August Newsletter

The Access Center is Winding Down!
Following through on our goal of increasing access to the general education curriculum for students with disabilities in grades K-8, the Access Center will come to the end of its five-year contract with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) on September 30 of this year.  You will, however, continue to have access to all of the research-based information that we’ve placed on our website, and we hope you will share it with your colleagues in an effort to maintain improved educational outcomes for all students.   

Save the Date!  Upcoming Reading Module Webinar

The Access Center will be hosting its last webinar on September 13th, 2007 at 2:00 p.m., EST.  Please join us for "Effective Strategies for Struggling Readers: The Essential Components," presented by Dr. Claudia Edmondson of the Access Center.  This webinar is FREE and no registration is required!  Check our website (www.k8accesscenter.org) in the coming weeks for detailed instructions on how to participate.

Staff from the Access Center recently presented at the 14th Annual State-wide Institute on Best Practices in Inclusive Education in Wausau, Wisconsin.  Staff was invited to present a Keynote presentation on “Enhancing Your Instructional Skills through Differentiated Instruction” and a Breakout session entitled, “Improving Access to the General Curriculum for Students with Disabilities through Co-Teaching.”

2007 OSEP Project Directors’ Conference Post-Conference Website

Did you miss the 2007 OSEP Project Directors’ Conference?  Did you attend a presentation that you would like to review again?  Materials from the conference are now available online at the conference website.  Please visit www.osep-meeting.org to access conference materials including the final agenda, list of poster sessions, participant list, PowerPoints and additional handouts.  To see PowerPoints and handouts that have been submitted by presenters, please click on the Final Conference Agenda link.

NCES Issues Brief on Special Education Demographics

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has just released a brief entitled "Demographic and School Characteristics of Students Receiving Special Education in the Elementary Grades."  This Issue Brief provides a detailed description of the proportion of elementary school students receiving special education in kindergarten, first grade, third grade, and fifth grade; the primary disabilities of these students; and the variation in these measures across a range of demographic and school characteristics.

NJCLD Issues Report on Improving Access for Students with LD

The National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities (NJCLD) has released a new report, “The Documentation Disconnect for Students with Learning Disabilities: Improving Access to Postsecondary Disability Services.” The report outlines the issues affecting documentation for postsecondary disability services and to suggest ways to bridge the gap between secondary and postsecondary settings.