Policy Briefs (LD News: May 2006)

Toolkit on Teaching and Assessing Students with Disabilities
A toolkit on teaching and assessing students with disabilities was jointly released by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) Assistant Secretary John Hager and Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) Assistant Secretary Henry Johnson on Tuesday, April 25, 2006.

View the toolkit information, including plans for the toolkit's release at: http://www.osepideasthatwork.org/toolkit/index.asp

No Child Left Behind Commission
A new bipartisan, independent commission will examine the strengths and weaknesses of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and has announced it will 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.

The Commission is holding a series of hearings across the country to gather information on various aspects of the law. More information available at: www.nclbcommission.org.

To read testimony given on behalf of students with learning disabilities by Jane Ross at the May 9 hearing in Hartford, CT, visit: www.ld.org/ldadvocate.

Palm Beach Post Article: New Federal Rule Shifts More Tax Bucks for Disabled to Private Schools
Reporter Nirvi Shah reports in a May 10, 2006 article that Florida students who get state tax money to go to private schools because they have disabilities now will be entitled to about $21 million more, taken from programs that would have helped disabled students in public schools. Changes to federal law will require Florida school districts to pay for services such as speech therapy, physical therapy and occupational therapy for these students, even though they have chosen to attend private schools instead of public schools by using vouchers called McKay scholarships.

To read more, click here.

Top Five Special Education Issues
In an in-depth article for DistrictAdministration, an on-line magazine focused on K-12 education issues, Pamela Wheaton Schorr reports on five big challenges in special education and why it’s hard to be frank about them:(1) Not all special ed students have gotten the education they deserve; (2) Special education teachers are often considered second-class citizens; (3) Special education paperwork overwhelms teachers and administrators; (4) A disproportionate number of children of color end up in special education; and (5) Numbers of special-ed students grow as number of dollars shrink.

To read the article visit: http://www2.districtadministration.com/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=153

Secretary Spellings Speaks On School Choice
Last month, Secretary Spellings delivered remarks at a forum on school choice at the Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral of New York.

Read comments: http://www.ed.gov/news/newsletters/achiever/2006/0506.html#3

Review of Education Service Providers Serving Low-Income Areas
The American Institutes for Research (AIR) has released a first-ever scientifically based review providing comparative ratings on the effectiveness and quality of seven widely adopted education service providers that generally serve low-performing schools in low income areas.

Read the review at: http://www.air.org/news/documents/Release200604esp.htm