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The U.S. Department of Education announced today that its Office for Civil Rights has entered into an agreement with Virtual Community School of Ohio to ensure compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act for students with disabilities at the school. This first-of-its-kind resolution promises equal access to educational opportunities for students with disabilities in virtual charter schools. Virtual Community School of Ohio is an Internet-based, public charter school that serves approximately 1,200 students who reside throughout the state of Ohio. "Students with disabilities who attend online public charter schools are entitled to all the protections of the federal civil rights laws that their peers receive at traditional public schools, including the right to receive a free appropriate education. Online schools also must take steps to ensure that the websites and online classrooms they use to promote their services and to educate students are accessible to individuals with disabilities," said Catherine E. Lhamon, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights. "Online education environments such as this in which students reside across the state and go to school together in a totally on-line environment, may present unique challenges. Nevertheless, these online schools must comply with the civil rights laws. I commend Virtual Community School of Ohio for agreeing to address these issues as part of its agreement with OCR."

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.

Four years after several of the state’s lowest performing schools agreed to take part in Schools of Promise — a state-driven initiative funded by a $11.4 million federal grant — the schools have seen some progress.

What:The hearing will focus on the importance of accessible technology and how this issue is impacting K-12 and higher education. Witnesses include:Panel I with Eve Hill,  Senior Counselor to the Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division, Department of Justice. Panel II with Mark Riccobono, Executive Director, Jernigan Institute, National Federation of the Blind, Dr. John B. Quick, Superintendent, Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation in Columbus, IndianaMark Turner, Director, Center for Accessible Media, Accessible Technology Initiative, California State University We hope to see you there. If you are unable to attend, the hearing will be broadcasted live online at www.help.senate.gov.Real time captioning and sign language interpreters will be provided at the hearing.When:February 7, 201212:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Mountain Time Where:Dirksen Senate Building Room G-50Washington, D.C.Contact:Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions428 Senate Dirksen Office BuildingWashington, DC 20510Phone: 202-224-5375

Schools across Montana that are trying to improve student success just got an extra boost in their efforts.Schools on the Fort Peck, Crow and Northern Cheyenne reservations will receive $1.8 million over the next four years to support the well-being of children, not just academically, but socially and emotionally, by providing for continued “wraparound” services in their districts, the Montana Office of Public Instruction announced Thursday.

the promise of the Common Core State Standards now being implemented by all but four states is colliding with the reality that teachers are struggling to encapsulate actionable goals in an IEP. "I think the bigger issue is we struggle with access to the general ed curriculum, period," said Carol Kosnitsky, a former special education director in New Hampshire who now travels to school districts around the country to provide professional development in the common core and IEPs. "People aren't coming in confident that they know how to do this, so now it's just another layer on top of not-well-defined practice."

Click here to register for this event What: With the growing prevalence of autism spectrum disorders, public school districts are faced with an exploding demand for autism services.  This webinar will propose promising applications of scalable technology to enhance training and supervision of staff, and collaboration among clinicians to provide evidence-based educational services for students with autism.  Results from an independent study of Rethink Autism's web-based platform to improve paraprofessional and student performance in a public school program will also be presented.   When: Tuesday, August 23, 2011 12:00p - 1:00p Mountain   

A new clinic inside Orchard Elementary that promises to make health care more convenient for its students and families is now enrolling patients, the first of its kind to open in Billings and only the third in the state.

Many children with disabilities don’t get the schooling they’re entitled to, but Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said Tuesday he’s committed to changing the status quo. In a speech to hundreds of parents and educators attending a national special education conference, Duncan acknowledged the lengths that many parents must go to ensure that their children with disabilities get an appropriate education.

Click here to register for this event The Montana Behavioral Initiative (MBI) 2011 Summer Institute promises to be one of the best yet. Nationally renowned speakers Hot topics in education Evidence based practices 21st Century learning strategies New this year! June 22nd, 8:30-11:30 a.m., Student Aspirations plenary session Follow up sessions focus on meaningful student engagement Join us for special events! June 21st, 4-6 p.m., hors d’oeuvres, networking, showcasing Montana MBI schools June 23rd, 4:30-9 p.m., pack your clubs for the 4th Annual Golf Scramble Opportunities for hikes and walks around Bozeman