E-News—Issue 5, Number 6

Welcome to the May 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

• Featured Publications: Two new helpful tools for school administrators
• Web Site of the Month: Project focuses on school safety and violence prevention
• Event: Conference for teachers of students with disabilities (September 27-28)
• New Resources: Topics include parentally-placed students with disabilities, rethinking learning disabilities, and helping teens recover from depression
• National Institute Support Desk

Featured Publications

Resources for school administrators

Addressing Over-Representation of African American Students with Disabilities: The Prereferral Intervention Process, An Administrator's Guide

In many school districts across the nation, the procedures and processes by which students are referred and classified for special education appear to significantly impact African American students. Often children are inappropriately referred and erroneously determined to require special education and related services. Developed by the National Alliance of Black School Educators (NABSE) and the ILIAD Partnership, this easy-to-use guide provides administrators with an overview of the issue, promising approaches, suggestions for involving families, and numerous resources and references for further study. Free copies may be downloaded from the IDEAPractices' Web site: http://www.ideapractices.org/resources/detail.php?id=22070. Copies may also be purchased by calling the Council for Exceptional Children: 1-888-232-7733.

To Light a Beacon: What Administrators Can Do to Make Schools Successful for All Students

In some schools, students with disabilities achieve exemplary results. This new topical brief from the ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education and the Office of Special Education Programs highlights results from three studies that examined what these schools do that sets them apart. Copies may be downloaded from the ERIC/OSEP Special Project Web site: http://www.ericec.org/osep-sp.html.

Web Site of the Month

The Safe and Responsive Schools Project

In addressing the recent tragic incidents that have occurred in suburban and rural schools, the Safe and Responsive School Project cautions that the more severe and ongoing problems of urban schools must not be forgotten. Students in urban schools serving lower socioeconomic status minority children are twice as likely to be victims of violence as students in suburban or rural areas. Visit this federally funded project's Web site - http://www.indiana.edu/~safeschl - for a broad perspective on school safety and violence prevention that stresses comprehensive planning, alternatives to suspension and expulsion, and parent/community involvement. An entire section of the site explores the critical issue of minority disproportionality, focusing on questions, such as "When is disproportionality discrimination?" and "Does zero tolerance discriminate against minorities and the poor?"

Events

Bridging the Gap Between Research and Practice: A Conference for Teachers of Students with Learning Disabilities

Friday, September 27-Saturday, September 28
Pittsburgh, PA

The Division for Learning Disabilities (DLD)—a division of the Council for Exceptional Children—third annual conference provides in-depth instruction to teachers looking to implement new and proven methods in their classrooms. Participants sign up in advance for four, three-hour workshops.

Topics and presenters will include:
Early Identification and Prevention of Learning and Behavior Problems in
Young Children
- Tanis Bryan, Karen Burstein, and Karen Carney, Arizona State University

Teaching Students with Disabilities Mathematical Problem Solving
- Asha Jitendra, Lehigh University

LaPatera: Conducting Interventions with Spanish Speaking Kindergartners
- Michael Gerber and Jill Leafstedt, University of California, Santa Barbara

Assisting Older Struggling Readers to Decode Fluently and Accurately
- Anita Archer, Educational Consultant, Oregon

Improving Content Area Learning
- Margo Mastropieri and Thomas E. Scruggs, George Mason University

Registration deadline is August 30; register by July 15 to receive a discount off the registration fee. For more information or to request a registration form, please contact DLD2002@pitt.edu.

New Resources

"Parentally-Placed Students with Disabilities"

This new publication from the National Institute's partner, the Urban Special Education Leadership Collaborative, and the ILIAD Partnership provides an overview of IDEA '97 regulations and relevant case law regarding parentally-placed students with disabilities in private schools. Included is a memorandum from the Office of Special Education Programs titled "Questions and Answers on Obligations of Public Agencies in Serving Children with Disabilities Placed by Their Parents at Private Schools." Copies may be downloaded from the IDEAPractices Web site: http://www.ideapractices.org/resources/detail.php?id=22082.

"Rethinking Learning Disabilities" teleseminar audiotapes available in June

The Collaborative is now taking advance orders from the Collaborative's popular May 21 teleseminar "Rethinking Learning Disabilities," with presenter G. Reid Lyon, Chief of the Child Development and Behavior Branch within the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). Forty-five sites around the country, U.S. territories, and Canada tuned in to hear Dr. Lyon discuss the traditional methodologies for assessment, identification, and instruction of students with learning disabilities all within the context of the upcoming reauthorization of IDEA. Tapes are $39.95 each, including shipping and handling (please allow two weeks for delivery). For additional ordering information, please visit the Collaborative's Web site: http://www.urbancollaborative.org, or contact Kacie Wick at kwick@edc.org.

Recovering from Depression: A Workbook for Teens, Revised Edition

By Mary Ellen Copeland, M.A., M.S., & Stuart Copans, M.D.

With suicide as the third leading cause of death among young people aged 15 to 24, school administrators, guidance counselors, and psychologists must understand—and know how to address—adolescent depression. Recovering from depression is possible—and this interactive workbook guides and supports both teens and the professionals who help them on the journey. Counselors can use it to help teens recognize depression in themselves, learn what they can do to feel better, and build a safety plan to stay well. Education professionals can use the book to increase their knowledge of the symptoms, causes, treatments, and effects of depression. This revised edition is filled with tips and activities on

• dealing with suicidal thoughts and feelings
• changing negative thought patterns to positive ones
• reaching out to friends and supporters
• avoiding substance abuse
• solving problems constructively
• recognizing and avoiding "triggers" of depression

Copies are available from Brookes Publishing:
http://www.brookespublishing.com/store/books/copeland-5923/excerpt.htm.

National Institute Support Desk

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

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