December 2010 – NASET Resource Review

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In this issue you will find resources in the following areas:

  • Accessibility

  • Adoptive Families Resources

  • Behavior Management

  • Classroom Management

  • College Issues

  • Computer Based Testing

  • Disability Benefits

  • Early Intervention

  • Emotional Disabilities

  • Employment

  • Family/School Communication

  • Holiday Stress

  • IEP

  • Inclusion

  • Intellectual Disabilities

  • Kindergarten

  • Learning Strategies

  • Physical Therapy

  • Placement Patterns

  • Research Participation Requests

  • RTI

  • Self Care Skills

  • Stress in Children

  • Teacher Sharing Sites

  • Videos

Accessibility

IDEA’s National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard Requirement 
Training Module
https://www.nichcy.org/Laws/IDEA/Pages/module8.aspx
The National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) is a new element in IDEA to get accessible materials to students with print disabilities in time for them to actually learn with their classmates. The National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY) has produced a training module on NIMAS, its benefits, and its implementation.

Adoptive Families Resources

Resources Especially For…Foster or Adoptive Families
It’s estimated that at least one-third of the children and youth in foster care today likely have disabilities. This page is written for the families who’ve adopted children with disabilities and those who offer them safe haven through fostering.  It’s also written for those who work in state agencies or in private organizations who find foster homes and adoptive families for children.
https://www.nichcy.org/FamiliesAndCommunity/Pages/foster-adoptive.aspx

BehaviorManagement

Assessing Self-Regulation in Children and Youth: A Guide for Out-of-School Time Program Practitioners  
Research-to-Results Brief
https://www.childtrends.org/Files//Child_Trends-2010_10_05_RB_AssesSelfReg.pdf
Being able to suppress impulsive behavior and to adjust behavior as appropriate has been linked to positive outcomes for children and adolescents. This brief defines self-regulation and why it is important, provides three measures of self-regulation skills of children and teens, and includes tips for enhancing self-regulation skills in out-of-school time programs. Available in pdf (170 KB, 8 pp).

Behavior A Problem? – FACTS 
Checklist
https://www.pbis.org/pbis_resource_detail_page.aspx?Type=4&PBIS_ResourceID=246
FACTS, the Functional Assessment Checklist for Teachers and Staff, from the OSEP TA&D Network’s Technical Assistance Center Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports, is a two-page interview completed by people (teachers, family, clinicians) who know the child best. It is used to either build behavior support plans or guide more complete functional assessment efforts.

Classroom Management

Classroom-management video tips for teachers.
Educators share how to keep it all together in class.
https://www.edutopia.org/classroom-management-video

College Issues

College Success for All: The Hidalgo Independent School District’s College Readiness Program 
Report
https://www.jff.org/premium-publications/education/college-success-all-how-hidalgo-independ/1144
“College Success for All,” from Jobs for the Future, tells how the Hidalgo Independent School District — in one of the most economically depressed metropolitan areas in Texas and with low numbers of college-educated adults — is preparing all of its students to earn college credits while in high school. Hidalgo ISD is 99.5% Hispanic, 90% economically disadvantaged, and 53% limited-English-proficient. In 2005, the district promised that all of its students, not just a select group, would earn college credits before graduating from high school. Since then, it has transformed its elementary schools, middle schools, and high school by driving college expectations, implementing rigorous course sequencing, integrating student support systems into all of its schools, stepping up parental engagement, and building strong relationships with partnering institutions. In June 2010, more than 95% of the class graduated with college credits, and two-thirds of the graduating seniors had earned at least a full semester of credit for a college degree.

Mind the Gaps: How College Readiness Narrows Achievement Gaps in College Success, ACT  
Report
https://www.act.org/research/policymakers/pdf/MindTheGaps.pdf
This ACT report describes the current state of high school students’ college readiness and examines pre-college indicators to improving college success, specifically among underrepresented racial/ethnic minority students and students from lower income families. Although nonacademic factors also influence college success, the report examines several academic factors, including level of academic achievement, coursework preparation, and educational and career planning in high school, that contribute to students’ success during their first year in college and their likelihood of returning to college for a second year. Available in pdf (592 KB, 68 pp).

Computer Based Testing

Computer-based Testing: Practices and Considerations (NCEO Synthesis Report 78)  
Report
https://www.cehd.umn.edu/NCEO/OnlinePubs/Synthesis78/default.htm
Computer-based testing (CBT) has emerged as one of the recent “innovative” approaches to assessments most pursued by states. CBT is lauded as providing cheaper and speedier test delivery for state and district-wide assessments and as an avenue toward greater accessibility for students with disabilities. This free report, from the Institute on Community Integration’s National Center on Educational Outcomes, explores the context of CBT, current state computer-based tests, and considerations for students with disabilities, in part as follow-up to a similar exploration in the early 2000s when just a few states were beginning to develop and implement CBT for their state assessments. Nine considerations for states and districts are presented.

Disability Benefits

Disability benefits for those with mental impairment? Speak up now!
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has proposed changes to the way decisions are made for awarding disability benefits based on a mental impairment. These changes would drastically reduce the number of children and adults with serious mental disorders who qualify for disability benefits. If this concerns you, submit your comments to SSA by November 17th. Read all about it, and find out where and how to submit input at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law.
https://www.bazelon.org/What-You-Can-Do/Take-Action/Alerts/Alerts-Archive/11-1-10SSAListings.aspx

Early Intervention

Effecive Practices in Early Intervention
This resource page will connect you with the impressive knowledge base of experience the field has built regarding the delivery of early intervention services.
https://www.nichcy.org/babies/Effectivepractices/Pages/Default.aspx

Baby Brain Map.
The Baby Brain Map reveals the secrets of how early care enriches development.
https://www.zerotothree.org/child-development/brain-development/baby-brain-map.html
 
An introduction to social and emotional learning.
Emotional intelligence must be developed in children before any other learning can effectively take place.
https://www.edutopia.org/social-emotional-learning-introduction-video

The Heart-Brain Connection: The Neuroscience of Social, Emotional, and Academic Learning.
Neuroscientist Richard Davidson presents his research on how social and emotional learning can affect the brain.
https://www.edutopia.org/richard-davidson-sel-brain-video

Effective early childhood education programs: A systematic review.
A new report published on the Best Evidence Encyclopedia website provides an extensive review of the research on the outcomes of 27 early childhood programs for children aged three to five in a group setting.
https://www.bestevidence.org/early/early_child_ed/early_child_ed.htm

When children have challenging behaviors.
ZERO TO THREE has developed a set of resources designed to help you better understand and cope with some of the typical challenges parents face in the early years: aggression, defiance, inconsolable crying, children who are slow-to-warm-up, and sleep.
https://www.zerotothree.org/child-development/challenging-behavior/

Music therapy.
Imagine, the first annual online magazine dedicated to early childhood music therapy, is now online and free to all.
www.imagine.musictherapy.biz 

Planning for terrific transitions.
This guide/training package focuses on the need to facilitate children’s transition to kindergarten. It’s designed to help transition-to-school teams improve their transition processes through more effective planning, implementation, and evaluation.The training package includes the trainer’s guide, a participant’s guide, a CD with all the transparencies needed, and a copy of all the handouts necessary for the training.
https://www.serve.org/FileLibraryDetails.aspx?id=152

Emotional Disabilities

Voices4Hope.
This website was created by a group of young adults with mental health challenges. It connects young adults with mental health challenges across the country so they can talk to each other about things that are important to living happy and independent lives. www.voices4hope.wikispaces.com

Responding to a student’s depression.
An article in the October issue of Educational Leadership.
https://www.ascd.org/premium-publications/educational-leadership/oct10/vol68/num02/Responding-to-a-Student%27s-Depression.aspx

Virtual Toolbox for Mental Health in Schools.
https://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/summit2002/toolbox.htm

Practitioner and Professional Development Virtual Toolbox for Mental Health in Schools 
Toolbox
https://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/summit2002/toolbox.htm
The National Center for Mental Health in Schools at UCLA has compiled an online toolbox of resources developed by the Center. While it is intended as an adjunct to the book “Mental Health in Schools: Engaging Learners, Preventing Problems, and Improving Schools” (Corwin Press, 2010), the toolbox contents should be useful to any school practitioner and people involved in pre-and in-service professional development programs. The toolbox reflects a broad view of mental health in schools and of the role mental health plays in the well-being of students, their families, and their teachers. It stresses the value of embedding mental health into a comprehensive classroom and school-wide system for addressing barriers to learning and teaching and for re-engaging disconnected students as an essential facet of ensuring all students have an equal opportunity to succeed at school.

Employment

Webinar on Customized Employment.
December 14, 2010 | 2:00-3:00 PM ET
The Job Accommodation Network (JAN) will sponsor a discussion of customized
employment and the success it can bring to individuals with significant
disabilities. Strategies and suggestions will be provided, including
identifying natural workplace supports, using assistive technology, and
negotiating employment tasks.
https://askjan.org/webcast/index.htm

Family/School Communication

Improving family-to-school communication.
Whether you’re a teacher, parent, or district administrator, this new guide provides you with relevant and valuable tools and resources for how best to strengthen the bonds between schools, families, and communities.
https://www.edutopia.org/home-to-school-connections-guide

Edutopia’s Home to School Connections Guide
Resource Guide
https://www.edutopia.org/home-to-school-connections-guide
Improved communication between home and school and new technologies making classrooms accessible have created more opportunities for parents, teachers, and students to connect. Edutopia has published a free resource guide, “Home to School Connections Guide: tips, Tech Tools, and Strategies for Improving Family-to-School Communication. It provides resources and ideas for building and strengthening the bonds between schools, families, and communities. For both educators and parents, the guide provides tools and tips for nurturing collaboration and partnerships.

Holiday Stress

Holiday stress: 10 tips for staying sane during the holidays.
https://www.disaboom.com/disability-health-and-wellness-general/holiday-stress-ten-tips-for-staying-sane-during-the-holidays

Preparing your home for visitors with disabilities: Accessibility issues.
https://www.disaboom.com/adaptive-retrofitting/preparing-your-home-for-visitors-with-disabilities-accessibility-issues

Five holiday survival tips for parents of children with learning disabilities.
https://www.friendsofquinn.com/share/c/39623/1303/parents-disabilities

Making family gatherings good, not ghastly.
https://specialchildren.about.com/od/inthecommunity/a/holiday.htm

Holiday survival kit.
https://specialchildren.about.com/od/holidays/a/holidayhelp.htm

How to attack holiday stress head-on.
https://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=news&id=124374&cn=117
 
Holiday travel tips for kids with special needs.
https://www.suite101.com/content/holiday-travel-tips-for-kids-with-special-needs-a166416

Holiday tips (and a few great excuses) for families.
https://www.experiencefestival.com/wp/article/holiday-tips-and-a-few-great-excuses-for-families

10 ways to make a disabled family member comfortable during the holidays.
https://www.disaboomlive.com/Blogs/timpoindexter/archive/2007/12/20/10-ways-to-make-a-disabled-family-member-comfortable-during-the-holidays.aspx

Survival tips for standing in line this holiday season.
https://www.disabled-world.com/health/orthopedics/standing.php

Effective ways to reduce stress and depressed mood during the holidays.
https://www.disabled-world.com/health/neurology/depression/reduce-stress-during-holidays.php

Gift and Activity Ideas
Ultimate holiday guide for friends and family of people with vision loss.
https://www.afb.org/seniorsite.asp?SectionID=64&TopicID=296&DocumentID=4503

Holiday season can be difficult for hearing impaired.
https://www.disabled-world.com/disability/types/hearing/holidays-hearing-impaired.php

Lekotek.org.
Visit the country’s central source on toys and play for children with special needs.
https://www.lekotek.org/

The 2010 Toys “R” Us guide for differently-abled kids.
https://www.lekotek.org/resources/toysrus.html

Children’s books and authors.
Reading Rockets has gathered many resources for sharing the joy of reading with children. By highlighting great books and authors, Reading Rockets says, “we hope you’ll find the books that unlock the love of reading in the children you care about.”
https://www.readingrockets.org/books

Toys & resources for children with special needs.
https://www.fatbraintoys.com/special_needs/index.cfm
 
Toys and playtime tips from Fisher-Price.
https://www.fisher-price.com/us/special_needs/

Toys for special needs children.
https://www.answers4families.org/family/special-needs/tools/toys-special-needs-children
 
Special needs gift giving.
https://specialchildren.about.com/od/gettingadiagnosis/qt/gifts.htm

Fun & family-friendly kids’ christmas movies for the holidays.
https://www.suite101.com/content/fun–family-friendly-kids-christmas-movies-for-the-hoildays-a296869

IEP

New and improved IEP meetings.
Looking for tips? Here are some very wise ones!
https://www.disabilityisnatural.com/images/PDF/iepnewimp.pdf

Health and the IEP 
CD-ROM
https://www.waisman.wisc.edu/wrc/pub.html
The Wisconsin Community on Transition Health Practice Group has developed health-related training materials that can be used with schools, health providers, families, and directly with youth to help youth with disabilities learn to more effectively manage their health care concerns.

Health and Transition in the IEP 
Video
https://dpimedia.wi.gov/main/Viewer/?peid=f44dfa70439241dd85e99cce0cb70e26
“Embedding Health Outcomes in the Individualized Education Program” is a video recording of a 40 minute teleconference that provides information and specific examples of health-related goals for an IEP. This free recording is available from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Web site.

Inclusion

How to make inclusion happen.
The LRE Part B Community of Practices held this webinar recently, and it’s now available online at the link below. When you click on the link, a form will open and ask for your first and last name plus your email address. Once this form is submitted, you will have access to the recording of the webinar.
https://tadnet.ilinc.com/join/ysbkkjz

Intellectual Disabilities

Rosa’s Law and “intellectual disability.”
President Barack Obama has signed into law Rosa’s Law, which will change references in federal law (including IDEA) from “with mental retardation” to “with intellectual disabilities.”
https://tinyurl.com/27lgjwk

Kindergarten

Examining access to education and community activities for young children with disabilities.
A new Institute of Education Sciences report finds that most kindergarteners with disabilities are educated in a regular education classroom. Many other findings, too! https://ies.ed.gov/ncser/pubs/20113000/

Learning Strategies

Preparing teachers to provide effective learning strategy instruction.
Teacher Preparation and Professional Development in Effective Learning Strategy Instruction describes learning strategies and how learning strategy instruction can effectively transform ineffective learners into effective learners. The author also explains the kinds of knowledge and skills teachers must acquire to be competent learning strategy instructors and makes recommendations related to teacher training programs that specifically address learning strategy instruction.
https://www.tqsource.org/premium-publications/EffLearnStrtInstructionIssuePaper.pdf

Physical Therapy

Review of selected physical therapy interventions.
This document discusses physical therapy procedural interventions and provides recommendations for application to physical therapy school-based practice as well as future research.
https://www.coe.ufl.edu/copsse/docs/PT_CP_090707_5/1/PT_CP_090707_5.pdf

Placement Patterns

Are there too many students of color in special education at your school?
Does the pattern continue in spite of your efforts to make change? Here’s a resource that can help you identify the root causes of placement patterns. “Distinguishing Difference from Disability: The Common Causes of Racial/Ethnic Disproportionality in Special Education” is the Equity Alliance’s newest publication in its Equity in Action series.
https://ea.niusileadscape.org/lc/Record/1305?search_query=Disproportionality

Research Participation Requests

University of Missouri-Kansas City Institute for Human Development Seeks Input on the Assistive Technology Needs of Individuals with Developmental Disabilities
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/6QXRRS7
The University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) Institute for Human Development is looking for people who wish to use and/or are currently using assistive technology to take a brief survey on their assistive technology needs.

The Administration on Developmental Disabilities Projects of National Significance
https://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/add/survey/survey_landed.html
The Administration on Developmental Disabilities (ADD) seeks input from individuals with developmental disabilities and their families across the country in considering future plans and how ADD can best meet the diverse needs of these groups. ADD seeks to use its resources to focus on the most pressing and relevant concerns of the developmental disabilities community, and is looking for their thoughts regarding the focus of future Projects of National Significance (PNS). The purpose of PNS is to: create opportunities for people with developmental disabilities to contribute to, and participate in, all facets of community life; and support the development of national and state policies to reinforce and promote the self-determination, independence, productivity, inclusion, and integration of individuals with developmental disabilities into all facets of community life.

The Arc FINDS Survey
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TheArcFinds2010
The Arc FINDS (Family and Individual Needs for Disability Supports) survey is now online and available to families, individuals, and self-advocates. They invite individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities, families, and caregivers across the nation to share their opinions on a variety of issues relating to disability. There is no cost to taking the survey. (Additional information on Arc is on their general website, https://www.thearc.org.)

PACER Survey Parent Survey
https://www.fastfamilysupport.org
Parents or primary caregivers of young people with disabilities 12-22 years old are invited to take part in a national research study by completing the National Family Support Survey, conducted by the FAST Project. Answers to the questions on the National Family Support Survey are confidential and will help the Administration on Developmental Disabilities, parent centers, and researchers understand the information and supports families need to prepare for moving into adulthood. This information may help to inform program development for youth with disabilities in the future. The survey is available in Spanish also.

Peer Reviewers Needed at the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education
https://opeweb.ed.gov/frs
The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE), is seeking peer reviewers (field readers) for its discretionary grant program application reviews. The application review process involves a reader orientation, reading and evaluation of applications, and discussions with other panelists. Apply on-line to become a reader for the OPE grant program.

RTI

What is RTI and What are the Essential Components that Must Be Present?  
Video
https://www.rti4success.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1590
The National Center on Response to Intervention (RTI), supported by the OSEP TA&D Network’s Technical Assistance Center Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports, has produced this five-minute video defining what RTI is and what the essential components are that must be present for it to be implemented with fidelity.

School District Characteristics
Characteristics of the 100 largest public school districts.
Three states — California, Florida, and Texas — accounted for almost half of the 100 largest public school districts, according to a new report from the National Center for Education Statistics. 
https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2011301

Self CareSkills

Teaching your child to become independent with daily routines.
The Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) has published a new Family Tool to help parents and caregivers understand what self-help skills can be expected from young children and to provide tips for helping children learn how to become more independent with daily routines.
https://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/documents/teaching_routines.pdf

Stress in Children

Assessing Stress in Children and Youth: A Guide for Out-of-School Time Program Practitioners  
Research-to-Results Brief
https://www.childtrends.org/Files//Child_Trends-2010_10_05_RB_AssessingStress.pdf
It is important for families, schools, and program providers to be able to recognize and help youth cope with stress to minimize the risk for negative health and behavioral development. This brief identifies characteristics of youth who may be particularly vulnerable to stress, provides two scales to measure stress among adolescents, and includes tips and resources for helping youth deal with stress. Available in pdf (142 KB, 6 pp).

Teacher Sharing Sites

Edutopia’s special education discussion.
Here’s a place for teachers and other providers of special education services to support each other, share information, and discuss topics, including assessment.
https://www.edutopia.org/groups/special-ed

Videos

Other cool videos for teachers.
Edutopia is a real treasure trove. Here are just a few of the other videos you can watch to learn specific things…

Downloadable PDF File

To Download a PDF file version of this issue – CLICK HERE

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