National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) Submits Comments on New Assessment Option for Students with Disabilities
NCLD remains concerned that the new assessment option, which can be applied to as many as 20% of students with disabilities, is not supported by relevant data and will negatively impact students with learning disabilities' access to grade level content and create barriers to graduate from high school with a regular diploma.
More information available at: http://www.ncld.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=875
President's Budget for Fiscal Year 2007 Cuts Education Spending
Funding for the Education Department’s two largest K-12 programs, Title I and special education state grants, would remain essentially flat. The traditional Title I program, which seeks to address the educational deficits of poor children, would hold steady at $12.7 billion, and special education programs would receive a $100 million hike, or less than 1 percent, from $10.6 billion to $10.7 billion.
More information available at: http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2006/02/15/23budget.h25.html
State-by-State Impact of Presidents FY07 Budget
Find out how your state will fare under the President's proposed FY 07 budget. The National Education Association has prepared state-by-state reviews providing details on the shortfall of education funding.
More information available at: http://www.nea.org/lac/fy07edfunding/index.html
Primary Progress, Secondary Challenge: A State-by-State Look at Student Achievement Patterns
This new report from the Education Trust examines state assessment results in reading and math between 2003 and 2005. The report finds that progress in raising achievement and closing gaps continues to be strongest in the elementary grades.
More information available at: http://www2.edtrust.org/EdTrust/Press+Room/PPSCAdvisory.htm
Webcast Offers Information on Section 504 and Education of Children with Disabilities in Elementary and Secondary School Settings
Presented by Karla Ussery, U.S. Department of Education, Office For Civil Rights. The Webcast will be held on Wednesday, April 5th 9:00 am to 11:30 am ET.
To view the web cast, go to: http://streaming.service-ohio.edu/live1.htm.
No Child Left Behind Commission Announced
A new bipartisan, independent commission will examine the strengths and weaknesses of the No Child Left Behind Act and make concrete and realistic recommendations to Congress, the Administration, State and local stakeholders, parents and the general public. The commission is co-chaired by former Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary and Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson and former Georgia Governor Roy Barnes. Key appointees to the fifteen-member Commission include former Assistant Secretary of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services Judy Heumann and the former HHS Assistant Secretary for Management Dr. Ed Sontag, both of whom have extensive education and disability backgrounds.
More information available at: http://www.nclbcommission.org
Response to Intervention Dominates Discussions at LDA Conference
Response to Intervention, an educational approach promoted under federal special education law as a way to identify children with learning disabilities, garnered intense interest during the 43rd annual meeting here last week of the Learning Disabilities Association of America.
More information available at:
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2006/03/08/26ldanote.h25.html
