E-News—Issue 5, Number 3

Welcome to the February 2002 issue of E-News!

E-News is designed to keep individuals informed of new developments in urban education and inclusive schooling practices in urban schools. In particular, E-News includes brief items of interest around the work of the National Institute and other organizations engaged in similar work, current research, upcoming conferences and events, new online and off-line products and resources, and other news happening in the field.

Features this month

• Publication Highlight: 25 years of educating children with disabilities
• News Briefs: New OSEP director appointed, President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education
• Event: "Who Will Teach Children with Disabilities in Urban Schools?" at CEC's annual convention (April 5); "Measuring Student Progress and Program Improvement" at Harvard's Summer Institute (July 15-19)
• New Resources: Parent involvement resources available in Spanish; working with English Language Learners with special needs
• National Institute Support Desk

Publication Highlight

25 years of educating children with disabilities

"Educating Children with Disabilities: The Good News and the Work Ahead," a publication of American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) and Center on Education Policy (CEP), highlights a variety of statistics showing the progress made during the past quarter-century in educating children with disabilities. It also includes data showing how much more needs to be done to prepare all students with disabilities for a productive and independent future. The intent is to bring this information in digestible form to policymakers, parents, classroom teachers, reporters, and others who don't usually read studies of special education. Free downloadable copies are available on the AYPF and CEP Web sites: http://www.aypf.org/pubs.htm or http://www.ctredpol.org/specialeducation/.

News Briefs

New OSEP director appointed

Last week, Secretary of Education Rod Paige appointed Stephanie Smith Lee as director for the Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). In this role, Ms. Lee will serve as a chief advisor to Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services Robert Pasternack, with primary responsibility for the administration of programs and projects related to education, training, and services for children and youth with disabilities, including the state formula and discretionary grant programs administered by OSEP.

Prior to joining the Education Department, Ms. Lee served as a government affairs representative for the National Down Syndrome Society where she worked directly with elected officials and grassroots organizations on policy issues related to individuals with disabilities. She is also a recent member of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act Advisory Panel, which made recommendations to the president, Congress, and the Social Security Commission on ways to empower individuals with disabilities to enter the workforce.

A native of Salt Lake City, she is also a parent of a child with a disability. In Dr. Pasternack's words, this gives her "a personal understanding of the complex array of issues and challenges facing special education, particularly as we move to the upcoming reauthorization of IDEA."

President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education (PCESE)

This past fall, President Bush established a Commission on Excellence in Special Education to collect information and study issues related to federal, state, and local special education programs with the goal of recommending policies for improving the education performance of students with disabilities. Bookmark the Commission's Web site to stay abreast as reports and updates are released: http://www.ed.gov/inits/commissionsboards/whspecialeducation/index2.html

Events

"Who Will Teach Children with Disabilities in Urban Schools?" at the Council for Exceptional Children's annual convention, Friday, April 5, New York, NY

David Riley of the National Institute and the Urban Special Education Leadership Collaborative and Charlene Green, Assistant Superintendent of Student Support Services, Clark County School District (Las Vegas, Nevada) are co-leading the Urban Strand, "Who Will Teach Children with Disabilities in Urban Schools?" at the Council for Exceptional Children's annual convention in New York City.

Recruitment and retention of qualified special education teachers and related services personnel has become increasingly a challenge for school districts across the country, especially in our nation's urban schools. This year's Urban Strand will discuss the magnitude of the problem, contributing and complicating factors, as well as strategies that some urban school districts are adopting to meet the challenge.

Participants will be able to:

• Discuss the scope of the special education teacher shortage, particularly as it affects urban schools
• Describe factors that contribute to this personnel crisis
• Identify strategies to recruit, develop, and retain qualified special education professionals

This strand is made up of four one-hour sessions that address: 1) the scope and implications of the current and prospective recruitment/retention challenge; 2) New York Board of Education's strategies to recruit and develop qualified professionals; 3) recruitment, development, and retention in Clark County--the nation's fastest growing school district; and 4) effective responses to the special education teacher shortage.

The convention runs Wednesday, April 3 through Saturday, April 6; visit CEC's convention Web site - http://www.cec.sped.org/nyc/nyc_2002_03.html - for more information.

Harvard Institute, Measuring Student Progress and Program Improvement, July 15-19

This summer, the Harvard Graduate School of Education will offer its 10th annual Critical Issues in Urban Special Education Institute. This year’s program explores how public schools are being held accountable for improved educational outcomes of students, including those with disabilities. Standards-based reforms, high-stakes testing, a renewed emphasis on early intervention, and special education law have reshaped the public education agenda and forced the focus away from inputs and toward results.

Co-chaired by David Riley of the National Institute and the Urban Special Education Leadership Collaborative, this Summer Institute that will examine the impact of the shift toward outcomes on students with disabilities in urban schools and explore the challenges and opportunities for measuring individual student progress while meeting the demands for instructional relevance, program improvement, and large-scale accountability. Institute faculty include National Institute Director Elizabeth Kozleski, Director of the National Center on Educational Outcomes Martha Thurlow, and noted educational measurement leader W. James Popham.

The Institute will take place on the Harvard campus. For more information, call 800.545.1849 or visit http://www.gse.harvard.edu/ppe.

New Resources

Parent involvement resources offered in Spanish

The National Parent Teacher Association has released a collection of free resources in Spanish to promote parent involvement in a variety of areas: on understanding standards, talking to teens about AIDS, fighting discrimination, and creating healthy children and families.

New resources for working with English Language Learners with special needs

ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages & Linguistics has released two new resources for those working with English Language Learners with special needs. One is a comprehensive Web site of links, journals, and publications dedicated to this topic: http://www.cal.org/ericcll/faqs/RGOs/special.html. The other is a new article by Dr. Alba Ortiz, University of Texas. "English Language Learners with Special Needs: Effective Instructional Strategies" which focuses on the prevention of school failure and early intervention for struggling learners: http://www.cal.org/ericcll/digest/0108ortiz.html

National Institute Support Desk

Previous issues of E-News can be viewed at: http://niusi.obiki.org/enews.htm.

For more information about the National Institute for Urban School Improvement, please feel free to contact us.