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one of seven charter schools run by the non-profit UCP, affiliated with the central Florida chapter of United Cerebral Palsy. And it’s unique in several ways. Half of its students are like Ellie and don’t have a disability. The other half has disabilities such as cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, and autism. New research suggests this mix of students raises achievement — not only for the students with disabilities, but their non-disabled classmates as well.

What: All Montana students require equitable access to a variety of resources, encompassing the breadth of human conversations and creations for academic achievement and personal growth.  By learning to access and evaluate information they gain an appreciation and respect for diverse ideas and creative expressions.  By using information literacy skills in all aspects of learning, students become empowered and engaged lifelong learners. To thrive in the 21st Century, students must employ a process of inquiry that can be adapted to any information need.  By learning strategies to manage and ethically use information, Montana students open the door to the world in all its diversity. Teacher librarians, in collaboration with other classroom and content area teachers, empower all students to become information literate. The Library-Information Literacy and Technology (LILT) will assist the state's school districts in meeting the Montana LILT standards by providing training to Montana educators. Registration: If you are interested in attending a training session you may register online at http://www.msubillings.edu/mcdregister/LILTregistration.htm.  There is no registration fee for this training but registration is required.   If you are interested in scheduling training on LILT or would like more information please contact John Keener, MRESA3 Coordinator, at john.keener@msubillings.edu or call 657-1743. There is no fee for this service. Current Training Schedule: We currently have training sessions scheduled for the following dates to be held at MSUB, College of Education, Room 122: April 11, 2011 5:00 to 8:00PM April 26, 2011 1:00 to 4:00PM May 3, 2011 5:00 to 8:00PM May 4, 2011 1:00 to 4:00PM

What: Do you need to know more about how to promote successful outcomes for your students in the area of math skills? Come to the MASP Summer Institute to discover how to apply recent research findings in your classroom. Learn the essentials of math preparation that we now know underlie proficiency in mathematics, including the importance of effective instruction. Find out the implications for identifying mathematics disabilities and for planning intervention. This is an important conference because there is a great deal of new evidence about how to foster the acquisition of good math skills, information that is not widely known yet. This will be one of the first opportunities that most people in our audience will have to learn about current knowledge on how children learn mathematics and how that learning can go wrong. Presenter One of the world's leading authorities on how children develop understanding of mathematics, Michèle M.M. Mazzocco is a professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She is the principal investigator for the Math Skills Development Project at the Kennedy Krieger School. With Daniel B. Berch, she is the co-editor of Why Is Math So Hard for Some Children?: The Nature and Origins of Mathematical Learning Difficulties and Disabilities, a respected book that provides, in the words of one fan, "an exceptional review of literature on LD in maths." Dr. Mazzocco initiated the Math Skills Development Project in 1997, through which she has followed a group of students from kindergarten through 9th grade (so far!). This project involves an extensive study of normally developing children, children who have learning disability not associated with a genetic condition, and children who have genetic conditions that are known to contribute to math disability. The focus of the research is to seek an understanding of how cognitive, behavioral, and genetic factors contribute toward successful mathematics achievement. Dates and Times: June 12, 13, and 14, 2011 Registration opens at 5 o'clock on Sunday evening, June 12, 2011. The conference begins at 6:30 on Sunday evening and concludes for the evening at 9:30. On the following days, June 13 and 14, the conference continues from 8:30 am to 4:00 pm. The doors open at 8 o'clock each morning. Location: Hilton Garden Inn, Billings Treasure State Salon A & B 2465 Grant Road, Billings, Montana, USA 59102 (near Costco and Best Buy) Tel: 406-655-8800 Fax: 406-655-8802

Click here to register for this webinar!What:Schools are moving beyond a one-size-fits-all approach to education toward greater efforts to differentiate learning for each student. To truly personalize the learning process in more meaningful ways, many educators are turning to technology. They're blending face-to-face instruction with electronic resources, which can be everything from online courses complete with online teachers to digital curricula that enhances or reinforces classroom learning. However, experts caution that this approach must be planned very carefully in ways that maximize the benefits of digital content and online courses. Our experts will discuss how to use technology, especially blended learning, to personalize education and raise student achievement. When:Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011 12:00 PM  MountainAlso available "on demand" 24 hours after the event.

Click here to download the brochure and learn more information about sessions, speakers, the hotel, tentative schedules, and ideas about funding! We can’t wait to see you in February! Click here to register online. We've made your best value even better with REDUCED early rates! Rates haven't been this good since 2007! Register before January 14, 2011 and SAVE with early registration rates! Inclusive education is a process of school reform that creates equality in education and increases achievement for ALL students, including students with disabilities. PEAK Parent Center’s Conference on Inclusive Education holds the tools you need to reinvent schools to be places where all students can achieve success! With the most POWERFUL line up of speakers you’ll find at one conference, PEAK’s 2011 Conference on Inclusive Education is the place to be!

Approximately 32 percent of students report being bullied at school. Bullied students are more likely (1) to take a weapon to school, get involved in physical fights, and suffer from anxiety and depression, health problems, and mental health problems. They suffer academically (2) (especially high-achieving black and Latino students). And research suggests that schools where students report a more severe bullying climate score worse (3) on standardized assessments than schools with a better climate.

Although there are a variety of school-based services available for children with learning, emotional, and social disabilities, one critical need often goes unfulfilled: providing guidance and strategies that instill self-advocacy.       Most students have only a superficial notion of the reasons they receive these special accommodations, and many children are completely uninformed. Resource teachers and specialists do not generally have the authority to label and enlighten students about their disabilities, the foundation for building self-advocacy. If children are to learn how to become better consumers of educational resources, especially as they grow older, someone must take the lead.      Parents of children with disabilities can fill this role by doing the following: Introduce children’s diagnoses to them in elementary school so that they can make sense out of their struggles Use a matter-of-fact tone of voice when explaining to children that they learn/behave/relate differently from other students and, therefore, need extra help to ensure that they can succeed just like their classmates Don’t leave out the disability label—such as writing disability, ADHD, or Aspergers Syndrome—since labels are a reality of their educational life Emphasize that the teachers and special staff at school who help them will be aware of this label and prepared to help in certain ways to make school a fairer place for them to learn and grow      It’s important to review with children the ways in which their school must provide special help and services. Emphasize that these accommodations are rules the school must follow. “You have the responsibility to do your best job, and teachers must follow the learning/behavior/friendship helping rules that make things fair for you,” is one way to put it. Explain how extra time on assessments, decreased homework, or social skills groups are examples of the helping rules that schools must follow. Discuss how there is a written promise called the individualized education plan (IEP), which includes all the helping rules and makes all of this clear.      Find child-friendly resources—such as books, websites, and videos—that explain in detail their specific disability and the ways other children have learned to cope and achieve despite these limitations. Use these materials as a springboard for deeper discussion about past times when their disability created significant stress or barriers to success. Reassure them that this was before their problem was known and that there is so much that can be done to build a plan for success now that it has been identified.      Point out that one of their most important responsibilities is to be able to discuss their disability with teachers and ask for extra help and accommodation when struggles are too great. Make sure that these discussions take place before middle school, when developmental factors make it harder to get such discussions started. Ensure that they know what practical steps are in their IEP at each grade so that they can respectfully remind teaching staff if necessary.      Having a disability is like having to wear glasses; students with glasses have accepted this fact as necessary to seeing clearly.

Click here to download flyer (PDF) What:Tara Ferriter-Smith and Terri Barclay will share how Early Reading First preschool centers throughout the state of Montana are using a comprehensive RtI framework to prepare students for Kindergarten and future success in school. They will discuss the evidence based instructional and assessment practices that are proving to be effective for all learners. When implemented well an RtI framework will help educators align student needs by assessing student’s performance and adjusting instruction based on the individual’s response to a scientifically based intervention increasing the likelihood of student success. Discover how ongoing progress monitoring can help you make informed decisions to provide interventions for those students who are not achieving anticipated progress. When:December 5, 20118:30-3:00 pm MountainWhere:HRDC Building2229 5th AvenueHavre, MTContact:Aileen Couch, CoordinatorPhone: (406) 265-4356 ext. 322Email: cspd@havre.k12.mt.us

Using data from state reading and mathematics tests, this report takes an in-depth look at the performance of students with disabilities and highlights the problems with the testing data for these students.

Nominations are now open for the seventh annual Smart Kids with Learning Disabilities Youth Achievement Award. This $1,000 award recognizing the strengths and accomplishments of young people with learning disabilities and ADHD will be given to a student 19 or younger who has demonstrated initiative, talent, and determination resulting in a notable accomplishment in any field—including art, music, science, math, athletics or community service. Honorable Mentions will also be awarded.

Another survey, released about the same time, has not gotten the attention it deserves. This one conducted by Scholastic and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is called Primary Sources: 2012. It contains valuable information about what teachers think. Among other things, the survey asked teachers what they believe will have the greatest impact on improving academic achievement. This is what teachers said were the most important factors: 1. Family involvement and support (84 percent said it would have a "very strong impact"); 2. High expectations for all students (71 percent said it would have a "very strong impact"); 3. Fewer students in each class (62 percent said it would have a "very strong impact"); 4. Effective and engaged principals and building-level leaders (57 percent said it would have a "very strong impact"). These were the factors that teachers said were least important in improving academic achievement: 1. A longer school day (6 percent); 2. Monetary rewards for teachers based on the performance of the entire school (8 percent); 3. Monetary rewards for teachers based on their individual performance (9 percent); 4. A longer school year (10 percent).

The AmeriGlide Achiever Scholarship is a program we offer to full time college students who use wheelchairs. Our goal is to help provide financial assistance for books or other school related supplies to deserving mobility challenged students. This $500 scholarship is available twice a year for the Fall and Spring Semesters.

Click here to register What: We are excited to announce our next webinar in the Achieving Excellence and Innovation in Family, School, and Community Engagement series. This webinar will highlight innovative practices that facilitate the transition to high school, information about how schools can help families stay engaged in their children's education during the high school years, and services that offer essential information and assistance for students and their families throughout the college application process. When: June 23, 2011 at 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.

The U.S. Department of Education (ED), in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), today released a school discipline guidance package that will assist states, districts and schools in developing practices and strategies to enhance school climate, and ensure those policies and practices comply with federal law. Even though incidents of school violence have decreased overall, too many schools are still struggling to create positive, safe environments. Schools can improve safety by making sure that climates are welcoming and that responses to misbehavior are fair, non-discriminatory and effective. Each year, significant numbers of students miss class due to suspensions and expulsions—even for minor infractions of school rules—and students of color and with disabilities are disproportionately impacted. The guidance package provides resources for creating safe and positive school climates, which are essential for boosting student academic success and closing achievement gaps.

As Secretary Duncan has noted, the Department of Education is committed to making sure that all of our young people grow up free of fear, violence, and bullying. Bullying not only threatens a student’s physical and emotional safety at school, but fosters a climate of fear and disrespect, creating conditions that negatively impact learning—undermining students’ ability to achieve to their full potential. Unfortunately, we know that children with disabilities are disproportionately affected by bullying.

Schools today face the challenge of providing appropriate services to a diverse and increasingly numerous student population diagnosed with ASD. In order to achieve this goal, evidence-based practice is essential in the schools. To assist school professionals as they strive to help these students reach their potential, the National Autism Center has produced a comprehensive 245-page manual, Evidence-Based Practice and Autism in the Schools. The manual outlines relevant topics, including the current state of research findings, professional judgment and data-based clinical decision making, values and preferences of families, and capacity building. Each chapter sets a course for advancing the efforts of school systems to engage in evidence-based practice for their students on the autism spectrum.