September Newsletter

Access Center Webinar on Co-Teaching!
This month the Access Center is hosting its first webinar of 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.  For more information, including how to participate, please visit the Access Center’s website today!  This event is free and open to the public.

In Vermont:   At the end of August two liaisons from the Access Center traveled to Addison Northeast Supervisory Union (ANESU) to give presentations in differentiated instruction. The introduction module of Differentiated Instruction was presented, along with continuing implementation pieces that were focused on three specific strategies and differentiation’s overall assessment. Future visits have been scheduled to continue work with this district in further implementation.

In Wisconsin: In August, the Access Center’s North Central TA Liaison and staff members from the North Central Regional Resource Center (NCRRC) traveled to Green Bay, Wisconsin for the Department of Public Instruction’s Summer Institute on addressing disproportionality.  The meeting featured presentations from local, regional, and national experts on such areas as culturally responsive practices, response to intervention, pre-referral considerations, and implementing the Early Ongoing Collaboration and Assistance (EOCA) framework.  Access Center and NCRRC staff helped to facilitate working sessions that focused on helping district teams examine their policies, procedures, and practices in an effort to identify causes and contributing factors to disproportionality in their districts.  Future work will include continued work with districts as well as the formation of communities of practice focused on reducing disproportionality.

In Wichita, KS: In August, staff members from the Access Center and Mountain Plains Regional Resource Center (MPRRC) supported the Wichita Unified School District’s strategic planning efforts to improve access to the general education curriculum and classroom for students with disabilities. These meetings discussed how special education teaching specialists can align their efforts to support District improvements in LRE, Graduation Rate, and AYP in math and reading.   The meeting also discussed how to evaluate the impact of these efforts.

OSEP Project Directors’ Conference
The U.S. Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) hosted the 2006 Project Directors’ Conference on July 31-August 2, 2006, in Washington, DC, for Personnel Preparation (including Leadership) Project Directors, State Improvement and State Personnel Development Grant Project Directors, Research and Innovation Project Directors, Technical Assistance and Dissemination Project Directors, Technology and Media Project Directors, and CSPD Coordinators. You can find complete information from the conference here, including the agenda, handouts and powerpoints, and the list of poster sessions. 

Iris Center’s RTI Module on Reading
The Iris Center recently released its third in a series of new modules on Response to Intervention (RTI).  While the first two modules focused on 1) an overview of RTI, and 2) assessment, this third module focuses on reading instruction.  In this module you will learn important aspects of quality reading instruction, including the “five key components”, and have access to scripts and movie clips that show reading instruction techniques in action.  Consideration for English Language Learners is also included.   Learn more about the reading module and other resources the Iris Center has to offer by visiting their website at http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu.

ED Issues IDEA 2004 Regulations
On August 3, the U.S. Department of Education issued final regulations for programs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA ‘04).  The regs provide guidance for states and schools in how to implement the changes made in the law during reauthorization. You can find the regulations on the Department’s website.

ED Unveils New Website on IDEA 2004
The U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) has launched a new website (http://idea.ed.gov) dedicated to helping interpret and implement the new regulations for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA ‘04). OSEP’s IDEA website is a "living" website and will change and grow as resources and information become available. When fully implemented, the site will provide searchable versions of IDEA and the regulations, access to cross-referenced content from other laws (e.g., the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), etc.), video clips on selected topics, topic briefs on selected regulations, links to OSEP's Technical Assistance and Dissemination (TA&D) Network and a Q&A Corner where you can submit questions, and a variety of other information sources.

Department to Hold Meetings on Regulations
To provide the public with an opportunity to learn about major concepts and principle changes in the new regulations, the Department will conduct eight community-based meetings, during which it will provide information about resources and supports available from OSERS to assist in the implementation of these regulations. The meetings will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina; Tampa, Florida; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Seattle, Washington; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Dallas, Texas; Denver, Colorado; and Sacramento, California. The meeting locations and dates can be found at IDEA 2004 Regulations -- Schedule of Community Meetings.

The Department will also be holding regional implementation meetings which are designed to support States in their implementation of the Part B Final Regulations.

• January 30-31, 2007 - Washington, DC (Region 1: CT, ME, MA, NH, NJ, NY, RI, VT and Region 2: DE, DC, KY, MD, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV)
• February 12-13, 2007 - Los Angles, CA (Region 5: AZ, CO, Bureau of Indian Affairs, KS, MT, NE, NM, ND, SD, UT, WY and Region 6: AK, CA, HI, ID, NV, OR, WA, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Palau)
• February 15-16, 2007 - Kansas City, MO (Region 3: AL, AR; FL, GA, LA, MS, OK, PR, TX, VI and Region 4: IL, IN, IA, MI, MN, MO, OH, PA, WI)

2% Flexibility Guidance to be Issued in Early 2007
The Department of Education informed attendees at its OSEP Leadership Conference (held in Washington, D.C. August 28-30) that the final regulations for the NCLB 2 percent flexibility -- intended to provide flexibility in assessing 2 percent of students with disabilities who can take a modified assessment for purposes of meeting AYP (adequate yearly progress) -- is expected sometime around the beginning of 2007.This guidance was not included with the release of the general IDEA regulations because the Department is still reviewing comments it received on this issue in response to the proposed regulations.