November Newsletter

Science Inquiry: The Link to Accessing the General Education Curriculum
This Access Center brief provides an overview of science inquiry, as well as strategies for implementing inquiry for students with learning disabilities.

Improving Access to the General Curriculum for Students with Disabilities Through Collaborative Teaching
This Access Center professional development module explores the components of the definition of co-teaching, how co-teaching looks in the classroom, scheduling and planning issues, and the challenge of supervising and evaluating a co-teaching team.

In Mississippi - Access Center staff members recently traveled to Mississippi (on October 2nd – 4th ) to present at the Instructional Partnerships for All Learners (IPAL) seminar held at Mississippi State University. Teachers and administrators from districts across the state attended the conference, which was hosted by the Mississippi PREPS program.  The Access Center presented two of its professional development modules – one on differentiated instruction and the other on co-teaching – and did a final presentation on the research continuum and research-based strategies. Staff from the Access Center will continue to work with the PREPS program to support work for these participants throughout the school year.

State Systems of Technical Assistance Delivery in Special Education (Word doc)
This report highlights the key findings from a questionnaire on state technical assistance systems that was undertaken in August 2005 by CCSSO as part of its partnership work with the Access Center. This report presents the methodology used to undertake this study, the key findings from the 2005 questionnaire, and comparisons between state patterns of delivering TA in special education between the 2001 and 2005 questionnaires.

New CEC Briefs Compare new IDEA Regulations to Old
The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) has developed new briefs comparing significant issues of the IDEA 2004 regulations with the IDEA 1997 regulations, including a CEC analysis of how these changes may impact students and teachers.  These briefs are free to CEC members. 

Save the Date: December 4-8, 2006 is the 6th Annual National Inclusive Schools Week!
National Inclusive Schools Week™ highlights and celebrates the progress of our nation's schools in providing a supportive and quality education to all students, particularly for students with disabilities and students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

New Booklet from the National Center for Special Education Research on Projects and Programs
The National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER), one of four centers within the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), recently published an online booklet describing research grants and contracts that represent NCSER's current investments. These investments will evaluate the effectiveness of programs, interventions, strategies, and assessment tools to determine what works in addressing the needs of infants and children with disabilities. 

Feds Ease Rules on Same-Sex Education
The Federal government has issued new rules allowing school districts to create single-sex classes and schools, given that enrollment is voluntary and classes and schools of comparable quality are offered to members of the excluded gender.  Research is mixed, however, as to whether same-sex education improves student achievement.  Critics argue that segregating students by sex violates the Title IX law that bans sex discrimination in educational institutions that receive federal funds -- a charge U.S. Education Department officials reject.