11/10/2008
Common to No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA) is the call for education professionals to implement academic and behavioral interventions based in quality scientific research. Problem is, there have not been too many places educators, families, or policy makers could turn to locate this research base, let alone ensure that it found its way into practice. A number of organizations have recognized and responded to this need from within the education community -- their efforts are summarized below along with links to their respective web sites...
 1) NICHCY Research Center
Offers a range of materials to connect people with easy to understand educational research:
- NICHCY's online Evidence for Education modules and downloadable PDF's explore the best evidence-based practices education has to offer. What sort of information will you find here? First, you'll find an easy-to-read review of educational research relating to specific academic or behavioral interventions. You'll also find practical examples of the topic at hand. Finally, you'll find connections to more detailed resources to assist you in moving the research into practice.
- NICHCY Research-to-Practice Database provides a growing number of structured abstracts that condense technical research reports and articles into short accessible briefs. Even better, within each abstract are "Research Connections" to real world examples of practice based on the research.
- Research Basics provides just that, the basics on why research is important and how to make sense of it.
 2) Best Evidence Encyclopedia
Brought to you by the Center for Data-Driven Reform in Education, at Johns Hopkins University and provides information on educational programs that have been validated in research. The web site presents high-quality evaluation of programs and includes:
- Brief, readable "educator summaries" of research on educational programs using symbols like those used by Consumer Reports.
- Full-text reviews on each topic.
 3) Campbell Collaboration (C2)
A non-profit organization that aims to help people make well-informed decisions about the effects of interventions in the social, behavioral and educational arenas. C2's objectives are to prepare, maintain and disseminate systematic reviews of studies of social interventions, and to make their findings accessible to decision makers and the general public.
 4) Florida Center for Reading Research
Reports are intended to be a source of information about programs that will help teachers, principals, and district personnel in their choice of materials that can be used by skilled teachers to provide effective instruction. In addition to describing programs and their use, these reports provide information on the extent to which their content, organization, and instructional strategies are consistent with scientifically based research in reading.
 5) IDEA Partnership's Results for Kids Library
Responds to several challenges and opportunities inherent in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 2004) and the No Child Left Behind Act:
(a) early intervening to prevent learning difficulties from leading to academic failure;
(b) response to intervention to determine progress and adjust instruction;
(c) the need for instruction that works for culturally and/or linguistically diverse students;
(d) the imperative to reduce referrals of children who do not need special education;
(e) the impetus to increase success for all students in the general curriculum;
(f) the contribution of non-academic services to improving academic performance; and
(g) "Raising Achievement: A New Path for No Child Left Behind,” a 2005 initiative of the U.S. Department of Education.
 6) National Insitute for Literacy: A Partnership for Reading
A major initiative to identify quality reading instruction research began with the work of the National Reading Panel between 1997 and 2000. The Panel, established by Congress, examined the available research and identified 460 studies that met its criteria for research quality. This database contains abstracts of these studies and will continue to add more abstracts on a regular basis as new studies into reading instruction are conducted and reviewed. The database is organized into seven categories related to the teaching of reading.
 7) Promising Practice Network (PPN)
Dedicated to providing quality evidence-based information about what works to improve the lives of children, youth, and families. The PPN site features summaries of programs and practices that are proven to improve outcomes for children. All of the information on the site has been carefully screened for scientific rigor, relevance, and clarity.
 8) SAMHSA National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices
Searchable database of interventions for the prevention and treatment of mental and substance use disorders. SAMHSA has developed this resource to help people, agencies, and organizations implement programs and practices in their communities.
 9) What Works Clearinghouse
Established in 2002 by the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences to provide educators, policymakers, researchers, and the public with a central and trusted source of scientific evidence of what works in education.The WWC aims to promote informed education decision making through a set of easily accessible databases and user-friendly reports that provide education consumers with high-quality reviews of the effectiveness of replicable educational interventions (programs, products, practices, and policies) that intend to improve student outcomes.
 10) The Wing Institute
An independent, non-profit organization, promotes evidence-based education policies and practices by facilitating::
- Efficacy research (what works?) establishing promising interventions through rigorous, high quality research
- Effectiveness research (when does it work?)
identifying through research the minimum conditions for interventions to be successful (student characteristics, setting features, resource demands, social contingencies)
- Implementation (how do we make it work?) addressing all relevant variables so an intervention will be successfully adopted in a particular setting
- Monitoring (is it working?) establishing the effectiveness of interventions through on-going evaluation
Know of others? Share your comments below! 10/10/2008
It's been a bit tricky finding decent sources of information that succinctly capture each of the Presidential candidate's positions on education. Now, thanks to the Public Education Network (PEN), it's a little easier. They've posted a special page titled Public Education and the American Presidency that outlines respective views on No Child Left Behind (NCLB), Teachers, Early Childhood Education, School Choice/Vouchers, Special Education, English Language Learners (ELL), High School issues including Dropout Prevention and Achievement Gap, Global Workforce, Technology, College Affordability, Parent Involvement, and Community Engagement.
You may also find interest in Jim Gerl's Special Education Law Blog which specifically addresses McCain and Obama's stance on special education. In this post Perl poses several questions to the candidates and invited readers to submit more. He eventually sent this list of ten questions directly to each campaign. In the spirit of Gerl’s contribution, we offer the following questions...
Three questions for McCain:
- The Republican Party Platform speaks of “Maintaining our Commitment to IDEA,” and specifically speaks to “pre-reading skills.” Does this mean you would repeal the current cuts to Reading First, the largest Federal commitment to reading instruction?
- You spoke recently in a town hall meeting to a mother of a child with autism that it is a “disgrace” that we don’t fully fund special education programs. Similarly, the Republican Platform promises to pay the full 40% of IDEA – related costs. Where would you find the money to make that happen?
- You’ve noted that you’ve been profoundly influenced by your wife, Cindy’s experience as a special education teacher. Can you speak of specific policy initiatives that you would support based on her influence?
Three questions for Obama:
- Your education plan lists early childhood education as one of your priorities. In what way would your plan address effective identification and remediation of children with disabilities?
- How would you address the secondary transition from high school to college for students with disabilities?
- In your Plan for Supporting Americans with Autism Spectrum Disorders you promise to “seek to increase federal ASD funding for research, treatment, screenings, public awareness, and support services to $1 billion annually” by the end of your first term in office. How will you pay for this increase?
The effort has generated a lot of discussion, including an upcoming discussion on the Eduwonk web site. Unfortunately, it hasn't brought any significant response from the candidates, aside from a "preliminary response" from Obama.
How can we bring more attention from the candidates? As Jim points out, the blogosphere is uniquely suited for this type of effort. Let us know what other questions you have, and be sure to follow the ongoing efforts at the Special Education Law Blog.
Finally, be sure to join our friends at edweek.org on October 21, 7-9pm for "Education and the Next President" a live debate taking place at Teachers College, Columbia University, between Linda Darling-Hammond, education adviser to Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama, and Lisa Graham Keegan, education adviser to Republican nominee John McCain. 8/26/2008![clip_image001[5]](/blog/Lists/Posts/Attachments/22/clip_image0015_thumb.jpg) Imagine a place where your kid can go and learn life skills in a completely safe and friendly environment. No, it’s not Xanadu, but it might feel like that once you get there. The Weinberg Life Village in West Bloomfield, MI is a unique, interactive facility where children with special needs can have fun while they practice important life skills through role play. Role Plays include events like waiting in a doctor's office, shopping in a drug store, and doing the laundry.
Students are typically driven in from neighboring schools (within about two hours drive) and given experiences they otherwise might not get. There are over 15 different classes, split between Life Skills and Job skills. For example, classes include “A Lesson in Healthy Living,” “Job Search,” and “Making Plans and Changing Plans.” There are also small-scale shops like a Beauty Shop, a Dentist Office, and Sav-On-Drugs, where students can use scaled-down shopping carts, aisles stocked with personal care products, and check-out lanes fitted with scanners and cash registers. To take the realism further, some items on sale in the drug store can be used elsewhere in LifeTown. “Friendship Circle is about creating friendships first,” says Batsheva Hadar, the Adult Volunteer Coordinator for the Detroit suburb organization. “The focus is on the friendship experience. We pair children with special needs with a volunteer, maybe a teenager, maybe a senior, and that is the beauty of what we do. We create a sense of belonging, build community, see things like speech therapy improve, and all with volunteers who are learning too the beauty of individuals with disabilities.” Indeed, the idea has caught on and Friendship Circle can now boast over 70 offshoots worldwide. Though mostly in the United States, there are also new groups in places like Canada, France, Israel, China and South Africa. ![clip_image001[7]](/blog/Lists/Posts/Attachments/22/clip_image0017_thumb.jpg) When the idea came up to do something on a grand scale, the founders of Friendship Circle went around to parents and professionals who worked with individuals with disabilities and asked them what they would ask for if they could have whatever they wanted. The Life Village facility is the result of that, and compliments the friendship-building and other programming efforts of Friendship Circle overall. Funding for the facility came from private donors as well as a grant from the Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). As the Friendship Circle web site states: “At LifeTown, children with special needs and their parents and siblings find a place that has been specifically designed to meet their needs.” How cool is that?
The organization is volunteer-driven, with over 800 volunteers worldwide. Children are paired with their own volunteer, and an effort is made to keep volunteers consistent. Activities range between both free play and structured play. Begun and based in the Jewish Lubavich Outreach service network, Hadar emphasized that Friendship Circle serves all members of the community and that they “welcome any visitors who would like to see the facility and the program.” If you’d like to learn more, you can visit the web site (http://www.friendshipcircle.org). Or you can contact her directly at their West Bloomfield offices, or through her email at batsheva@friendshipcircle.org. 8/18/2008
Welcome New Teachers!
NICHCY wants to provide information about where to turn when you need to ask a question, request information, share a success, reach out to others, and/or build a network.
There are many resources targeted for new teachers. There are no dumb questions. (Solving problems happens more easily with input from others.) You are not the only one wondering how do you take attendance, start your lesson, maintain classroom order by addressing the skirmish in the corner, answer the question you are being asked by a student all at the same time and with a pleasant smile.
We are including resources from the entire educational spectrum, meaning they should have something to say to both “general” and “special” educators. (The resources reflect the natural blurriness of those labels.)
So where do you turn? Several resources exist to help you:
NICHCY would like to leave you with words we found on a blog by a teacher from Oakland…
It won’t be easy. And there won’t be many thank-yous. So I’ve got a couple for you now. Store em away for the lean times. (This isn't Oregon Trail; you can take everything back to the wagon).
Thank you for being made of fire with your joy for your job, the students you work with, and the families that trust you to lead them well.
Thank you for being made of squishy, absorbent sponge as you strive to learn as much as possible about your new schools and new community.
Thank you for being made of caulking solution as you fill in the gaps of student knowledge and student skill.
Thank you for being made of hot links and chili peppers, instilling your all your lessons and all your assignments with spice and flavor.
Thank you for being made of ice as you address misbehavior.
Thank you for being made of steel, especially in October, especially in February, especially when you’re tired, or sick, or sick and tired, when you prove to your students that NO EXCUSES is not a catch-phrase, it’s a reality.
And finally, thank you on behalf of the nearly 2,000 Oakland students whose lives you will impact in the fall, and many, many falls to come, with whom you will build such a tower of small-d differences, it can reach any height.
8/15/2008
The Condition of Education 2008, a Congressionally mandated report published by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), provides an in-depth and up-to-date look at the US education system.
In the Introduction to the report, NCES Commissioner Mark Schneider explains, “This report allows us to take a big-picture look at the condition of American education, ... What we see are improvements, such as higher math and reading scores for 4th- and 8th-graders, and increases in college enrollment. But persistent challenges remain in educating a growing and increasingly diverse population.”
A few highlights from the report...
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This year, public school enrollment is expected to approach about 50 million students. Total public school enrollment is projected to set new records each year from 2008 to 2017, at which time it is expected to reach 54.1 million.
- Between 1989–90 and 2004–05, total spending per student in public elementary and secondary schools rose 29 percent after adjusting for inflation, to $10,892.
- The dropout rates for Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics have generally declined between 1972 and 2006. However, over this period, the dropout rates for Hispanics and Blacks remained higher than the White rates.
- Among public high school students in the class of 2005, about three-fourths graduated on time.
What about Special Education you might ask?
The Office of Special Education Programs of the US Department of Education compiles an Annual Report to Congress that takes a look at special education issues and trends.
A few highlights from the report...
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Between 1994-2003, the total number of children served under IDEA, Part C (services for children birth to their third birthday) grew 64.8 percent.
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In 2003, Part B served 680,142 children ages 3 through 5. This figure represents 5.8 percent of U.S. children ages 3-5.
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In 2003, special education and related services under IDEA, Part B were being provided to 6,046, 051 students ages 6 through 21. 9.1 percent of the U.S. general population ages 6 through 21.
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In 2002-2003, some 51.9 percent of the students ages 14 and older with disabilities graduated with a regular high school diploma, and 33.6 percent exited school by dropping out.
Taken together, this information can inform both policy and research.
8/14/2008
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings addressed principals at the annual National Leaders Conference hosted by the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) and the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP).
Her address focuses on acknowledging the critical role of principals, the upcoming No Child Left Behind reauthorization, and other current policy initiatives and developments. She also takes questions from the audience of principals...
The What Works Clearinghouse (What Works) recently released reports on two prominent Reading programs. What Works, a leading source of evidence-based information for educators, investigates the gamut of educational hot topics. The site features a variety of reports that provide snap shots of the Education research base. The topic of Reading, and specifically Reading programs and their research base, has received attention from What Works over the years. Continuing that tradition, What Works took a look at "Reading Mastery" and “Open Court Reading.” These reports distill what is known about these programs and their impact on children. Read What Work's "Reading Mastery" report Also, take a look at What Work's "Open Court Reading" report Though these reports look at Reading, What Works tackles much, much more. Check and see if they have covered your subject matter and/or interest. Also, while your looking for the best in evidence-based information, visit Doing What Works or The Best Evidence Encyclopedia. Still hungry for evidence? NICHCY's research information may have what you need too. 8/12/2008
The Response to Intervention (RtI) drumbeat can be heard across the nation. As state departments of education, local education authorities, teachers, families, and students prepare for a new school year, NICHCY wants to take a second and highlight a few RtI resources.
NICHY's Connections piece offers a basic definition of RtI and suggests resources that support people trying to use and/or better understand RtI. Embedded within the document are links to organizations and up-to-date information on RtI.
The US Department of Education weighs in on RtI.
The RtI Center and RtI Action Network also connect people with the latest research and support.
The Center on Instruction provides RtI information in the Special Education section of their site as well.
Interested in blogging about RtI? Try the blogs at the Council for Exceptional Children or the RtI Action Network.
This video from Colorado State Department of Education explains the systems and structures that are part of an effective RtI process. It also speaks to the ways in which RtI can be used to better assess and meet the needs of all students.
A lot of attention is currently, and rightly, being paid to putting the best information we are gathering and learning in the research process into practice across a variety of subject areas. For example, the medical field struggles to get medical advances in the hands of doctors. Within the field of K-12 education, what good is the research if does not contribute to bettering the educational situation of children and improving their well-being and/or achievement in some way? How do the most effective teaching methods reach children in classrooms? What curricula best meet the needs of struggling learners, and how do we share those materials with teachers? What programs effectively address challenges faced by children in schools? These questions hover as researchers research and teachers teach.
The National Implementation Research Network has been looking into the ways in which the work of organizations can be informed and guided by a rigorous and thoughtfully gathered body of evidence. In so doing, they have created a conceptual view of implementation. Their "conceptual view" articulates essential elements of effective implementation of practices and programs.
Take a look at their view and see what you think...
“Family involvement makes a difference” proclaims the Harvard Family Research Project. That important truth frames the work of all people concerned with the education and welfare of children. Whether in helping with homework, asking about a school day at dinner, or making sure the children have access to expert help when available, families are a critical component of student success.
As educators, bringing families into the "formal" educational process is a primary task outlined in the report, “Family Involvement in Elementary School Children’s Education” authored by the Harvard Family Research Project. This report details what the research says about the value of the involvement of families.
NICHCY also has plenty of information to support families on our Families and Community page.
There is also a National Allliance of Technical Assistance Centers that offer assistance to organizations that work with families. Within the Resources section of the site, under Scientifcally-Based Research, there are specific resources focused on families.
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