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February 15, 2014
Celebrating 25 Years of Excellence
Serving Missouri Families!
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Did you miss an issue of the MPACT ENews? Delete it by mistake? Wish you could find a past article? Well you can! To view current and past issues of the MPACT ENews visit our website.
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| MPACT Training Locations |
Did you know that all of the MPACT trainings listed on our website are public trainings open to anyone? Sometimes parents think that since a host site serves a specific population that they can't attend MPACT trainings held there. For example, MPACT often holds trainings at the Special School District (SSD) Administrative Office building. While it is true that SSD serves families in St. Louis County, the MPACT trainings held there are also open to families in neighboring counties such as St. Charles.
Any MPACT training listed on our website (and in this newsletter) are open to everyone who wishes to attend. We just ask that you register, either on-line or by calling 800-743-7634, so we can ensure that we have enough handouts. Registering also allows us to call you if the training needs to be cancelled due to weather or low enrollment.
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| Dialogues in Disability Pride and Culture |
Explore the birth of the Independent Living Movement and the models and messages that have kept the disability community advocating for increased access. Learn about how the movement began with folks like Ed Roberts and the Rolling Quads in Berkeley, CA. See how far the advocacy of these pioneers advanced the movement. Learn important information and tools for creating change and increasing access in your community.
An archived webinar containing power point slides with closed captioning is available for viewing on YouTube.
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Fair Housing Videos for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
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The National Fair Housing Alliance, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, has created a series of 12 videos in American Sign Language (ASL) with English captioning. These videos provide critical legal and practical information in a format accessible to persons who are Deaf and/or Hard of Hearing. The videos were produced by Disability independence Group, NFHA and Sweetwater Media.
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| RSB & SRC Public Forum Rescheduled |
Due to weather, the Rehabilitation Council for the Blind (RSB) and State Rehabilitation Council for the Blind (SRC) Public Meeting on Feb 6, 2014 has been moved to February 20. The meeting will be held from 6:00 pm-8:00 pm at Ramada Oasis Convention Center, 2546 N. Glenstone Avenue, Springfield, MO 65803.
They would like to hear your comments and concerns regarding the services provided Missourians who are blind and visually impaired.
You may participate via conference call by calling 1-877-820-7831 and using the required pin number 35666479#
To contact RSB or SRC please call (800) 592-6004
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'Quality Counts' Report Released
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Missouri scored below average on student achievement and school finance in the "Quality Counts 2014" report released in January. Missouri scored a 66 for student achievement, below the national average of 70.2. The state scored 70.5 for school finance based on equity and per-student sharing. The average score was 75.5. This year's "Quality Counts" report focused on district disruption and revival.
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| Video Message from Commissioner of Education |
Missouri Commissioner of Education Chris Nicastro discusses feedback opportunities regarding unaccredited school districts, Missouri's new high school equivalency test and a pair of Missouri students who were selected to participate in the United States Senate Youth Program. View video via YouTube or webstream.
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Unaccredited School Districts Feedback
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The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is asking for feedback on unaccredited school districts in the state. A number of proposed plans that would help improve these school districts can be found on the Department's website. The Department has developed an overview of all plans which was used at hearings around the state.
Additional comments, written testimony and other submissions, along with a feed back form that can be used to offer specific feedback on the ideas contained within the plans can be found on the website as well. The Department would like to know what ideas you like or don't like and what additional ideas you can offer to improve education for children in unaccredited school districts.
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The Governor's Council on Disability is now accepting applications for the 2014 Missouri Youth Leadership Forum, July 20-23, 2014, at the University of Missouri, Columbia. The Missouri Youth Leadership Forum is a unique career leadership-training program for high school students with disabilities, ages 16-21. Youth delegates are selected from their local communities to cultivate leadership, citizenship, and social skills at this four-day summer program. The Missouri Youth Leadership Forum is available to student delegates at NO COST. Delegates are responsible for providing their own transportation to Columbia and back. The deadline to apply is April 1, 2014.
Detailed information and the application can be found on the State of Missouri Disability Portal.
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| Does Your Child Receive First Steps Services? Visit MPACT's First Steps Page | |
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MPACT Parent Mentor Program
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MPACT Parent Mentors are available to offer support and guidance to parents of children with disabilities throughout the IEP process. Parent Mentors are volunteers who receive 24 hours of initial training, ongoing monthly training, and technical assistance from MPACT staff with regard to special education law, the IEP process, conflict resolution, and effective communication. Their goal is to help parents build a collaborative partnership with the school district so their child may receive an appropriate education. Click here to view the list of current MPACT Parent Mentors.
If your school district has had a MPACT Parent Mentor in attendance at an IEP meeting, please take a moment to complete a brief online survey if you have not already done so. A separate survey should be completed for each mentor who has provided services to parents in your district. These surveys assist MPACT and DESE with identifying and addressing areas of success and improvement with the Parent Mentor Program.
For more information about MPACT or if you have questions regarding the status of a Parent Mentor, please contact MPACT by telephone at (800) 743-7634 or by e-mail at info@ptimpact.org. You can also view the MPACT website at http://www.ptimpact.org.
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FREE Online Trainings offered through MPACT
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Our free online trainings will help parents to understand the special education process in the state of Missouri. You can access the MPACT online trainings listed below by going to the Training page on our website and clicking on Online Training.
- Extended School Year
- Special Education: What I Need to Know
- IDEA Transition Requirements
- Transition to Post Secondary Experiences (Part 1 & 2)
- Connecting Goals to Coordinated Activities and Services for Transition
- Transition Resources - Disability Disclosure
- Soft Skills
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Free MPACT Trainings
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MPACT trainings are provided free of charge to parents of children with disabilities. To sign up for an upcoming training, follow the links below, then click on the 'SIGNUP' button located next to the training name. Fill in your name, email address, phone number, the name of the training you wish to attend and the date it is being offered.
While registering for a live training is not mandatory it does ensure that the trainer has an adequate amount of handouts. This also allows MPACT to contact you should a training need to be cancelled or rescheduled. To view a comprehensive list of all trainings provided by MPACT go to http://ptimpact.org/Training/Training.aspx.
Please be sure to double check the website training pages for any updates or changes to trainings offered.
The Art of Effective Advocacy
Special Education Mediation
Special Education: What I Need to Know
Steps to Success: Family Record Keeping
Understanding ADHD
Understanding the IEP Process
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Give the Gift of Knowledge - Donate to MPACT
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MPACT welcomes donations in any amount and will acknowledge all donors in our Annual Report and on our MPACT Facebook page. Agency, organization and business donors making a contribution of $200.00 or more will be recognized by placing their name and logo on our website's donation page. Individual donations of $50.00 or more will be added to our Friends of MPACT list. Donations may be made by credit card through PayPal on our website or by sending a check to the state office: MPACT, 8301 State Line Rd., Ste. 204, Kansas City MO, 64114. Every donation will receive a receipt for tax purposes.
Please help us to continue to provide the support that families of Missouri's children with disabilities are requesting by making a donation to MPACT. MPACT is a 501(c)3 organization. All donations are tax deductible.
MPACT Donation Letter
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Question? Comments? Suggestions? Send them to info@ptimpact.org or
contact the MPACT State Office at 1-800-743-7634. |
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