Policy Briefs (LD News: January 2007)

Overview of IDEA Regulation Reauthorization
The U.S. Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSEP) is hosting a series of community-based public meetings to share information about the Part B Final Regulations implementing the 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The PowerPoint Presentation from OSEP Director, Dr. Alexa Posny, covering discipline, Response to Intervention, IEPs, monitoring, highly qualified teachers, and more, is available online.

Improving Access to Digital Text for College Students with Print Disabilities
The Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) has developed a comprehensive paper that interprets the U.S. laws and analyzes current issues related to the reproduction of printed materials for individuals with learning disabilities into digital formats, arguing that this reproduction is a fair use of copyrighted materials.

General Assembly Adopts UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
On December 13, 2006, the UN General Assembly adopted the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the most rapidly negotiated human rights treaty in the history of international law. The treaty will seek to protect more than 650 million people with disabilities, and will require that the nations sign themselves into awareness to do more to protect the rights of citizens with disabilities. The Convention will be opened for signing by the nations on March 30, 2007, and will become active after twenty countries ratify, hopefully within the next two years.

National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) Releases A Variety of Useful Studies and Reports
Indicators of School Crime and Safety, 2006, a new report from NCES, provides the most current and detailed statistics on the nature of crime in schools in an effort to help schools and law enforcement offices better focus their resources and efforts to protect the nation’s students. Another new report, Internet Access in U.S. Public Schools and Classrooms: 1994-2005, provides data on Internet access in U.S. public schools, including data on the types of Internet connections are available to different students, how the Internet is censored for school use, and how the Internet can be integrated into the classroom. Other useful reports from NCES include Trends in the Use of School Choice, Overview of Public Elementary and Secondary Students, Staff, Schools, School Districts, Revenues, and Expenditures, and Academic Pathways, Preparation, and Performance: A Descriptive Overview of the Transcripts from the High School Graduating Class of 2003-04.

Much Work Still to Be Done in Urban Schools
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2005 has released the 2005 science Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA), indicating that although progress has been made in urban districts, much work still needs to be done towards ensuring success for grade level students.