Region 4 States Participate in 2005 IDEA and NCLB Collaboration Conference
Iowa, Minnesota and Pennsylvania state teams participated in the 2005 IDEA and NCLB Collaboration Conference, held on November 30-December 2 in Arlington Virginia. The purpose of the IDEA and NCLB Collaboration Conference was to broaden the work of the Title I and IDEA Collaboration Network. The general purpose of this meeting was to provide information regarding why “change” is necessary. Larry Gloeckler, of the International Center for Leadership in Education, presented information regarding reform efforts, the accomplishments of students with disabilities and how much improvement students with disabilities have demonstrated in recent years on performance measures. In addition, the conference included presentations on Response to Intervention (RtI) and Early Intervention by Daryl Mellard and Daniel Reshley. Information was presented on each of these topics to show how research can be put into practice. John Heskett of the NCRRC facilitated a discussion among State teams within Region 4 with regard to issues revolving around the intended and unintended consequences with regard to the alignment of IDEA and NCLB.
Iowa is one of 11 sites to receive a grant from the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) to participate in the Youth with Disabilities Transition Demonstration (YDTD) projects. The YDTD is a nine-year study that began in October 2005 and will be completed in 2014. The SSA contracted Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (MPR) to lead an evaluation team that includes MDRC (a nonprofit, nonpartisan social policy research organization), Cornell University Institute for Policy Research, and academic specialists to develop and evaluate YDTD projects for young adults who are either receiving disability benefits or who may be receiving them in the future. The evaluation team will use a random assignment model to examine the impact of services and waivers of disability program rules on disabled youth’s academic performance, employment, earnings, and receipt of disability benefits. It will also examine the impact on the Social Security trust fund and federal income tax revenues.
The Minnesota Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities recently added a new online course, Partners in Education, to its award-winning e-learning leadership training program, Partners in Policymaking. This is a three-hour, self-directed course designed to help parents of children with developmental disabilities navigate the special education system and maximize their child’s potential. The course focuses on a child's right to a free appropriate public education and the laws that protect those rights. It also offers practical ways that parents can ensure that their children benefit from an inclusive education. For more information about the course, click on the link above.
Five of the 14 states that received $52.8 million by the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences in grants to design and implement statewide longitudinal data systems are from Region 4. Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin were awarded a total of $19.1 million in grants to develop data systems that would provide more accurate and timely data to meet federal reporting requirements, support decision-making, and aid education research. To read the entire press release, click on the given link above.
The North Central Regional Resource Center (NCRRC) has developed a “white paper” describing activities that will lead to the development and dissemination of a series of strategies aimed at building the capacity of Local Education Agency (LEA) staff to effectively use data to make local program improvements in concert with state efforts to demonstrate accountability with federal IDEA 2004 requirements. The strategies will parallel that of the state in addressing the performance indicators of the State Performance Plan (SPP). Content will include strategies for analyzing and making decisions based on local data, including graduation and dropout rates, disproportionate representation, and related topics. Initially, strategies will focus on basic data analysis using a team approach, eventually evolving to the identification and use of tools, products, and services for “moving” data at the LEA level. This effort will be directed by Dr. Bill McMillan, NCRRC Consultant. For more information, download the white paper Moving Data: Training for Local Education Agencies.
The NCRRC will be hosting a presession at the National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems (NCCRESt) forum, Creating Opportunities to Learn: A Forum for Addressing Disproportionality, in Denver Colorado on February 15 - 17, 2006. This presession will focus on identifying strategies to address disproportionality issues within Region 4 states as well as nationally. This presession will be held on February 14—additional details will be forthcoming. On-line registration is now open for the conference. Visitors can find more information about the conference including keynote speakers, preliminary agenda, and hotel information by clicking the link given above, or register by going directly to https://secure.greenriver.org/store/nccrest.html
Posted on: Thursday, November 10, 2005
Workgroups Hosted by North Central Regional Resource Center (NCRRC)
The North Central Regional Resource Center (NCRRC) currently is hosting a number of workgroups that are developed around high-interest areas of Region 4 states. Current workgroups include Response to Intervention, Disproportionality, Monitoring, Early Childhood, Transition, and Highly Qualified Teachers. For more information about NCRRC workgroups, please contact the center’s coordinator, Maureen Hawes, at 612-624-1144 or via e-mail at
.
Sixteen early childhood administrators and parent representatives, from 5 states, attended NCRRC’s First Early Childhood Forum in Bloomington MN on June 20-21, 2005. Information and resources can be found throughout the newsletter on some of the major themes that arose from discussions groups.
Applied Collaboration is a unique staff development training program that brings special education and general education professionals together to work collaboratively to accommodate students with disabilities as they participate in the general education curriculum. This training emphasizes the transformation in roles and responsibilities that educators face as programs for students with disabilities become more inclusive. Applied Collaboration focuses on the critical components needed for successful professional collaboration in an effort to change attitudes and “old” teaching practices resulting in systemic change that will increase success for all students in today’s diverse classrooms. This staff development training consists of two components: (1) Collaborative Strategies is a session for teams of educators desiring to develop their collaborative skills by focusing on team-building strategies that enhance student access and learning in the general curriculum and (2) Instructional Strategies is a session for teams of educators who are looking for additional and specific strategies for learners. This session focuses on teaching strategies that enhance student access and learning in the general education curriculum. For more information on this unique staff development training please contact Maureen Hawes at
If you have developed tools, products, and training resources that might inform other Region 4 states about critical or “cross-cutting” issues of the day, please forward this information to the NCRRC. NCRRC would like to include this information in its bi-weekly E-News, Please send a brief description of the tool, product, or training resource, including contact information to
This is a great way to share information on exciting things happening in your state to improve results for infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities.
Nineteen coordinators/early childhood staff from 5 states met in Bloomington MN for a day and half of networking and sharing ideas on June 20-21, 2005. Presentations were made on topics such as Systems Change, the Birth-to-Six Option, Data, and Family and Child Outcomes. Feel free to download the Powerpoint presentation on outcomes.
The NCRRC is pleased to host Dr. Kay Ferrell as our guest speaker for the first teleconference of a three-part teleconference series entitled Qualified VI and OM Teachers: Strategies for the Future. This three-part teleconference series will be moderated by Donna McNear, a VI teacher and trainer, in collaboration with national experts and other practitioners in the field. The teleconference topics will focus on such issues as Visual Impairment (VI) and Orientation Mobility (OM) teacher shortages within the context of highly qualified teacher requirements, including strategies for recruiting, training, and retention of teachers, professional development activities, and an examination of a collaborative model for training. The first teleconference is scheduled for Tuesday, May 31, 2005 (1:00 – 2:00 CDT). This first one-hour teleconference will focus on an overview of VI and OM teacher shortage issues and an overview of VI and OM teacher training in the context of highly qualified teachers.
Posted on: Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Part C/619 Coordinators Meeting in Minneapolis
The NCRRC will be hosting its first annual Part C/619 Coordinators Forum in Minneapolis on June 20-21, 2005. Part C Coordinators and 619 Coordinators will be receiving more detailed information about this forum in the coming week. If you have any questions, please contact the NCRRC Coordinator, Maureen Hawes, at .
Posted on: Wednesday, May 04, 2005
NCRRC Pre-session at the National Leadership Summit on Improving Results
The NCRRC will be hosting a pre-session to the 2005 National Leadership Summit on Improving Results: Policy and Practice Implications for Secondary and Postsecondary Education, Transition, and Workforce Development for Youth with Disabilities. This event will take place on Monday, June 13, 2005 from 1:00-4:00 at the Capital Hilton in Washington DC. State Team leaders will be contacted to identify topics of importance for the pre-session. Please watch for more information in our next issue of E-News or contact Maureen Hawes at .
Dr. Donna Hart- Tervalon, Assistant Director of Special Education for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Patricia Williams, School Administration Consultant with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and Daniel Losen, Senior Legal and Policy Research Associate for The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University will present information on Wisconsin’s initiative to “scale up” its efforts for addressing disproportionate representation of minority students in special education. The panel will discuss how the issue of disproportionate representation is being addressed by the state’s Continuous Improvement and Focused Monitoring System, with the assistance of the National Center for Special Education Accountability Monitoring (NCSEAM), the National Center for Culturally Responsive Education Systems (NCCREST) and the Harvard Civil Rights Project.
The overrepresentation of racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse students in special education and the quality of their educational experiences have been regarded as among the most significant issues faced by the U.S. public school system in the past 30 years. During this teleconference, Dr. Anthony Sims will explore minority disproportionality in special education and the achievement gap. Dr. Sims will examine connections between achievement and disproportionate representation of culturally and linguistically diverse children; explore alternate paths to meaningful data concerning the interaction between school factors and students placed at risk for school failure; and provide recommendations for staff development activities aimed at building consensus, capacity and shared responsibility.
During this teleconference, Dr. Elizabeth B. Kozleski of the National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems (NCCRESt) will describe the issues around disproportionality; discuss what NCCRESt is doing to close the achievement gap between students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and their peers; communicate how NCCRESt is helping state and local school systems reduce inappropriate referrals to special education; and explain how state and local school systems may access this information. Click on link above for further information.
