August Newsletter

Mark Your Calendars – Access Center Webinar on Co-Teaching!
The Access Center will be hosting a webinar on co-teaching to kick off the new school year!  Please join us on Thursday, September 14th, 2006 from 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time for “Improving Access to the General Curriculum for All Students through Collaborative Teaching.”  This webinar will be given by Dr. Amy Klekotka and Dr. Stacia Rush, both from the Access Center.  Look for more information on the Access Center’s website soon! 

Response-to-Instruction and Universal Design for Learning: How Might They Intersect in the General Education Classroom?
The Access Center has recently posted this brief, which provides an overview of RTI and UDL, and shares ideas for the possible synergism of these two approaches in the general education classroom.

In Wichita:
The Access Center is currently helping to support strategic planning to improve access to the general education curriculum and classroom for students with disabilities in the Wichita (KS) Unified School District. Access Center staff members and staff from the Mountain Plains Regional Resource Center (MPRRC) will facilitate two strategic planning meetings in early August. These meetings will discuss the role and strategies special education teaching specialists can utilize to support classroom teachers and how to evaluate the impact of this support.

In Vermont:
The Access Center will support two activities in Vermont this month. An Access Center liaison will present at and help facilitate the Summer Academy for the Creating Responsive Schools (CRS) pilot for the Vermont Department of Education the week of August 7th. Two liaisons will also travel to Addison Northeast Supervisory Union (ANESU) at the end of the month to continue focused work on differentiated instruction with the district.

In Wisconsin:
The Access Center has been invited by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to be a part of their “Addressing Disproportionality: 2006 Summer Institute” being held August 15-17 in Green Bay. An Access Center liaison will present on current and past technical assistance services for communities of practice and disproportionality as well as facilitate sessions for district teams that highlight resources and processes related to addressing disproportionate representation in special education.

What does research-based mean? How can you tell if a practice is emerging, promising, or evidence-based? Take a look at the Access Center's Research Continuum for clarification.

We have put together a comprehensive list of the Access Center's Information Briefs and Train-the-Trainer modules. This list is periodically updated with new products, so check back often!

2006 OSEP Project Directors’ Conference
Did you miss the 2006 OSEP Project Directors’ Conference?  You will be able to find PowerPoint presentations and handouts from the conference online starting in mid-August.  Archives from the 2005 conference are also available.

Education Department Issues Final IDEA Part B Regs
The U.S. Department of Education announced the final Part B regulations to implement the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA). An official copy of the final Part B regulations of the IDEA will be published in the Federal Register on August 14, 2006.  However, so that members of the public will have the opportunity to immediately review the new regulations, the Department has temporarily posted an UNOFFICIAL copy at: http://www.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/idea/idea2004.html#regulations

A fact sheet on the new regulations can be found at: http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/speced/ideafactsheet.html

Of the more than 5,500 comments that the Department received during the process of drafting the regulations, the top three issues that were commented on were Highly Qualified teachers, private schools, and Response to Intervention.  Alexa Posny, Director of the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), stated that approximately 70 percent of the final regulations included the Preamble, which discusses the comments the Department received; the major changes; and why the Department chose to take certain actions in the regulations.  Education Secretary Margaret Spellings indicated that the regulations for Part C were still under review, and that the writing for the regulations on the IEP and paperwork reduction demonstration projects was still in progress.

OSERS Establishes Five Long-Term Goals
John H. Hager, the Assistant Secretary of Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), recently announced OSERS’ new long-term goals. You can see them on the Department’s website. 

Final NIMAS Regulations Published
The final regulations for the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) were published on July 19, 2006. The purpose of the NIMAS is to help increase the availability and timely delivery of print instructional materials in accessible formats to blind or other persons with print disabilities in elementary schools and secondary schools. The NIMAS guides the production and electronic distribution of digital versions of textbooks and other instructional materials so they can be more easily converted to accessible formats, including Braille and text-to-speech.

GAO Issues NCLB Report on Growth Models
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) on July 17 released an NCLB-related report on growth models, the same day that a hearing was held in the House Education and Workforce Committee on this topic. The report (GAO-06-661) is “No Child Left Behind Act: States Face Challenges Measuring Academic Growth That Education's Initiatives May Help Address.” For a summary of the report, go to: http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d06661high.pdf

GAO Issues NCLB Report on SES
On August 4, GAO also issued an NCLB-related report on supplemental educational services.  The report (GAO-06-758) is “No Child Left Behind Act: Education Actions Needed to Improve Local Implementation and State Evaluation of Supplemental Educational Services.”  For a summary of the report, go to: http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d06758high.pdf