|
AWAREness |
||
|
January 2011
|
||
|
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 |
From the Staff of Central Florida Parent Center
|
|
|
In This Issue
School Reform’s Next Test
Technical Assistance and Training System (TATS)
My Child Needs Help in School
Navigating Admissions With a Learning Disability
Florida Raises Expectations
Standard Based IEPs
Search Florida Sunshine State Standards
Young Girl with Autism Finds an After-School Family
CFPC Calendar of Events
|
School Reform's Next TestBy Arne Duncan With a new Congress set to begin, key members on both sides of the aisle are poised to rewrite the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), currently known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB). In fact, the work has been underway for much of the past year, and few areas are more suited for bipartisan action than education reform. On many issues, Democrats and Republicans agree, starting with the fact that no one likes how NCLB labels schools as failures, even when they are making broad gains. Parents, teachers, and lawmakers want a system that measures not just an arbitrary level of proficiency, but student growth and school progress in ways that better reflect the impact of a school and its teachers on student learning. Most people dislike NCLB's one-size-fits-all mandates, which apply even if a community has better local solutions than federally dictated tutoring or school-transfer options. Providing more flexibility to schools, districts and states - while also holding them accountable - is the goal of many people in both parties.
|
|
|
The Technical Assistance and Training System (TATS)
The Technical Assistance and Training System (TATS) project has developed three information briefs for families entering into Pre-K ESE programs from Early Steps. The first two "TATS Talks with Families about Pre-K for Children with Disabilities" (Volume 1, Number 1 & 2) provide families with an overview of the Pre-K ESE system in Florida and talk about the law, Individual Educational Plans (IEP), accommodations and modifications, procedural safeguards for families, preschool options, what to look for in a high quality preschool, and how to be involved in your child's program. The third brief "TATS Talks with Families about the IEP Process" discusses in more detail the content of an IEP, the role of families on the IEP team, related services, the link between the IEP and services for your child, and getting ready for the IEP meeting. The TATS website (www.tats.ucf.edu) also has many resources for families covering curriculum, evaluation and assessment, inclusion, family involvement, and transition.
|
||
|
MY CHILD NEEDS HELP IN SCHOOL. I WONDER IF MY CHILD HAS A DISABILITY? Sometimes teachers or parents believe that getting a label through a special education evaluation is the only way to help a child, when, in fact, finding out what instruction works best for your child is the key to helping him or her have a successful school experience. Schools have a responsibility to provide effective instruction and behavioral supports to all students. When a student needs more help, a team of people use a problem-solving process to find ways to improve learning. The team may include teachers, administrators, and other types of specialists who may be able to help find solutions. Parents are also part of the problem-solving team and are encouraged to work with the school to help find solutions. Click here for more information.
|
||
Navigating Admissions With a Learning Disability
Increased awareness of learning challenges such as dyslexia and attention-deficit disorder, together with improved diagnosis and treatment, has helped millions of students improve their academic performance. But, as they enter their senior year of high school and begin the college admissions process, they face a whole new set of challenges. Now is the time to begin preparing to meet them. A Washington Post article identifies seven things parents of college-bound students with learning challenges should start doing right away. Click here for the complete article.
|
||
Florida Raises Expectations for Students with Disabilities
Modified standards for some will be gone next year; mastering same material as peers is the goalThroughout the state, thousands of children with disabilities are studying modified curriculum in one or more of their classes, often because it is thought the general education material is too difficult for them to master. But state officials believe that's untrue and that most children with disabilities - except in rare cases - are capable of completing the same course work as their peers. Now in some districts, students can either take standard general education courses, special standards or something in the middle called standard curriculum with modifications.
|
||
|
Special Educators Look to Tie IEPs to Common Core The widespread adoption of common-core academic standards is expected to accelerate a growing movement among educators to link individualized education programs for students with disabilities directly to grade-level standards. “Standards-based” IEPs allow individualized instruction in pursuit of a common goal: helping students with disabilities move toward meeting the same grade-level academic standards that general education students are supposed to meet.
|
||
|
"An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in.
|
Sunshine State StandardsSearch Florida's Next Generation StandardsClick here to start your search. |
|
|
At Boys & Girls Clubs, a Young Girl with Autism Finds Warmth of an After-School Family
A kid like Cindy Buige isn't usually this friendly and snuggly. |
||
|
|
||
