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NICHCY

National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities

Click here  to view the NICHCY website.

Early Childhood

Developmental screening and assessment instruments for young children (birth to 5)
NECTAC compiled this list of instruments through a review of the infant mental health literature, state information, screening and assessment texts, and publishers' Web sites. The information for each instrument includes a description, the age range for which the instrument was validated, the time to administer, the scoring procedure, psychometric properties, and requirements for administrators, and a link to, or address for, the publisher or source of more information.

Turning 3 - Ready, Set, Transition!
Online training, also from the Early Childhood Center.
 
Ensuring effective teaching in early childhood
A November 2008 white paper from the National Center for Research in Early Childhood Education.

School Issues, K-12

Reducing behavior problems in the elementary school classroom
Designed for elementary school educators and school- and district-level administrators, this guide from IES offers prevention, implementation, and schoolwide strategies that can be used to reduce problematic behavior that interferes with the ability of students to attend to and engage fully in instructional activities. Released by IES, September 2008
 
Strategies for teachers: Working with students with intensive social, emotional, and behavioral needs
Project REACH is a National Center, funded by the Office of Special Education Programs, to work with students with intensive social, emotional, and behavioral needs.  They've taken the most effective interventions from the research and translated them into easy step-by-step directions for implementing them in classrooms.
 
Autism 101
The Professional Development in Autism Center (PDA) provides training and support for school districts, families and communities to ensure that students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have access to high quality, evidence-based educational services. Autism 101 provides an overview of autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) and how the characteristics associated with ASD may impact learning for children with this diagnosis in school, community and home environments.
 
RTI Reporter
If you're interested in RTI (response to intervention), then consider signing up for this newsletter. Explore the Web site of the National Center on Response to Intervention while you're there.
 
RTI Action Network
This initiative supports the implementation of Response to Intervention (RTI) in school districts nationwide. NASDSE (National Association of State Directors of Special Education) was a founding partner in the initiative, which was launched by the National Council on Learning Disabilities (NCLD).
 
Preventing dropouts
From the Institute for Education Sciences, August 2008
Geared toward educators, administrators, and policymakers, this guide provides recommendations that focus on reducing high school dropout rates. Strategies presented include identifying and advocating for at-risk students, implementing programs to improve behavior and social skills, and keeping students engaged in the school environment.

State and System Tools

Final regulations are published for NCLB!
At the very end of October, Secretary Spellings announced final regulations to strengthen and clarify No Child Left Behind (NCLB), focusing on improved accountability and transparency, uniform and disaggregated graduation rates and improved parental notification for Supplemental Education Services and public school choice.
 
Tool Kit on Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
In a classroom using a universally designed curriculum one might find books on tape, interactive software, magnifiers, or highlighted materials.  UDL can be used operationally to provide access to the general education curriculum and maximize learning for the greatest number of students.  This tool kit comes from the U.S. Department of Education, released in September 2008.
 
Federal guidance on Coordinated Early Intervening Services
OSEP has released guidance to provide states with information regarding the appropriate use of funds to develop and implement coordinated early intervening services (CEIS) for students who are not currently identified as needing special education.
 
Federal policy document on charter schools
To engage the charter school community in a discussion of key issues, the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Innovation and Improvement held the National Charter School Policy Forum (Forum) in May 2008. Drawing on discussions from the Forum and 15 years of research and experience with chartering, the Department released Commitment to Quality on October 21, 2008. The report summarizes its  vision of the future of the charter sector in the U.S. and what needs to happen to achieve that vision.
 
And while we're talking about charter schools...
Have you heard of the Primers? They provide critical knowledge and resources for the shipbuilders of charter schools. Aim? To facilitate the successful inclusion of students with disabilities in charter schools.The Primers were developed under the Special Education Technical Assistance for Charter Schools Project (SPEDTACS) funded by the Department and conducted at NASDSE.
 
Preventing Disproportionate Representation: Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Prereferral Interventions [K-12]
This practitioner brief from NCCRESt discusses four key elements of culturally and linguistically responsive prereferral intervention for culturally and linguistically diverse students: (1) preventing school underachievement and failure, (2) early intervention for struggling learners, (3) diagnostic/prescriptive teaching, and (4) availability of general education problem-solving support systems.
 
Alternative assessments for special education students in the Southwest region states
The U.S. Department of Education issued regulations in 2003 allowing states to develop alternate standards and assessments for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. This 2008 study reviews and summarizes alternate assessment policies and practices and their implementation and impact for the most significantly cognitively disabled students, across the five states in the Southwest Region:  Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas.
 
Compendium of strategies to reduce teacher turnover in the Northeast and Islands region
The National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality (TQ Center) developed this compendium as a companion to its database of reducing teacher turnover of retention strategies implemented in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and Vermont.
 
Interested in outreach and service to the Hispanic population?
Building Blocks for Hispanic Outreach and Service is now available online, courtesy of by the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Head Start. The series is available in both English and Spanish. It consists of a viewer's guide and four 15-minute videos, which are of interest to governing bodies, program administrators, staff, parents, and community partners:

• The Hispanic Population in the United States
• Understanding the Hispanic Community in Your Area
• Meeting the Needs of Hispanic Families
• Meeting the Needs of Hispanic Children

English language proficiency standards and assessments
From the Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center (AACC), this 2008 brief is an introduction to a Framework for High-Quality English Language Proficiency Standards and Assessments (Framework). It presents the intended purpose, uses, and organization of the Framework, as well as key background information and assumptions. The expected release of the complete Framework document is Winter 2009.

Wed, 9 Apr 2008 12:16:17

Subject: LRE: What it means, how to decide it

Here's the latest news. We've just posted a new training module on IDEA. It's...

Module 15, LRE Decision Making
http://www.nichcy.org/training/contents.asp#IEP15

This module finishes out Building the Legacy, it's the last one! (Modules 3 and 4 have been postponed,
pending reauthorization of NCLB.) It also rounds out the five-module series on the IEP. As usual, the
module includes a detailed discussion and explanation (in this case, of IDEA's provisions regarding
least restrictive environment, or LRE), a PowerPoint slideshow you can use to train others on this
subject, and handouts for audience participants.


We hope you've found Building the Legacy helpful in your work or personal life. Now that the
curriculum is completed, we'd like to ask you to take a moment and give us your feedback on how
well it's served your needs and how you've used it (or not!). Please share your impressions and
experiences online at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=N1eWc0qWHY2aYul6drnQ3g_3d_3d

As always, please feel free to call or email us with your disability-related concerns, or visit our
Web site, at: www.nichcy.org.

We are pleased to share our latest Evidence for Education brief, Assessment and Accommodations. If you are involved in teaching or assessing students with disabilities, then this publication is for you!

Assessment and Accommodations examines what the research has to say about providing students with disabilities with accommodations that support learning as well as their ability to show what they know and can do. We have included multiple examples of accommodations, guidelines to help IEP teams decide what accommodations a student needs, connections to Federal guidance and requirements on this important topic, and links that will help you identify what accommodation policies your state has adopted to guide participation of children with disabilities in large-scale assessments.

Assessment and Accommodations is available online at: http://research.nichcy.org/accommodations1.asp

NICHCY has just posted another training module online for the Building the Legacy training curriculum on IDEA, our nation's special education law. The module includes PowerPoint slide shows to use in training sessions, a detailed discussion of IDEA for trainers, and handouts for audience participants.

The subject this time?

Module 17, Introduction to Procedural Safeguards 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, an important topic that will be examined in much more detail in the soon-to-be-released Module 18.

We hope you'll find these training resources helpful in your work or personal life. As always, please feel free to call or email us with your disability-related concerns, or visit our Web site, at: www.nichcy.org.

Ring in summer with the June issue of NICHCY's News You Can Use at http://www.nichcy.org/newsuse.htm

Here's a sample of what you'll find:

• IDEA 2004 Part C Proposed Regulations issued.
• English and Spanish versions of: Opening Doors: Technology and Communication Options for Children With Hearing Loss, from the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services.
• New RtI Article on Early Intervening Services, from Project Forum.
• Additional reports on Beginning Reading and English Language Learners, from The What Works Clearinghouse, and...
• Conferences galore, too many to choose from! Check out what's happening this summer and make your plan.

Read all about it and more, at: http://www.nichcy.org/newsuse.htm

Oh, and don't forget about NICHCY's training modules on IDEA 2004. More are comin' all the time, all through the summer. See what's available for download, at: http://www.nichcy.org/training/contents.asp

We send you our best wishes for a great summer!

NICHCY has just posted another training module online for the Building the Legacy training curriculum on IDEA 2004:

-- Module 14, Meetings of the IEP Team.

This module will tell you all about what's new, the same, or different in IDEA 2004 with respect to those all-important meetings of that all-important group, the IEP Team. And that's a lot to know! The module includes a PowerPoint slide show to use in training sessions, a detailed discussion of Team meetings for trainers, handouts for audience participants, and extensive additional resources for trainers. "Meetings of the IEP Team" is available for download, use, and sharing at: http://www.nichcy.org/training/contents.asp

In all, 19 modules on critical IDEA topics will be available by Summer 2007. With this newest posting, 7 are already available. We're working as fast as we can and will be sure to write you the moment that more modules are posted on our site.

We hope you'll find these training resources helpful in your work or personal life. As always, please feel free to call or email us with your disability-related concerns, or visit our Web site, at: www.nichcy.org.

We're writing to make sure you know about NICHCY's newly launched publication series, Evidence for Education. The series will be exploring a range of relevant evidence-based educational practices. The first in the series is attached to this email and is called The Power of Strategy Instruction. Strategy instruction is a powerful student-centered approach to teaching that is backed by years of quality research. Inside the issue, you'll find a brief overview of the foundations of strategy instruction, followed by a number of well-researched examples of strategy instruction in practice.

The Power of Strategy Instruction is also available on NICHCY's Web site in PDF and online formats. Tell your friends and colleagues to come and help themselves to a copy!

Text-only version: http://research.nichcy.org/Evidence_TOC.asp

PDF version: http://research.nichcy.org/NICHCY_EE_Strategy.pdf

Each new edition of Evidence for Education will be available as an online, accessible document and as a downloadable PDF document. Next up in the series are these three:

-- Accommodations for Testing

-- Interventions for Math Instruction

-- Social Skill Development

Look for them in Spring/Summer 2007. Or come to NICHCY's site and sign up for the Research Newsletters, and we'll let you know when each new issue is available. Sign up at:

http://research.nichcy.org/default.asp

We hope you'll find this resource helpful to your interests or can pass along the information to someone who will. Please feel free to call or email us with your disability-related concerns, or visit our Web site, at: www.nichcy.org.

NICHCY, P.O. Box 1492, Washington, DC 20013, 1.800.695.0285 (V/TTY), nichcy@aed.org

www.nichcy.org

This is a periodic mailing. To subscribe to future mailings please click the following link: http://www.nichcy.org/SurveyIntro1.html