E-News—Issue 6, Number 6

Welcome to the July 2003 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: National Institute releases Leadership Academy Manual
• Reauthorization of IDEA 2003: Senate introduces its bill; Concerns about IDEA research
• Events: Color Lines Conference (August 30-September 1), National Association of Multicultural Education Annual Conference (November 5-9)
• New Resources: Personnel studies about special education administrators and school principals; GAO study on federal disciplinary provisions
• Web Site of the Month: Teaching diverse learners
• National Institute Help Desk

Publication Highlight

New National Institute guide prepares urban educators to lead change in their school districts

The National Institute for Urban School Improvement is pleased to announce the release of a new Leadership Academy Manual, which was created to help urban schools and school districts develop the capacity for successful and sustainable systems change. In the past several years, the National Institute has hosted more than 80 leadershipacademies in school districts across the country. Based on this experience, it has developed this practical guide to encourage more schools and school districts to design their own academies as a strategy for building more inclusive schools and communities.

The Leadership Academy Manual is free and comes complete with:

• guidelines for hosting a leadership academy
• activities and handouts, including sample agendas and evaluation forms
• modules that address improving education, creating building leadership teams, mining school data, and teaching diverse learners

All of these resources and materials are available for downloading from the National Institute's Web site: http://www.inclusiveschools.org/lamanual/lamanual.htm.

Reauthorization of IDEA 2003

IDEA bill approved by Senate Committee

In mid-June, the U.S. Senate introduced its bill to reauthorize the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions unanimously approved the bipartisan bill on Wednesday, June 25. Several minor additions were made to the bill, including a requirement that school districts conduct functional behavioral assessments of students who are removed from their regular classroom, and a clarification that parents cannot base a due process claim solely on the fact that a student's teacher is not highly qualified. The legislation now moves to the Senate floor where controversial issues, such as funding and vouchers that were left out of the bill, will be debated. To access the full text of the bill, go to: http://health.senate.gov/bills/013_bill.html

Concerns about IDEA research and evaluation

The Council for Exceptional Children's (CEC) Division for Research, in collaboration with other national organizations, and a number of parent, administrator, and researcher colleagues, have developed a document regarding the administration of IDEA research and evaluation activities.

The document outlines concerns about H.R. 1350, the House bill to reauthorize IDEA, and its proposal to move IDEA research and evaluation programs from the Office of Special Education Programs to the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). Visit http://www.edc.org/collaborative/members/index2.html to download more information about this issue.

Events

Color Lines Conference

August 30-September 1, 2003 Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

On the cusp of the 50th anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education, the Civil Rights Project will lead a vital national debate about the past, present, and future of racial integration in the United States. As many as 1,000 researchers, civic and business leaders, journalists, activists, and policymakers will engage each other in the course of more than forty panels and numerous presentations exploring how major institutions--from corporations to schools to media conglomerates to religious institutions to federal, state, and local governments, and more--are responding and should respond to our nation’s racial challenges and changes.

Education-related panel themes include:

• Inequality in K-12 Educational Opportunity: The Historic and Continuing Significance of Race
• Inequality in Higher Education: The Historic and Continuing Significance of Race
• Lessons from Brown I: Consequences for Districts, Students, and Parents
• Lessons from Brown II: A New Demographic Landscape and Alternative Remedies to School Segregation

The registration deadline is August 1. For more information, please visit http://www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu/convenings/colorlines/call_synopsis.php.

From Rhetoric to Reality: Student Achievement in Multicultural Societies

November 5-9, 2003 Seattle, WA

The National Association for Multicultural Education's 13th annual conference will feature presentations from Cherry McGee Banks, James Banks, Eugene Garcia, Geneva Gay, Carl Grant, Louise Derman-Sparks, Sonia Nieto, among many other leading researchers and scholars in the field. Participants will have opportunities to interact with educators who are conducting exemplary programs, share effective strategies, obtain valuable curricular and resource materials that support diversity and educational equity, visit multicultural schools and sites in Seattle, and much more.
For more information, please visit http://www.nameorg.org/conferences.html.

New Resources

New personnel studies about school principals and special education administrators

The Center on Personnel Studies in Special Education (COPSSE) collects and synthesizes research on the supply and demand of special education professionals, quality and effectiveness of professional preparation, and certification and licensure. COPSSE has commissioned a series of 10 issue briefs, and in June, released two publications. “Special Education Administration at a Crossroads: Availability, Licensure, and Preparation of Special Education Administrators” focuses on the special education school administrator and the need for and preparation of persons in this profession. It is available at http://www.coe.ufl.edu/copsse/pubfiles/IB-8.pdf. The second publication, “Principals and Special Education: The Critical Role of School Leaders,” focuses on the role of a principal in special education. It is available at http://www.coe.ufl.edu/copsse/pubfiles/IB-7.pdf.

GAO reports on IDEA disciplinary requirements

During the 2000-2001 school year, more than 91,000 special education students were removed from their educational settings for disciplinary reasons. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), schools are required to provide educational services to special education students who are removed from their educational settings for more than 10 days in a school year.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions' Ranking

Minority Member, Senator Ted Kennedy, asked the U. S. General Accounting Office (GAO) to determine where disciplined special education students are placed, the extent to which local school districts continue educational services for these students, and how the U.S. Department of Education provides support and oversight for special education disciplinary placements. To address these objectives, GAO conducted a study, using surveys and site-visits of special education disciplinary placements in three states: Illinois, Maryland, and North Carolina. As a result of the study, the GAO recommended that the Secretary of Education issue supplemental guidance to state and local education agencies to assist them in implementing IDEA's disciplinary provisions. For more information about what the GOA found and for copy of the full report, “Clearer Guidance Would Enhance Implementation of Federal Disciplinary Provisions,” visit http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-03-550.

WEB SITE OF THE MONTH

Teaching Diverse Learners

http://www.alliance.brown.edu/tdl/

The "Teaching Diverse Learners" Web site is dedicated to enhancing the capacity of teachers to work effectively and equitably with English language learners. One of its newest publications, the Diversity Kit: An Introductory Resource for Social Change in Education, addresses the importance of improving the educational experience of English language learners, as schools and teachers meet the challenges of new student demographics and changing student needs. The Web site also includes information on:

• teaching and learning strategies on culturally responsive teaching, mainstream classrooms, bilingual/ESL classrooms, and special education
• strategies for performance and student assessment
• organizations that may be useful to teachers of language minority students
• funding opportunities and grants for teaching English language learners

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.