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"Visual design focuses on the aesthetics of a site and its related materials by strategically implementing images, colors, fonts, and other elements.  A successful visual design does not take away from the content on the page or function.  Instead, it enhances it by engaging users and helping to build trust and interest in the brand."

The ATTO: Assistive Technology Resources website offers resources about assistive technology. There are six categories that the information is broken down into: Government, Education, Organizations, AT Products, Web Design, and AT Guides. It is a very user-friendly website and offers families, students, and educators a wealth of information about the latest news and uses of assistive technology. As a special educator I am particularly interested in assistive technology in the schools. Clicking on the Education link it takes you to a page that offers curriculum design for teachers and parents on using assistive technology in the classroom, as well as how to provide educational activities at home to encourage self-determination with children and adults with special learning needs. I could definitely use this when designing unit plans in the classroom for my students.

"For UDL practitioners, the three UDL principles are central to our design choices when designing learning experiences. Provide Multiple Means of Engagement  Provide Multiple Means of Representation Provide Multiple Means of Action & Expression    These principles, when applied intentionally as part of comprehensive design are intended to remediate inflexible learning environments, experiences, methods, and materials. In effect, according to the UDL guidelines, the antithesis to inflexibility appears to be multiplicity."

Great article, and nice links to resources on universal design.

"No complex design software. No heavy designer fees. Just a simple, intuitive tool that helps you tell your story with the visual impact it deserves."

"A career pathways system is a coordinated system of programs and services supporting students in the transition from school to the workforce, and it can be one part of a comprehensive system to support students' college and career readiness. The College and Career Readiness and Success (CCRS) Center's resource Designing a Career Pathways System: A Framework for State Education Agencies is a four-chapter module intended to help state education agency staff design, implement, and evaluate a career pathways system. Each chapter includes a facilitator's guide, slide presentation, and activity handouts. The four chapters include:"

"The OLC Institute offers hundreds of workshops designed to help educators worldwide strengthen teaching strategies, delivery methods and learning activities. They are expert led and designed to improve quality in every facet of online education. Visit www.onlinelearning-c.org/learn for full program schedule."

"This paper presents an overview of New Hampshire's efforts to implement a pilot accountability system designed to support deeper learning for students and powerful organization change for schools and districts. The accountability pilot, referred to as Performance Assessment of Competency Education or PACE, is grounded in a competency- based educational approach designed to ensure that students have meaningful opportunities to achieve critical knowledge and skills. These opportunities are judged by the outcomes students achieve and not by inputs such as seat time. Therefore, students must achieve these competencies before moving on to the next major learning targets and/or graduating from high school. High quality performance assessments play a crucial role in the PACE system because of the need to have assessments that measure the depths of student understanding of these complex learning targets. Performance assessments are used as both summative and interim measures in the PACE system as a way to document student learning of the competencies and to support remediation or extension interventions. The paper describes the system of assessments being implemented as part of the PACE pilot as well as providing a discussion of the technical quality issues the state is working to address as part of this accountability pilot. For example, being able to produce valid and comparable annual determinations for all students each year is a considerable technical challenge as well as documenting the degree to which all students are held to the same threshold expectations (equity). The paper concludes by relating the PACE initiative to the push for deeper and more meaningful learning for students. "

"Administrators, we have our eye on you with this week's FREE tool-a table full of scheduling guidelines to help you keep your ship sailing smoothly! By following these tips, you'll discover how small things like setting limits you can follow and seeking feedback from staff can help you create a schedule that works for everyone. The tool comes from CEC's "Leading the Co-teaching Dance: Leadership Strategies to Enhance Team Outcomes," a must-have for busy administrators committed to harnessing the power of co-teaching in their schools. CEC's Tool of the Week is a free resource designed to support you in your special education practice. "

"The Annenberg Institute for School Reform (AISR) at Brown University and the John W. Gardner Center (JGC) at Stanford University have each received three-year grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to work together to select a network of sites and develop models for College Readiness Indicator Systems (CRIS). As part of this collaborative effort, AISR and JGC develop, test, and disseminate effective tools and resources that provide early diagnostic indications of what students need to become college ready. The two organizations serve complementary, but distinct roles. JGC develops and studies the implementation of a tri-level (individual, setting, and system) early warning system using a flexible, "design-build" approach with the partner districts. AISR focuses on cross-site learning; brokering expertise and supports for partner districts; understanding issues related to district, municipal, state, and federal contexts; and process documentation. The CRIS sites are Dallas, New Visions for Public Schools (New York City), Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and San Jose, California."

This text is designed to help postsecondary education personnel initiate or refine college programs for the increasing numbers of students with learning disabilities. Campuses today have a growing number of special education students. The good thing about college is you cannot always see the difference in them. This text includes all the legal terms and rights one would need to know when entering the college world. It also discusses the use of assistive technology is also discussed which is terrific because that is often forgotten about as a student leaves public school. I think this book would be a great resource for any high school teacher to have whether they be in general or special education. My favorite part is the discussion on assistive technology as it very crucial when doing college level work. For instance using dragon naturally speaking can be a life saver for those students who may be dyslexic or have a reading/writing disability or physical impairment. Finding the right college that has the appropriate disabilities services is important as well.

"What assistive technology, adaptive software and portable tools do people with disabilities use to independently access information, activities and places in their daily lives? This will depend on the individual, his or her access to resources, and the design of the environment or information that is trying to be accessed. The following tipsheets share information by disability type and include portable or remote options for people with disabilities who travel internationally."

"The National Center on RTI in partnership with the Idaho's State Department of Education and Boise State University presents a webinar discussing Idaho's specific learning disability (SLD) criteria. The webinar illustrates the deliberate and continued collaboration among various programs in the SEA in the design, development, and implementation of Idaho's SLD eligibility process."

"Universal Design for Learning is a set of principles for curriculum development that give all individuals equal opportunities to learn. UDL provides a blueprint for creating instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone--not a single, one-size-fits-all solution but rather flexible approaches that can be customized and adjusted for individual needs."

"Assistive technologies have become commonplace in consumer electronics-in fact, they make up a $30.5 billion industry that's expected to grow fast, as baby boomers' vision and hearing begin to fail. But those bells and whistles are byproducts of the efforts made by educational technology developers to design and refine assistive technology tools that remove barriers to learning for children suffering from a range of disabilities."

This 4-page eFlyer from the National Secondary Transition Technical Assistance Center (NSTTAC) is designed to quickly connect you (and the youth and families you serve) with resources to teach student participation in the IEP meeting, academic skills, functional life skills, self-determination, and so much more. Nicely done, NSTTAC!

"Welcome to the Hub page that focuses on the priority topic of "best practices in self-advocacy skills building."  Here, you'll find quick connections to materials and resources you can use with youth with disabilities and their families to build their abilities to advocate for themselves. Items marked with ** are designed to be parent-friendly."

"Recognizing that evidence-based practices (EBPs) account for at least part of the effects of teachers on achievement and the critical role of teacher preparation, the CEEDAR Center professionals, along with their partner Great Teachers and Leaders, offer innovation configurations (ICs) to promote the implementation of evidence-based instructional practices in teacher preparation activities. ICs are designed to evaluate current teacher preparation and professional development (PD) by determining the extent to which EBPs are taught, observed, and applied within teacher preparation and PD programs. For more detailed information about ICs, read this guide. Please see this short guide describing our standards for selecting EBPs."

"View the CCRS Center's Professional Learning Modules (PLMs), a collection of customizable, content-rich, "train-the-trainer" resources, designed to walk participants through a process for implementing college and career ready initiatives.  The PLM materials include: A facilitator's guide that provides facilitation tips and script for trainers. A meeting agenda with recommended time allotments A PowerPoint slide presentation Professional learning activity handouts"