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The following tools have just been approved by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and are ready for your use. Click on the title to visit these web collect6ions designed by stakeholders for practitioners and family members: 

• Assessments for the Common Core Standards 

Assessments for the Common Core Standards is a new set of tools that provide information about the development of Common Core Standards assessments.

• Common Core State Standards Collection  

The content of the collaborative work on Common Core State Standards Collection was presented to the partner organizations by the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors' Association at a full Partnership meeting in January 2011. Following the presentation, 27 organizations, 11 states and 22 technical assistance investments held a dialogue about the needs of the field. 

• Cradle to College and Career Collection 

On June 7-8, 2011, more than 50 representatives from national organizations, federal investments and private nonprofit organizations met in a Thought Leaders Forum that resulted in the creation of these materials. Read more .  

  News from Partner Organizations   

American Association of School Administrators (AASA)

•  Education Community Attitudes Toward SIS/LMS Solutions  

This report surveyed 716 district, school and district technology leaders and 1,010 teachers on "drivers and bar­riers" to classroom data use. The survey defined student information systems as solutions "primarily in­tended to collect, organize and report on student administrative and demographic information." Learning management systems were defined as solutions used to "develop and deliver education content and track student mastery of that content."

• Keeping Schools Safe: How Seclusion and Restraint Protects Students and School Personnel.

AASA presents some concerns about preserving school districts' ability to use seclusion and restraint techniques in situations where a student is in danger of hurting her/himself, another student, or a school staff member.

Easter Seals and ARCH National Respite Network and Resource Center

Volunteer Respite Manual: Creating Valuable Options for Family Caregivers  

This manual is designed is to help community-based programs assess their individual needs, plan and implement volunteer respite programs and to assist state Lifespan Respite programs in addressing program requirements to build respite capacity through volunteer training and recruitment.

Education Commission of the States (ECS)

12 for 2012: Issues to Move Education Forward in 2012 

This document identifies 12 important education issues to pay attention to in 2012.

Civil Rights Data Collection: March 2012 Update

Civil Rights Data Collection 

 Among other things, the new federal Civil Rights Data Collection sheds light on how often public school students are restrained or secluded at school. The data also show that, in the majority of cases, these approaches are used to restrain students with disabilities, who make up just a sixth of all students. According to the survey, nearly 40,000 students were physically restrained during the 2009-10 school year. Of these students, 70 percent were students with disabilities.

Institute of Education Sciences (IES)

Plans to Adopt and Implement Common Core State Standards in the Southeast Region States Region

Full report   

Summary   

Based on interviews with state officials in the six Southeast Region states, this study describes state processes for adopting the Common Core State Standards (a common set of expectations across states for what students are expected to know in English language arts and math) and plans for implementing the common standards and aligning state assessment systems to them.

National Center for Educa­tion Statistics and the Bureau of Justice Statistics

Indicators of School Crime and Safety-2011 

Violent crime in the nation's schools has declined between 1992 and 2010, according to a federal re­port that examines crime occurring in school as well as on the way to and from school. The report's data also covers topics such as victimization, bullying, school conditions, fights, weapons, availability and use of drugs and alcohol and student and teacher perceptions of personal safety at school.

Office of Educational Technology

Understanding the Implications of Online Learning for Educational Productivity 

Reading Comprehension Instruction for Students with Learning Disabilities, 1995-2006: A Meta-Analysis

Need to improve graduation rates? Georgia figured out how.

Spotlight on: GraduateFIRST  

This "Spotlight Brief" describes how Georgia increased its graduation rate by 37% with GraduateFIRST, a statewide initiative that uses a data-driven intervention framework developed by the National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities (NDPC-SD).  Read more. 

NOTE: The SPA Spotlight Briefs are generated by a group of Technical Assistance and Dissemination (TA&D) Network collaborators, coordinated through the Student Performance and Achievement (SPA) Priority Team of the Regional Resource Center Program (RRCP).

Center on Instruction

• Using Instructional Routines to Differentiate Instruction: A Guide for Teachers

This publication helps educators plan differentiated instruction using 72 formatted activities called Instructional Routines. Included in the report is a table that depicts the alignment between the Instructional Routines and the Common Core State Standards organized by the five reading components (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension).

•  Student Center Activities Aligned to the Common Core State Standards 

This publication helps educators create differentiated reading instruction experiences for their students by showing the relationship between Student Center Activities (SCAs) and the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).

IRIS Center

• Module: SRSD: Using Learning Strategies to Enhance Student Learni

• Module: Differentiated Instruction: Maximizing the Learning of All Students

This module describes differentiated instruction and what it looks like in the classroom.

National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO)

Performance of Special Education Students: Im­plications for Common State Assessments 

This report describes the variance in the performance of students with disabilities on state assessments and highlights the implications for the development of new performance standards and tests aligned with the Common Core State Standards.

News from Other Centers and Organizations  

Achieve and Education First

Common Core State Standards Implementation Rubric and Self-Assessment Tool 

This tool is designed to assist states in gauging the strength of their implementation plans and to illustrate how to improve them,

American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) and the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD)

Preparing General Education Teachers to Improve Outcomes for Students with Disabilities

The report makes recommendations to federal and state policymakers and providers of teacher education in order to ensure all teachers are prepared to treat all students, including students with disabilities, as capable learners who are entitled to high-quality instruction and access to challenging content that fully prepares them for careers and postsecondary education.

ARC

Medicaid Reference Desk 

This website is a tool to help individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities find out what services Medicaid covers in their state.

Autism National Committee

How Safe is the Schoolhouse? An Analysis of State Seclusion and Restraint Laws and Policies (2012) 

 The report is a comprehensive description and analysis of state seclusion/restraint statutes, regulations and nonbinding guidance in effect through 2012.   

NOTE: See the opposing view by American Association of School Administrators (AASA): Keeping Schools Safe: How Seclusion and Restraint Protects Students and School Personnel (above).

Civic Enterprises & America's Promise Alliance

Opportunity Road: The Promise and Challenge of America's Forgotten Youth  

This report focuses on understanding how young people ages 16-24 become disconnected from school and work and what challenges they face in trying to reconnect. The report notes that, according to Teachers College, Columbia University, more than 17 percent of American youth between 16 and 24 are classified as disconnected. It also reports that mentoring can play an important role in helping young people get back on track.

Educational Testing Service (ETS)

Updates on the Designs and Progress of All Five Assessment Consortia

The Educational Testing Service (ETS) has developed a new guide updating the progress of the five assessment consortia (see below)

Two are developing comprehensive assessment systems for use by 99% of students:

• PARCC
• Smarter Balanced

Two are developing alternate assessments for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities:

• DLM
• NCSC

One is developing an assessment of English proficiency:

• ASSETS

You will find additional information about the work of the Consortia, including videos of webinars, slide presentations and research papers on topics of importance to these designs, on the ETS website at http://www.k12center.org/  

Government Accountability Office (GAO)

•  Postsecondary Education: Financial Trends in Public and Private Nonprofit Institutions, GAO-12-179

Analysis of education data shows nearly all types of public and private nonprofit postsecondary institutions saw decreases in state and local appropriations ranging from 6 to 65 percent, as well as decreases in other revenues, ranging from 13 to 75 percent. In response to these declines, schools that GAO visited pursued additional revenue from out-of-state and, in some cases, international students, government funded research and fundraising.

• Early Child Care and Education: HHS and Education Are Taking Steps to Improve Workforce Data and Enhance Worker Quality, GAO-12-248 

Based on data from the Census's 2009 American Community Survey (ACS), the report finds that nearly half of all child care teachers and 20% of preschool teachers had only a high school diploma.

U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Education (Ed) 

The Stop Bullying website

U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services and Education have launched a redesigned Stop Bullying website to encourage children, parents, teachers and communities to take action to stop and prevent bullying. The website has a map with information on state laws and policies and videos for young people, along with practical strategies for schools and communities to make sure that environments are safe. It also includes suggestions on how parents can discuss bullying with their children and information on the dangers of cyberbullying and ways to prevent it.

National Academies Press (NAP)

 A Framework for K-12 Science Education 

This new report describes the major practices, crosscutting concepts and core concepts about science that all students should be familiar with by the end of high school. It also provides an outline of how these practices, concepts and ideas can be developed across the grade levels.   PDF Summary  

 Report In Brief     

US Department of Justice

Defending Childhood Initiative: Take Action To Protect Children 

The Attorney General's Defending Childhood Initiative has launched a new Web page to support professionals in their efforts to address children's exposure to violence. The Web page provides online resources, tips, hotline numbers and a call to action tailored for professionals in various fields who work with children who experience or witness violence. Attorney General Holder launched Defending Childhood in September 2010 to unify the Department of Justice's efforts to mitigate children's exposure to violence under one initiative.

U.S. Department of Labor Office of Disability Employment Policy's (ODEP)

 Skills to Pay the Bills: Mastering Soft Skills for Workplace Success 

This document provides a new curriculum for youth service professionals working with young people ages 14 to 24. The publication provides engaging and flexible hands-on activities that focus on six key skill areas: communication, enthusiasm and attitude, teamwork, networking, problem solving and critical thinking and professionalism. It is available in both English and Spanish on the ODEP website.

http://www.dol.gov/odep/topics/youth/softskills/ 

National Center for Workforce Development/Youth (NCWD/Youth)

Promoting Quality Individualized Learning Plans: A ‘How to Guide’ Focused on the High School Years

The Center for Workforce Development/Youth (NCWD/Youth) has released a how-to guide for implementing individualized learning plans. A key goal of the Guide is to help schools develop a bridge between college and career readiness efforts through the use of ILPs and help youth achieve prosperous and productive lives. The career development activities and resources in this guide are also useful for youth service professionals in the workforce development system.