understanding aspects of early childhood transition, including: IDEA 2004, State Policies and Procedures, Roles and Responsibilities, Recommended Practices, Relationships with Families, and Iowa-specific transition information. The NCRRC conducted its first training with Iowa personnel last week. If you would like more information on this web-based training please contact Ann Bailey at
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Posted on: Tuesday, June 26, 2007
NCRRC Visits Vietnam
Last winter, Dr. Yen Thi Hoang Nguyen, Dean of Special Education Faculty at the Hanoi University of Education, and Director of the Training and Development Center for Special Education in Hanoi, visited the North Central Regional Resource Center (NCRRC) for a week as part of her Fulbright Fellowship in the United States. Staff of the NCRRC worked with Dr. Nguyen to explore issues in regional resource center implementation and operation, with the prospect of implementation of similar regional resource centers in provinces of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, to support the educational inclusion of children and youth with disabilities. As a follow up to this meeting, Tom Delaney and Tri Tran, on scholarship, are currently spending two weeks in Vietnam to continue work around possible implementation of the Regional Resource Model for technical assistance in Vietnam. Tom and Tri are working with faculty at Hanoi University of Education and will be teaching a few classes while in Hanoi.
Posted on: Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Recent Information Requests Submitted to NCRRC
Information Services provided reports in response to six Information Requests in May. The following list describes the requests, using the descriptor terms from the Matrix thesaurus as an organizing device. Attached is a list of the actual questions as well, available at the preceding link. Please feel free to contact the Coordinator of Information Services, Chris Rogers, at
if you would like further information about these searches. 1. Parent education, Funding, IEP 2. SIG, Personnel preparation 3. IEP 4. Monitoring 5. RtI, Collaboration, General education, Service delivery 6. Public relations, Outcomes, Multicultural, ELL
Posted on: Tuesday, June 26, 2007
NASDSE’s New Project Forums
Project Forum has recently released four new policy analyses: (1) Part C Technical Assistance: State Approaches; (2) Involvement of Youth with Disabilities in State-Level Decision Making; (3) Mentoring Programs for Special Education Teachers: State Approaches; and (4) INTASC Principles: How They are Addressed by Five Specialty Program Association Standards. These documents can be found at the Project Forum site here. Project Forum’s aim is to facilitate improved services to children and youth with disabilities by gathering and sharing information that supports changes to policy and practice at the national, state and local levels.
Posted on: Tuesday, June 26, 2007
New IDEA Part C Regulations Side-by-Side from CEC
The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), in conjunction with its Division on Early Childhood (DEC) and the Infant and Toddler Coordinators Association (ITCA), has released a new resource to help readers understand the IDEA Part C proposed regulations released on May 9. This side-by-side comparison of the current IDEA Part C regulations to the 2007 proposed Part C regulations is intended to serve as a tool to assist readers in preparing their own analysis related to the Part C proposed regulations. There are six sections, relating to general provisions, grant applications and procedures for states, program and service components for early intervention, procedural safeguards, state administration, and state interagency coordinating councils. These may be found at the above link.
Posted on: Wednesday, June 6, 2007
ECO Q&A: Outcomes 101
The Early Childhood Outcomes (ECO) Center has published a new FAQ pertaining to childhood outcomes. It gives brief answers to many questions that are frequently asked of state staff, parent centers, and others regarding the child and family outcomes measurement process. The FAQ is divided into multiple sections including Outcomes and Federal Reporting, Child Outcomes Summary Form, and Family Outcomes Survey. The FAQ can be found at the above link.
Posted on: Wednesday, June 6, 2007
NCCRESt Cultural Certification Training Available
The second of two NCCRESt cultural certification training sessions will be held June 19-21 in Denver, CO. Each training session is intended to help participants understand culture and diversity and its effects, especially in the context of the educational system. Participants will be able to define culture, understand the development of a culturally responsive perspective and pedagogy, consider the impact of culture on the individual and system alike, learn the consequences of cultural unresponsiveness, understand the power of words and labels, and develop a perspective of diversity. The cost for registration is $499 per person. Information can be found at the above link.
Posted on: Wednesday, June 6, 2007
New Version of SPP Dashboards are Now Available
The SPP Part B and C dashboards presented during the NCRRC’s regional call on Strategies for Public Reporting have recently been updated and made available on the SPP Directory web site. The demos illustrate how progress on SPP targets can be reported using icons and metaphors known as a dashboard. Dashboards are a new, innovative technology that utilizes maps, gauges, thermometers, charts, and tables to present complex data, permitting dynamic representation and comparison in an intuitive manner. This method for public reporting goes beyond the use of “static” reports and charts to present complex data sets effectively and in a manner that can be easily understood to a wide range of audiences—regardless of their prior training in the use and interpretation of data. To access the dashboards, click on the link above. You will need a security access code to log into the web site. To obtain the login information, please contact Maureen Hawes at
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