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  News from Partner Organizations   

Education Commission of the States (ECS)

• Civic Engagement Through Digital Citizenship: Engaging Youth In Active, Participatory Citizenship Through Digital Media

This issue of The Progress of Education Reform includes a closer look at the characteristics of "digital natives" (see page two of report for definition) and provides a summary of research about digital natives' civic engagement habits and the implications of this research for education policy aimed at promoting digital citizenship for today's youth.

• 12 for 2012: Issues to Move Education Forward in 2012

This report identifies 12 important education issues for 2012. It notes the benefits states can expect to see when they address these issues, the challenges to adoption or implementation they may face.

National Governors Association (NGA)

State Early Childhood Advisory Councils: An Overview of Implementation across the States

This issue brief from the National Governors Association's Center for Best Practices discusses the importance of Early Childhood Advisory Councils (ECACs), their evolution in recent years, their priorities and activities, how they are structured across different states and next steps for aligning their work with other state efforts to coordinate services for young children.

 Press Release: RESPECT Project: Teacher-Led National Conversation

As part of his FY 13 budget, President Obama proposed setting aside $5 billion for a competitive state grant program designed to change the teaching profession. Among the provisions in the Recognizing Educational Success, Professional Excellence, and Collaborative Teaching (RESPECT) plan are making teacher preparation programs more selective, creating more avenues for merit pay based on student performance and working in "challenging" schools, raising teachers' pay overall, and altering professional development models, among other areas.

Race to the Top -- Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC)

• Awards 
• Related publication:  Profiles of the 2011 Early Learning Challenge Grant Applications

School 2.0 Bandwidth Planner

In consultation with the FCC, the Department of Education has released a new version of its School 2.0 bandwidth planner. FCC Chairman Genachowski and Secretary of Education Duncan unveiled a new "digital textbook playbook," a road map for educators to accelerate the transition to digital textbooks issues challenge to states and companies to ensure every k-12 student has a digital textbook within five years. This digital resource is designed to help K-12 educators plan for the transition to a rich interactive and personalized digital learning environment. It offers advice and considerations to help schools ensure robust and persistent connectivity to the digital content, understand the perspective of the variety of device users in a school environment and plan for the transition to digital learning.

• Fact Sheet: Digital Textbook Playbook 
• Digital Textbook Playbook 
• School 2.0 bandwidth planner 

National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials! (AIM)

AIM State Pages: Who uses them and why?

The state pages on the Center's website provide the name and contact information for each state's AIM coordinator as well as a host of information about the acquisition of accessible instructional materials, the production of materials, policies, procedures, resources and family guides. 

National Institute for Urban School Improvement & LeadScape

Coteaching 

This module provides materials for teacher professional development on various methods, benefits and challenges of coteaching, particularly in the special education field. The module introduces the many facets of coteaching relationships, provides both good and not-so-good examples of successful

coteaching strategies, approaches for developing coteaching skills and opportunities to co-plan lessons.

• Academy 1: Working Together: General and Special Educators 

Academy 1 explores and describes the coteaching relationship and informs participants of the skills that lead to successful collaboration.

• Academy 2: Coteaching Strategies 

Academy 2 builds on this knowledge by introducing and evaluating coteaching styles and strategies.

• Academy 3: Coplanning Curriculum Using State Standards 

Academy 3 provides participants with opportunities to coplan a lesson and to apply their knowledge and skills to their own schools.

Center for Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Special Education (CADRE)

Dispute Resolution Resource Showcase

CADRE has developed a Dispute Resolution Resource Showcase - a collection and systematic organization of resources relating to the IDEA's dispute resolution procedural safeguards provisions for both Part B and C. These may be useful to states and districts as they pursue improvements in their special education dispute resolution systems and processes.

Family Center on Technology and Disability (FCTD)

Early Childhood and Assistive Technology

This PowerPoint presentation provides a range of assistive technology (AT) examples appropriate for young children and discusses issues to be considered when using AT with this age group.

National Professional Development Center on Inclusion (NPDCI)

Response to Intervention (RTI) in Early Childhood: Building Consensus on the Defining Features 

This is a concept paper that provides a framework for thinking about the meaning of RTI in early childhood and outlines important considerations for early care and education programs that choose to adopt and implement RTI.

Northwest Regional Comprehensive Center (NWCC)

Co-sponsors: Alaska Comprehensive Center (ACC), Center on Instruction (COI)

Webinar: Improving Adolescent Literacy in Rural Schools: A Schoolwide Approach 

This is the second in a series of webinars designed to assist rural school staffs with implementation of their School Improvement Grants (SIG).

• WebEx Webinar Recording 

The link will first open a web browser page and then the WebEx Network Recording Player will download, open and start playing the webinar.

• Presentation 

• Polling and Discussion Questions 

National Secondary Transition Technical Assistance Center (NSTTAC)

Evidence Based Practices

This webpage includes a review of transition research and intervention strategies lesson plan starters and predictors of improved postsecondary outcomes. In addition, it includes evidence-based secondary transition resources from the What Works in Transition Synthesis Project and other technical assistance and dissemination centers.

News from Other Centers and Organizations  

Center on Education Policy (CEP)

Year Two of Implementing the Common Core State Standards: States' Progress and Challenges  

Most of the state personnel who are working on the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) believe that these standards are more rigorous than previous state academic standards in math and English language arts.  This report examines states' progress in transitioning to the new standards.  The survey found that most states

• are taking steps to familiarize state and district officials with the new standards and to align curriculum and assessments;
• do not expect to fully implement the standards until 2014-15 or later; and 
• caution that having adequate resources is a major challenge to full implementation of the CCSS.

National Association for the Education of Young Children Young Children (NAEYC)

Developing Kindergarten Readiness and Other Large-Scale Assessment Systems

The Center for Applied Research at NAEYC has developed guidance to support states' development and implementation of kindergarten readiness assessment systems. Such systems, properly developed and implemented, can contribute greatly to the success of early childhood programs and early elementary programming to identify and meet the needs of children entering kindergarten.

National Collaboration on Workforce and Disability/ Youth (NCWF/Youth)

Individualized Learning Plans

NCWD/Youth's new webpage on Individualized Learning Plans (ILP) features a variety of publications and resources for understanding and using ILPs. The web- page includes information about the latest research, policies and practices. Students in secondary school use the ILP - with support from school counselors and parents - to define their personal interests and goals related to their career and postsecondary education.