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Our country places a high priority on providing free education for all children, regardless of their race, gender or any other differentiating factor. The civil rights movement for racial equality had, at the center of its struggle, the aim of providing integrated and equal education for children of all races. The champions of civil rights knew beyond a doubt that separating one group of students from the rest and providing sub-standard education in this unequal dynamic was wrong.

Click here for registration materials What: It’s time to register for the 14th Annual Montana Educator Forum. The forum is an outstanding opportunity for Montana educators and leaders to come together to discuss important issues affecting classrooms and schools in Montana. Sponsored by the Montana Professional Teaching Foundation, MEA-MFT, School Administrators of Montana (SAM), and the State Certification Standards and Practices Advisory Council (CSPAC), the forum is intended to initiate engaging and important conversations between Montana educators and policymakers. Here is what one forum attendee said about the annual forum: “I always leave energized, excited, and enthusiastic about my year.” This year’s forum theme is “Building Relationships That Work.” Strong partnerships between schools and communities and between teachers, administrators, and students are essential for our students’ success. The 2011 Montana Educator Forum will showcase a few of the many examples of key relationships that Montana school districts are engaged in that are creating a bridge to student success. Registration materials are available at: http://www.mea-mft.org/our_foundation/programs/montana_educator_forum.aspx When: September 30, 2011 Where: Red Lion Colonial Inn Helena, MT

What: A Booster Shot of INCLUSIVE Energy to your Classroom! Discover how Inclusive Instructional Strategies can transform your life and the lives of your students in a powerful and fun way! Diana Pastora Carson takes simple strategies to EMPOWER teachers and energize all learners, even ones with significant disabilities:   Rhythm Music Movement Interactive Visual Aids Collaborative Projects When: Friday, April 29, 2011  11:00am-12:00pm Mountain Registration: $55 Early Registration - Until April 21st $65 - April 22nd and beyond  Register Now! Create a sense of belonging for all students Empower confidence, motivation, and achievement Inclusive ideas can facilitate a positive learning experience for all, including teachers and staff Make learning environments and curricular content accessible to a full range of students

Freeland High School plans a new class this semester to provide peer support to students with autism. The pilot LINK course, inspired by Freeland Elementary School’s successful Peers Actively Learning Social Skills program, will include three students and their peer “links” who receive class credit for participation, Special Education Supervisor Erin Senkowski said. if(typeof oTNCMS_Ad.setRelative == 'function'){ oTNCMS_Ad.setRelative(); } oTNCMS_Ad.show(); “This came to be at the high school because we have a very good program at the elementary and as students moved up (we needed to continue),” Senkowski said. “We find kids learn social skills best from their peers.”

At its core, the American educational system is about democratization of knowledge for all students, regardless of their circumstances. In 2011, 22 percent of non-institutionalized adults with disabilities had less than a high school education. If this statistic was applied to the general population, my suspicion is that there would be an outcry to reform K-12 education to have better graduation results. But for students with disabilities, there is no shock or outrage and that is something that has to change. The key to improving the educational experience for students with disabilities is better accommodations in schools and continued improvements in assistive technology.

What:Kevin Honeycutt takes a fun look at the exciting things that happen when educators step outside their boxes and try new tools. He reinforces the importance of relationships while encouraging teacher to become learners again through positive examples of student success.Julie Cajune, Executive Director of the Center for American Indian Policy and Applied Research Center at Salish Kootenai College, recently completed a three-year project developing tribal history materials funded by the Montana State Legislature. Julie will share her findings in her Wednesday keynote presentation: “History Matters” and in her session “Montana Tribal Histories and Governments”.When:June 5-8, 2012Where:MSU BillingsBillings, MTRegistration: Early Bird registration: $150.00 (through 5/14/12Late Bird registration: $170.00 (after 5/14/12) Register for college credit and CEUs by calling MSUB at 896-5890.Contact:Montana Center on DisabilitiesPhone: 657-2312 Website: http://www.msubillings.edu/summerinstitute/

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

The National Braille Press has released iOS Success: Making the iPad Accessible to help students who are blind to maximize their use of the popular Apple tablet that's playing an increasing role in education The book, NBP's sixth guide to iOS devices, provides step-by-step instructions for iPad setup (including all accessibility features), using VoiceOver and Zoom, connecting to external devices such as braille displays, find and download apps, and use services such as Dropbox. NBP has done a remarkable job enabling persons who are blind or visually impaired to orient themselves on and learn to use iOS devices -- keeping them current and on the same page as their sighted classmates.

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.

Every child, regardless of income, race, background, or disability can learn and must learn. And, our system of education—spread across 50 states, 15,000 school districts, and 95,000 schools—must embrace this core belief every day in every possible way. If our children are not learning, then we, as adults, have failed. That is why educators, advocates, parents, and policymakers need to make sure that students with disabilities have access to the general curriculum and are held to the same, high standards as their non-disabled peers. We can work toward this by: creating a culture of high expectations; ensuring students with disabilities have full access to college- and career-ready learning opportunities and assessments; and supporting students with disabilities so that they may excel in the general curriculum for college and career success.

Technology—and especially the subset of technology tools known as assistive technology—can be an effective, if not necessary, element of the writing curriculum for students with disabilities. Assistive technology (AT) can be defined as a technology (including the training and support to use it) that allows someone to accomplish a critical educational or life task. Since writing is so integral to school success, AT is often indicated to assist students with disabilities. In this article, CITEd looks at how technology can support students’ writing.

When: October 22nd, 9:30 am - 10:45 PM Mountain Brief Description of Webinar: A behavioral intervention gap exists, nationwide, in our schools. Indeed, surveys of schools nationwide indicate that they do not have enough professionals available to develop and implement essential social, emotional, and behavioral interventions. This is particularly compelling given the presence of many behaviorally challenging students—students who disrupt the academic climate of their classrooms, often are not academically successful, and who, many times, are early school drop-outs. This webinar discusses the need for schools to identify their behavioral intervention gaps, address them through systematic professional development programs, and implement strategic behavioral interventions so that challenging students receive the services they need and deserve.