E-News—Issue 7, Number 5

Welcome to the June 2004 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:

• New Resources: Urban Leaders Weigh In on NCLB; Collaborative Releases Symposium Proceedings; New Report Compares IDEA Legislation; New Initiative for Student Supports
• Events: Collaboration Between Secondary and Postsecondary Education (July 12); Persistently Safe Schools (Oct. 27-29); TASH (Nov. 17-20); National ELL Research Conference (Nov. 18-19)
• Web Site of the Month: National Center on Student Progress Monitoring
• National Institute Help Desk

New Resources

Urban Leaders Weigh In on NCLB

According to a recent study conducted by the Education Policy Reform Research Institute (EPRRI), many urban school systems continue to struggle with implementing the sweeping changes of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). A number of Collaborative members participated in the study and the results are published in EPRRI's latest issue brief, Opportunities and Challenges: Perspectives on the No Child Left Behind Act from Special Education Directors in Urban School Districts. The brief presents the views of 13 special education leaders of urban school districts and focuses on the opportunities and challenges their districts face in implementing key NCLB requirements for students with disabilities. Recommendations for ensuring effective implementation of NCLB are also included in the issue brief, which is available on EPRRI's Web site at http://www.eprri.org/IB6.html.

Collaborative Releases Symposium Proceedings on the Combined Implications of NCLB and IDEA on Students with Significant Disabilities in Urban Schools

In response to an increasing need for more information about the combined implications of NCLB and IDEA, the Urban Special Education Leadership Collaborative sought to find out what educators and families understand and are experiencing related to outcomes for children with significant disabilities. The Collaborative, along with TASH, the former IDEA ILIAD Partnership, and other partner organizations, convened a group of educators and family members who work closely with students with significant disabilities to discuss the most critical issues facing these students' education in the implementation of NCLB and IDEA. In addition, the symposium highlighted OSEP-funded research that supports the education of children with the most significant disabilities. The Collaborative is pleased to announce that the proceedings from this symposium are now available on their Web site at http://www.urbancollaborative.org.

New Report Compares Current IDEA Law with New House and Senate Amended Versions

The National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems has released a side-by-side comparison of Parts A and B of the current IDEA law with the House Bill 1350, passed on April 30, 2003, and the Senate Bill 1248, passed on May 13, 2004. A House-Senate Conference Committee will be working to iron out the differences between the amendments and propose a final reauthorized IDEA. To download a copy of the 155-page report, visit http://www.napas.org/publicpolicy/3_way_side_by_side_final.pdf.

A New Initiative is Rethinking the Way Schools Provide Student Supports

Despite decades of discussion about ensuring all students have an equal opportunity to succeed at school, reformers have paid little attention to rethinking the way schools provide student supports. The Center for Mental Health in Schools at UCLA has launched a national initiative entitled New Directions for Student Support. The goal is to bring student support into the 21st century by revolutionizing what schools do to address barriers to learning and teaching. After holding a national summit and three regional summits, the next steps are to organize at the state level. To date, four states have already held statewide summits and are in the process of pursuing New Directions for Student Support. In addition, over 30 organizations, including the Collaborative, have signed on as co-sponsors. For more information about this initiative, as well as, guidelines on how to hold a summit in your state, visit http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu and click on the green button labeled “Summits for New Directions.” The site also offers a concept paper, reports and recommendations from the summits, guidelines for a student support component at a school, resource aids for new directions, and descriptions of trailblazing efforts.

Events

4th Annual LASER Urban Education Research Conference

September 23-25, 2004 (Pre-conference: September 22)
San Diego, CA

Linking Academic Scholars to Educational Resources (LASER), a project of the Office of Special Education Programs, is please to announce their 4th Annual Urban Education Research Conference. This year's conference will focus on evidence-based research in urban education and how these findings can help us to reconstruct the status of special education across cultures.

Presenters include:
Na’im Akbar, Nancy Todd Noches, Lisa Delpit, Sharon Ishii-Jordan, Greg Michie, and Valerie Pang

Conference highlights:
* National researchers will address relevant issues concerning urban children and youth.
* Project LASER’s Research Associates will present urban school research projects.
* During the Thursday night dining experience, university and public school students will present dance and theatrical presentations.
* A town hall meeting will provide a forum for teachers, parents, students, and others to inform the national urban research agenda.
A pre-conference workshop on September 22, entitled Reality Teaching Project, will show teachers how to teach low-income children of diverse ethnic backgrounds in grades K-12, connect with their families, and get positive results. Early bird registration is due by August 1, 2004. For more information or to register, visit http://www.coedu.usf.edu/laser/conference04.html.

National Research Conference: English Language Learners Struggling to Learn: Emergent Research on Linguistic Difference and Learning Disabilities

November 18-19, 2004
Scottsdale, AZ

Co-sponsored by the National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems (NCCRESt), a project of the Office of Special Education Programs, along with Arizona State University, the Council for Exceptional Children, and the National Association for Bilingual Education, the conference will present original, emergent scholarship on the differences between second language acquisition and learning disabilities. The impetus for the conference is the unprecedented growth of the English language learner population, the emergence of empirical evidence about the number of inappropriate referrals of ELLs to special education, the challenges associated with distinguishing between the characteristics of "normal" second language acquisition and learning disabilities, and the alarming dearth of research on these and related issues.

The conference will be held November 18-19, 2004 at the SunBurst Resort, Scottsdale, AZ. Registrations are now being accepted, and space is limited. For more information, to view the conference agenda, or to register, please go to http://www.nccrest.org/ell_conference.html. Direct any questions to Carolyn Ottke-Moore at Carolyn.Moore@cudenver.edu.

Web Site of the Month

National Center on Student Progress Monitoring

http://www.studentprogress.org/

Housed at the American Institutes for Research, and working in conjunction with researchers from Vanderbilt University, the National Center on Student Progress Monitoring is a national technical assistance and dissemination center dedicated to the implementation of scientifically-based student progress monitoring for grades K-5. Their integrated program of services strives to raise knowledge and awareness by communicating the techniques and benefits of student progress monitoring; provide implementation support for using proven progress monitoring practices; and encourage on-going information sharing through advanced web services, regional meetings, and a national conference. Visit their Web site to download useful new products, join their listserv, or register for their upcoming 2004 Summer Institute on Student Progress Monitoring for Reading, on July 22-23, 2004 in Washington, DC.

National Institute Support Desk

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