The Southeast Regional Resource Center is one of six Regional Resource Centers funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs. The RRCs assist states in carrying out activities that support programs for special education and related services for infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities and their families.  SERRC serves the following areas:  Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.

US Department of Education latest press releases available HERE. 

•  SERRC partners with ACCESS to assist SEAs and districts on improving children's with disabilities access to the regular education curriculum.  For more information, contact Delia Cerpa, SERRC liason to ACCESS, at and/or visit the ACCESS website at http://www.k8acesscenter.org

•  The Parent Mentor Toolkit (produced by SERRC in conjunction with the Georgia Department of Education) is now available online HERE (PDF).

•  The Access Center: Improving Access to the General Education Curriculum for Students K-8 is a five-year, national, federally funded technical assistance center. The Center is in the last year of funding and would like to share its free resources. The resources focus on core content areas – language arts, math, and science – as well as on instructional and learning strategies to provide students with disabilities access to rigorous academic content. There is a series of training modules and information briefs on such topics as teaching and learning strategies, media and materials, supports and accommodations, universal design for learning, differentiated instruction, and collaborative teaching. To learn more about the Access Center and its materials, go to: http://www.k8accesscenter.org/index.php 

•    NICHCY Module 16 - "Children with Disabilities Enrolled by Their Parents in Private Schools" is available at:  http://www.nichcy.org/training/contents.asp#private
When IDEA was amended recently, significant changes were made in its requirements with respect to parentally-placed private school children with disabilities. Those changes are having an impact on school districts and State educational agencies (SEAs), including who's responsible for deciding and paying for special education services for this group of children. Read all about it in the new module--and use the module to train others, it comes with a slide show, details for trainers, and handouts for participants. 

•    NICHCY Module 17 – “Introduction to Procedural Safeguards” is available at:  http://www.nichcy.org/training/contents.asp#ThemeE
Procedural safeguards are designed to protect the rights of parents and their child with a disability, as well as give families and schools a mechanism for resolving disputes. This new module looks at parent participation, written notices such as prior written notice and the procedural safeguards notice, and other selected concepts and definitions (e.g., independent educational evaluation, surrogate parents, and transfer of parental rights at age of majority). The module ends with a brief look at IDEA’s dispute resolution options. The module includes PowerPoint slide shows to use in training sessions, a detailed discussion of IDEA for trainers, and handouts for audience participants.

New Project Forum Documents

•    Standards-Based Individualized Education Program Examples (PDF)
This document presents a seven-step process to be used in developing a standards-based IEP. Each step is followed by guiding questions for the IEP team to consider in making data-based decisions. Examples are provided to illustrate application of the components of a standards-based IEP. Readers might use this tool to think about how the contextual characteristics of a school setting might influence the creation and implementation of a student’s IEP. The companion document, “A Seven-Step Process to Creating Standards-based IEPs” (PDF) provides the steps and guiding questions in a brief two-page document.

•    Reading First and Special Education: Examples of State-Level Collaboration (PDF)
This In-Brief Policy Analysis introduces the Reading First provisions in Title I of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Examples of state-level collaboration were collected through interviews with six states and describe the background and elements of their collaboration, local-level collaboration, fiscal and human resources, outcomes, lessons learned, and next steps. Recommendations for improving collaboration between Reading First and special education staff are included.

•    State Definitions of Significant Disproportionality (PDF)
This In-Brief Policy Analysis describes states’ definitions of significant disproportionality as described under Section 618 of the Individuals with Disabilities Act 2004. Data was collected through a survey with states and jurisdictions. Responses indicate that although some states’ definitions are not complete, most states have developed procedures to analyze significant disproportionality with respect to identification. Fewer states have procedures in place to analyze this with respect to the other two areas: placement and discipline. An appendix with sample definitions in each of the three areas is included.