|
AWAREness |
|
|
Volume 2 |
Issue 3 – April 2008 |
|
This newsletter contains links to PDF files which require Adobe Acrobat Reader. To download Acrobat Reader, click here. |
|
|
Providing parents of children with disabilities with information, training, assistance, and support
1021 Delaware Avenue Palm Harbor, FL 34683 1-888-61-AWARE |
CFPC is Proud to Announce Our Newest Online Presentation…
It's Those Wonderful Rights!
Characters from the holiday classic movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” assist in presenting this fun and interactive presentation about procedural safeguards. These provisions, in compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA), protect parents’ and students' rights with respect to the provision of a free appropriate public education (FAPE).
With rights come responsibilities, and understanding their rights and responsibilities will help parents to become informed and active participants in the special education process. Come celebrate those Wonderful Rights!
http://www.cflparents.org/presentations/rights
|
|
In This Issue
It’s Those Wonderful Rights
Response to Intervention
Task Force on Autism Spectrum Disorders
History of Florida’s ESE Program
Involving Youth in Planning
What is Mediation?
Advocates in Boston (Newspaper Article)
The Power of Parent-Teacher Relations
|
Response To Intervention
The growing interest in Response To Intervention is closely linked to another significant change made by IDEA 2004 – the elimination of the requirement for schools to determine that a student shows a “severe discrepancy” between intellectual ability and academic achievement in order to be identified as having an SLD.
Before IDEA 2004, a student could not be identified as having a specific learning disability unless a “discrepancy” was found in one or more of the following areas: · oral expression · listening comprehension · written expression · basic reading skill · reading comprehension · mathematics calculation · mathematics reasoning
This “discrepancy” requirement, which has been part of federal special education regulations since 1977, has been under attack for some time. Critics charge that the “discrepancy” approach requires students to fail for long periods of time before they can be found eligible for special education services. Equally important is the growing evidence that the “discrepancy” requirement is particularly problematic for students living in poverty, students of culturally different backgrounds and those whose native language was not English.
Note from the Editor: Response to Intervention (RTI) has been a topic in this e-newsletter in the past. Many people are still unclear about what, exactly, RTI is all about. The link will take you to the National Center on Learning Disabilities website’s IDEA Parent Guide. Chapter Two provides information on RTI.
|
|
Above all we must realize that each of us makes a difference with our life. Each of us impacts the world around us every single day. We have a choice to use the gift of our life to make the world a better place - or not to bother. (Jane Goodall) |
GOVERNOR CRIST ANNOUNCES TASK FORCE ON AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS
TALLAHASSEE – Governor Charlie Crist announced the creation of the Task Force on Autism Spectrum Disorders by Executive Order 08-36. The task force will work to address the growing health crisis that autism represents through coordinating efforts and setting a proactive agenda. The task force, made up of leaders in autism advocacy and treatment, health care practitioners, and family members of persons with autism, will submit a final report to the Governor by March 20, 2009.
|
|
Have you ever wondered how it all began?
The Florida Department of Education Clearinghouse has a four page “Legislative History of Florida’s ESE Program” available online. The history spans from 1874-2005. For anyone who enjoys looking back on how it all began, it is worth the click to take a look!
|
|
|
Involving Youth in Planning for Their Education, Treatment and Services: Research Tells Us We Should be Doing Better
Human service and educational agencies often convene teams to work collaboratively on plans for serving children or youth. This happens most often for children and youth who are involved with multiple systems or who are felt to be in need of intensive support. Often, these are children and adolescents with cognitive, emotional, behavioral, physical, or learning challenges.
The teams that create plans for these young people include IEP (Individualized Education Plan) teams, wraparound teams, foster care Independent Living Program teams, transition planning teams, youth/family decision teams, and other teams that create service, care, or treatment plans. Unfortunately, it is often true that these plans are created for youth, with little input or buy-in from the young people themselves.
More on involving youth in planning.
|
|
|
What is Mediation? Mediation is a way of resolving disagreements in exceptional student education (ESE). Mediation can assist parents, schools, and agencies in resolving differences before they become major barriers to parent/ school relationships and the services for the student. |
Advocates Seek to Close Special-Education Achievement GapParents and advocates say schools need to do more to educate children with disabilities to reach the same standards as their peers, according to those attending an annual conference focusing on those with disabilities. "What is the vision of our community? Ultimately, the lifeblood of our community is a healthy, educated, well-motivated, highly engaged [populace]," said keynote speaker Keith P. Jones. "We cannot do that if we chronically under-educate, chronically under-motivate, chronically under-prepare a whole segment of our [populace] " The Boston Globe (03/02) Note from the Editor: Although this article is from a Boston newspaper, the content is very interesting.
|
|
The Power of Parent-Teacher Relations By Danielle M. Mbadu Call me idealistic, but I am one of the few educators I know who actually looks forward to parent-teacher conferences. In fact, I love them! I value, relish, and work at my relationships with parents, and so far, after five years of teaching, my experiences have been overwhelmingly positive. I find parent-teacher conferences exciting and I always feel energized and ready to take on the world once they are over. I am passionate about my work, so any excuse to talk about my students makes me happy. I think this is one of the reasons I enjoy meeting parents as much as I do. I’m not saying that every conference has been positive, or that I don’t tell it like it is, but I think that the love I have for my students comes across to their parents.
Click here for complete article.
|
|
