New NCLD Guide: A Parent’s Guide to Response-to-Intervention
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA 2004) includes a new provision that allows states and school districts to use high quality, research-based instruction in general and special education to provide services and interventions to students who struggle with learning and may be at risk or suspected of having learning disabilities. The National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) has written this new Guide, A Parent's Guide to Response-to-Intervention (RTI), to provide an overview of the Response-to-Intervention process, describe how it is implemented in schools and offer questions that parents can ask. Click on the link to access the guide.
Posted on: Monday, January 29, 2007
National Studies Database Training NLTS2 and SEELS
From March 7-9, 2007 in Washington, DC, the University of Maryland in collaboration with SRI International and the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) of the U.S. Department of Education, will sponsor an advanced training workshop using national study databases including the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2) and the Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study (SEELS) databases. There is no fee to attend this training workshop and support for travel and lodging will be provided to accepted applicants. If you have any questions about this workshop, you can view more information here. The application deadline for the seminar is February 19, 2007.
Posted on: Monday, January 29, 2007
Exiting Community of Practice to Host Teleconference: Career Planning Begins with Assessment and Responding to Employer’s Needs
There will be a teleconference on Thursday, January 25, at 1:00pm (CST) entitled Career Planning Begins with Assessment and Responding to Employer’s Needs. To successfully make the transition from school to adult life and the world of work, adolescents and young adults need guidance and encouragement from caring, supportive adults. Youth with disabilities need strategies to show employers how their needs will be met if they hire someone with a disability. This teleconference is based on materials found in the Career Planning Begins with Assessment: A Guide for Professionals Serving Youth with Educational and Career Development Challenges, available online. Click on the preceding link to download a copy. The call will be hosted by the Exiting Community of Practice with the NCRRC facilitating the call. In order to access this call, dial 1.866.393.8073 and enter the access code *2830894* (enter the asterisks before and after the code). The Powerpoint presentation is available by clicking here.
Posted on: Tuesday, January 23, 2007
NCRRC to Host Comprehensive Center Meeting: Collaborating to Assist Region 4 States
The NCRRC will be hosting a meeting February 21-22, 2007 with the five Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) regional Comprehensive Centers that serve the states in Region 4. The meeting will be a dialogue about regional technical assistance collaboration among the six centers. The purpose of the meeting will be to assess needs for the collaborative development of knowledge, skills, and leadership within the region, and to identify opportunities for partnerships in delivering desired technical assistance services to the states in Region 4.
Posted on: Wednesday, January 17, 2007
New Access Center Webinar!
The Access Center’s Early Mathematics Identification and Intervention Webinar is to be held on January 17 at 2:30 PM EDT. Presented by Dr. Diane P. Bryant, professor in the Learning Disabilities/Behavior Disorders program at the University of Texas in Austin, it will focus on identification of children with risk for mathematics problems and interventions to address deficiencies in foundation skills. More information is available at the above link.
Posted on: Wednesday, January 17, 2007
NASDSE’s New Project Forums on Response to Intervention (RtI)
(1) Response to Intervention as it Relates to Early Intervening Services: Recommendations This Policy Forum Proceeding documents the process participants followed to describe barriers to implementation of Response to Intervention (RtI) as an Early Intervening Service (EIS), policy recommendations to address these barriers and implementation considerations. An introduction to the national perspective on RtI as it relates to EIS begins the document and closing remarks are included.
(3). Response to Intervention and Early Intervening Services Policy Forum Presentation Project Forum held the Response to Intervention/Early Intervening Services Policy Forum October 30-31, 2006. The purpose of the forum was practitioner-generated policy recommendations to support effective implementation of RtI and EIS as approaches to improve both general and special education student achievement and achieve common ground around these approaches among the various stakeholders. Click on the title link above to download the OSEP opening presentation. This document is the presentation given at the opening of the forum by Dr. Lou Danielson from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs.
Posted on: Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Recent Information Requests Submitted to NCRRC
Information Services provided reports in response to six Information Requests in April. The actual queries are detailed in an online document here. The list below briefly identifies the requests, using the descriptor terms from the Matrix thesaurus as an organizing device. Please feel free to contact the Coordinator of Information Services, Chris Rogers, at
if you desire further information about these searches. 1. Discipline, Early intervening, Funding 2. Due process, Hearing systems 3. Transition, Handbook, Guidelines, IDEA 2004 4. Special Education Advisory Council, LEA 5. Surrogate parents, Parent education 6. IEP, Standards, Curriculum
Posted on: Tuesday, May 1, 2007
NCRRC Products and Publications Available Online
The North Central Regional Resource Center has made available past publications and products. Present offerings include the sample dashboards for Icons and Metaphors - Data Representation in Dashboard Format, the Early Childhood Newsletter, and a 2005 Medicaid Report. These can be found by selecting "Our Publications and Products" from the right menu or by clicking here.
Since 2004, the National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities (NDPC-SD) has synthesized available research and practice in the area of dropout prevention for students with disabilities. Our efforts have yielded insights into why youth with disabilities drop out, the consequences faced by these youth, and effective prevention strategies. In the article Building Effective Dropout Preventions Programs by Dr. Loujeania W. Bost, some of the key strategies and recommendations gleaned from research and practice are shared. These strategies and recommendations can be used by state or local administrators as well as educators to guide the development of dropout prevention programs for students with disabilities.
Posted on: Tuesday, April 17, 2007
NASDSE’s Project Forum on Highly Mobile Children and Youth with Disabilities: Policies and Practices in Five States
The term “highly mobile children and youth” is used to describe a broad population of individuals ages 6-21, who share the condition of having moved six or more times during their school years (Popp, Stronge, & Hindman, 2003). This document’s primary focus is on a subset of the population of mobile children—infants, preschoolers, children and youth with disabilities and their families who are highly mobile. First, a background section provides information about policies and practices developed for mobile children at the federal level under the McKinney-Vento Program. The second section is an analysis of interviews with five state directors of special education and their corresponding McKinney-Vento program coordinators regarding how states are addressing the needs of mobile children with disabilities. This report was completed by Project Forum at the National Association of State Directors of Special Education Directors (NASDSE) as part of its cooperative agreement with OSEP at the U.S. Department of Education. This Project Forum can viewed in PDF format at by clicking here.
Posted on: Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Fact Sheets on Assistive Technology
The Family Center on Technology and Disability (FCTD) is a resource designed to support organizations and programs that work with families of children and youth with disabilities. They offer a range of information and services on the subject of assistive technologies. The FCTD have four new Assistive Technology Fact Sheets available on their website here. The four topics include: (1) Glossary, (2) Assistive Technology 101, (3) Assistive Technology and the IEP, and (4) Assistive Technology Laws.
Posted on: Tuesday, April 17, 2007
IDEAs that Work #170 - Discretionary Projects Supported by OSEP (FY 2006)
The IDEAs that Work #170 – Discretionary Projects Supported by OSEP (FY 2006) have three directories that are included in the document: (1) Personnel Preparation, (2) Technical Assistance and Dissemination, Parent Training and Information, and State Improvement, and (3) Research and Innovation with Technology and Media Services. Teachers and related services professionals, trainers, administrators, policymakers, researchers, families, and others who are involved in the development and delivery of special education services may find these documents to be interesting. The directories were developed by the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY). A limited number of copies are available in the OSEP Resource Room and can be obtained by contacting, Areta Edwards at 202-245-7332. For further information about obtaining a copy of the document, contact Robin Murphy in the RTP Division at 202-245-7457.
Posted on: Tuesday, April 17, 2007
NCRRC’s Strategies for Public Reporting Presentation Materials Now Available Online
On Wednesday, March 14, 2007 at 10:00 AM (CST) the North Central Regional Resource Center (NCRRC) held a regional call on Strategies for Public Reporting. The Center specifically discussed Public Reporting in ways other than data profiles (i.e., one-pagers on topics, public meetings, briefs, etc.). NCRRC also presented dashboards as example of using “icons and metaphors” in which states can use as a strategy for their Public Reporting of the SPP indicators. The PowerPoint and SPP Part B indicator 9 and Part C indicators 1-2, 5-6, and 7-8 dashboards presented during the call have been made available online. Information on how to access the materials will be emailed to all the participants who were on the call. Anyone who is interested in viewing the materials but were not on the call, please contact Maureen Hawes at
.
Posted on: Monday, March 19, 2007
A Parent’s Guide to Response-to-Intervention (2006)
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004) includes a provision that allows states and school districts to use high quality, research-based instruction in general and special education to provide services and interventions to students who struggle with learning and may be at risk of or suspected of having learning disabilities. The National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) has written this Guide to provide an overview of the Response-to-Intervention process and its implementation and suggest questions that parents can ask about it. The guide is available in PDF (12 pages, 469 KB) format. Click here to download.
Posted on: Monday, March 19, 2007
Access Center Communities of Practice Webinar
The Access Center is having a webinar on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 from 1:00-2:00 PM (CST) that is part of the Access Center’s Information Sharing Communities (ISC) and focuses on Communities of Practice. Tolani A. Adeboye, a Senior Associate in Special Education at the Council of Chief State School Officers will present Harnessing the Power of Networks: A Guide to Communities of Practice for State & District Leaders. This webinar is free and open to the public. A recording of the webinar will be made available online following the presentation. To listen to the recording, click on the link above. For more information on the webinar, click here.
Posted on: Monday, March 19, 2007
IDEA 2004 Roadmap to the IEP
Wrightslaw has compiled information on their website that provides an overview of changes in the law about IEPs and IEP meetings under IDEA 2004 that is entitled IDEA 2004 Roadmap to the IEP: IEP Meetings, Content, Review & Revision, Placements, Transition & Transfers. Click on the preceding link to view the information. There are also many other related articles on special education and advocacy, IDEA 2004, legal issues, and other topics that users can view on the website.
Posted on: Monday, March 19, 2007
14th Joint National Conference on Alternatives to Expulsion, Suspension, and Dropping Out of School Now Accepting Presentation Proposal
Presentation proposals are being sought for the 14th Joint National Conference on Alternatives to Expulsion, Suspension, and Dropping Out of School, to be held January 31-February 1, 2008 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Proposals should describe the causes and problems related to expulsions, suspensions, and dropouts; share how schools across the country are dealing with students considered delinquent, violent, or dangerous; and/or describe interventions to either reduce the number of youth at risk of expulsion, suspension, and dropout or to return out-of-school youth to school or otherwise engage them in work and educational activities. Proposal submission deadline: April 1, 2007. To submit a proposal, click on the link above.
Posted on: Monday, March 19, 2007
NCRRC Hosts Teleconference on IEP/Changes in Initial Evaluation and Reevaluation
The NCRRC will be hosting a regional teleconference on IEP/Changes in Initial Evaluation and Reevaluation on Tuesday, April 3, 2007 at 10:00 AM (CST)/11:00am (EST). Larry Ringer from OSEP will be our presenter. He will provide the context from the regulations and preamble, walk through the relevant Q and A, and address the additional questions that were asked. There will be time after each section for the participants to ask questions. Please have copies of the Q and A document and the August 14, 2006 copy of the regulations, as you will need them for the presentation. The Q and A documents can be downloaded here. To join the call, please dial 1-866-393-8073 access code *2830894* (be sure to include the asterisks).
Posted on: Monday, March 19, 2007
NCRRC Hosts Teleconference on IEP/Changes in Initial Evaluation and Reevaluation
The NCRRC will be hosting a regional teleconference on IEP/Changes in Initial Evaluation and Reevaluation on Tuesday, April 3, 2007 at 10:00 AM (CST)/11:00am (EST). Larry Ringer, from OSEP, will be our presenter. He will provide the context from the regulations and preamble, walk through the relevant Q and A, and address the additional questions that were asked. There will be time after each section for the participants to ask questions. Please have copies of the Q and A document and the August 14, 2006 copy of the regulations, as you will need them for the presentation. The Q and A documents can be downloaded here. To join the call, please dial 1-866-393 -8073 access code *2830894* (be sure to include the asterisks).
