November Newsletter

Mathematics Strategy Instruction for Middle School Students with Learning Disabilities
This Access Center brief, by Dr. Joseph Gagnon and Dr. Paula Maccini, defines strategy instruction, identifies key features of effective strategies, and highlights essential components necessary for instructing youth in the use of a strategy. It also provides a practical example for using a math instructional strategy in a variety of settings and offers some key considerations when using strategy instruction in mathematics classes.

Access Center, CCSSO Hold Third State ISC Meeting – Focus on Math
The Access Center and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) hosted the third annual State-to-State Information Sharing Community Meeting on October 3rd and 4th. The main content focus of the meeting was mathematics, with presentations and conversations about 3-tiered models, research-based math strategies and progress monitoring. Team representatives from AL, CA, KS, KY, LA, OH, PA, WA, and WV joined us at our office in Washington, D.C. for dynamic sharing about these timely topics. Thanks to the community for being so open in sharing state perspectives and successes and challenges. We look forward to continuing the conversation throughout the coming year via webinars, teleconferences, listserv and other activities.

Access Center/VT DOE Meeting to Include Discussion of Differentiated Instruction
On November 1st, the Access Center and the Vermont Department of Education (VT DOE) co-sponsored a state-wide conference that focused on differentiated instruction, universal design for learning (UDL), and assistive technology.  Seven breakout sessions, including two presented by Access Center staff, focused on topics such as using differentiation to enhance instruction, UDL and literacy instruction, and a spotlight on two Vermont schools currently implementing models of differentiated instruction.  As a follow-up to this conference, the Access Center and the VT DOE will support a Community of Practice for local school districts, which will be focused on the topic of differentiated instruction.

The Family Village Project
The Family Village is a web site for children and adults with disabilities, their families, and their friends and allies. Family Village brings together thousands of online resources in an organized, easy-to-use directory. The centerpiece of Family Village is the library, where visitors can find information on over 300 diagnoses. Visitors can also learn about assistive technology, legal rights and legislation, special education, leisure activities and much more.

Accessible Information Technology Resources: A Quick Reference Guide for Educators
The Web provides students with around-the-clock access to information, news, e-mail, shopping, and entertainment. What about those students who cannot see the information, hear the audio, or move the mouse? Students with visual, hearing, or mobility disabilities find many excellent resources inaccessible. This guide provides valuable information about products, services, and guidelines to help educators improve access to information technology resources for students with disabilities.

ED: States Given 1-Year Reprieve in Meeting “Highly Qualified” Requirement Under NCLB Under No Child Left Behind, districts must have in place a highly qualified teacher for every class in a core academic subject by the end of the 2005-06 school year.  However, on October 21, ED Secretary Margaret Spellings issued a letter to the Chief State School Officers saying that states will not be penalized if they do not quite reach the 100 percent goal by that deadline, as long as they’re making a good-faith effort to reach the HQT goal in NCLB as soon as possible.

OSEP IDEA 2004 Topic Briefs
The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) has developed a series of topic briefs around several high-interest areas of IDEA. Topic briefs include a summary of all relevant statutory language around that topic, the citations and a cross-reference, when applicable, to other related briefs. (Scan down to the section entitled Technical Assistance Tools.)

BIA Advisory Board: Impact of IDEA on Indian Children with Disabilities
The Bureau of Indian Affairs Advisory Board for Exceptional Children will meet from November 8-10 to discuss the impact of IDEA on Indian children with disabilities. The meeting will be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and is open to the public.