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New York, NY — Eleigha Love, who describes her brain as a computer, and Jared Schmidt, a teenage sky diver, are the recipients of this year's $10,000 Anne Ford and Allegra Ford Scholarships given to two graduating high school seniors with documented learning disabilities (LD) who are pursuing undergraduate degrees. Anne Ford, Chairman Emerita of the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD), is a well-known philanthropist and author, who has been a long-time parent advocate for children with learning disabilities, starting with her own daughter, Allegra. The scholarship was created in 2001 by the NCLD board when Ms. Ford stepped down as chairman in honor of her service. In 2008, Allegra agreed to match the existing award, creating a second scholarship. Anne Ford and Today Show Host Al Roker presented the scholarships at this year's NCLD 34th Annual Benefit Dinner, emceed by Paula Zahn in New York City. Jared and Eleigha are two of more than 2.5 million students who are wrestling with learning disabilities. They are among the mere 64 percent of students with LD who graduate high school, and only 10 percent with LD that go on to a four-year college. "We received over 300 applications, and let me tell you everyone of them came from students deserving a scholarship," said Anne, handing out the awards to this year’s winners. “We hear so much about the challenges and struggles of students with LD, and it is so inspiring to see that so many are able to meet and surpass those challenges." "Our goal is to see every child with LD graduate from high school," said James Wendorf, Executive Director of NCLD. "We are still failing about 1 million children. We've seen graduation rates and classroom inclusion rise more than 15 percent over the past 10 years. But we need to continue to empower parents and teachers, reduce stigma among kids, and keep education funding on the top of the education agenda if we are going to see those numbers increase, not decrease." One of the biggest problems with learning disabilities is diagnosing them in time, before children get frustrated with the system. "To a child with learning disabilities, school can be a very isolating place, it can be a very frustrating place and frankly overwhelming," relayed CNN's Anderson Cooper at a recent NCLD lunch. "Too many kids with LD struggle to try and keep up with their peers and suffer from low confidence and self-esteem and lose their love of learning at a young age. It's hard to rekindle that once it's gone, which is why the work of this organization is so important."

The disquieting side effect of our increasingly detailed longitudinal studies of students is we keep finding warning signs of a future graduation derailment earlier and earlier in a child's school years. Robert Balfanz of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore found those warning signs as early as 6th grade— chronic absences, poor behavior, failing math or language arts, which when put together lead to a 90 percent risk that a student won't graduate on time. A study to be released this morning at the American Educational Research Association convention here in New Orleans presents an even earlier warning sign: A student who can't read on grade level by 3rd grade is four times less likely to graduate by age 19 than a child who does read proficiently by that time. Add poverty to the mix, and a student is 13 times less likely to graduate on time than his or her proficient, wealthier peer.

In order to ensure that Montana's public schools are meeting the goal of graduating more students ready for college and careers, Superintendent Juneau has launched Graduation Matters Montana. Whether you are a community leader, business owner, educator, student or family member, your help is needed in ensuring students in our state graduate ready for college and careers.

We are pleased to announce a summer class presented online by Gail McGregor of the University of Montana on Standards-Based IEPS.  It is an excellent and reasonably priced opportunity for graduate credits and meaningful professional development for special education teachers, content teachers, special education directors and coops, and other educators who work with students with special needs. This course is designed to introduce general and special education teachers to the concept of standard-based IEPs and is organized around a series of five webcasts that have been created for the Montana Office of Public Instruction (OPI).  Supplementary readings and course assignments are designed to complement the information in the webinars.  The course syllabus and webinars are on the OPI website at: http://www.opi.mt.gov/Curriculum/MontCAS/MontCAS_Presents.html#gpm1_3  This course will be offered through the Office of Public Instruction and the University of Montana.  The Office of Public Instruction will provide the environment for the online learning communities that are part of the course.  The environment for the learning communities will be Adobe Connect webinars.  Students will need to have Flash Player and the Adobe Connect Add-in installed on their computers and have a microphone and speakers in order to participate in the learning communities.  OPI will assist participants in connecting and has microphones for check-out if needed.  Participants may take the course for renewal units through OPI or graduate credits through the University of Montana, and the grading option is a traditional letter grade.  Registration and payment for graduate credit is also through the University of Montana. The cost for two graduate credits is $135. We plan to offer this class in the summer, but need information from you regarding which session will work best for the majority of students that plan to take the course either for renewal units or graduate credits.  May 23-June 24..............................First Five-Week Summer Session June 27-July 29............................Second Five-Week Summer Session May 23-July 29.....................................Ten-Week Summer Session Please email Karen Richem if you are interested in the course and the session you prefer by Wednesday, May 11, 2011.  The session with the most interest will be offered.  Contact information for Karen:  krichem@mt.gov or 406-444-0748

This revised study finds that students who don’t read proficiently by third grade are four times more likely to leave without a diploma than proficient readers. It is notable in breaking down for the first time the likelihood of graduation by different reading skill levels and poverty experiences. It also updates a 2011 research brief with new data on graduation rates for students living in concentrated poverty.

Rich Janssen, a lifelong Ronan resident and involved community member, has an autistic child.  His son, Jake, was diagnosed with autism May 31, 1998, when he was 2 years old. At the time, about one in 1,000 children were autistic. That number has risen exponentially through the last 15 years to one in 50 males. One-third of those diagnosed with autism develop epilepsy. Jake is among them and was recently diagnosed with diabetes.  Even so, Jake seems like one of the happiest children you’ll ever meet. “He’s a blessing and he’s really humbled me to what’s important in life,” Rich said. “It’s not anything arbitrary or anything that you can lose, and it’s made me much more sympathetic to those with a disability ... anyone with a disability is on our short list of going to heaven pretty quick.” Having been integrated into Ronan schools since he was 2 1/2 years old, Jake will graduate with a high school diploma this spring and has the option to walk with his class at graduation. 

What:Improving graduation rates have factored into political, economic, and education discussions because earning a high school diploma has been described as having individual and community economic benefit. However, even with educational reforms, dropout rates in some communities remain high. Schools often find addressing the challenges associated with improving graduation rates to be difficult, but for students with disabilities, the challenges can be even more complex. Georgia's GraduateFIRST initiative is designed to help students with disabilities and other students who are struggling stay in school and graduate.When:Tuesday, February 28, 201210:00 am -11:30 am MSTContact:All registration is free. To register you can call 1-800-775-7654 or register online here! For more information you can Email Sarah Melpignano at smelpignano@edc.org

Every parent wants to see his or her child successfully complete high school. Therefore, caring adults in students’ lives need to understand the changing landscape of graduation requirements and diploma options to ensure students graduate prepared for college and careers.

The past decade has seen impressive growth in and commitment to helping more students graduate, fueled in part by a growing body of research on barriers. What has been missing from the current research, however, is a vibrant portrait of young people’s experiences gathered and reported in a way that deepens the national conversation about why some young people are still failing to graduate despite historic advances in graduation rates.

The success rate among the graduates of  America’s Special Education Programs has been studied and criticized for decades. In 2005, Dr. Frank Rusch of Pennsylvania State University and this writer addressed the issue related to the inability of young special education high school graduates to achieve success in employment, post-secondary education, adequate housing and community acquiescence. According to the study, Rusch and Pizzuro wrote: “Young adults with disabilities typically leave publicly funded educational institutions without a job, without being enrolled in postsecondary education, and without the security of knowing their roles in society. Fewer than 30 percent of high school leavers obtain jobs after departing mandated education and fewer than 10 percent enroll in postsecondary education. The past 25 years has witnessed continued poverty among young adults with disabilities, despite legislative reauthorizations aimed at improving educational opportunities (The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004) and employment access (The Americans with Disabilities Act).”

James Beck is getting ready to graduate in May from Montana State University, but recently found he couldn’t turn in the graduation forms himself, because he can’t physically get to the registrar’s office. Beck, 25, a computer science major from Belgrade, has muscular dystrophy, a genetic disorder that weakens muscles, so to get around he has to rely on his power wheelchair. The only way to reach the registrar’s office in historic Montana Hall is to climb lots of stairs. “I can’t get to the place everybody has to go,” Beck said. “I think it’s more ridiculous in this day and age to have small obstacles.”

Even as a youngster, Anthony Vasquez exhibited a probing curiosity and a pulsing energy to seek out new experiences. That drive continued when he entered Cal State Long Beach and decided that learning Chinese would be a worthy challenge. On Thursday, he will be honored as the outstanding graduate in the College of Liberal Arts, a recognition of a cumulative grade point average of 3.895 while earning bachelor’s degrees in journalism and Chinese studies. But for his family, friends and teachers, the honor and academic achievements have special meaning because Vasquez is blind. He used Braille and specialized computer software to learn Chinese and now speaks Mandarin as well as Spanish and English.

There's something funny about learning that a successful CEO or politician received bad grades in school. We're amused to hear that Steve Jobs earned C's on his way to a 2.6 GPA in high school-- before creating the most profitable company on Earth. But what if stories like these say more about the quality of our schools than we think? Indeed, statistics show that schools in the United States may not be fostering the skills needed to succeed in life after high school. A shocking number of high school graduates require remediation when they get to college. In New York City - which, unlike most other districts, is tracking the data and attempting to do something about it - more than half of high school graduates aren't prepared for coursework in in community college. Naturally, cities and states (and the authors of the Common Core Standards) have begun adjusting their approach, shifting focus to higher level skills like problem-solving, critical thinking, and even creativity. It's time we took a similar approach to the education of students with learning differences and learning disabilities.

Today’s young people must graduate from high school with the skills necessary to succeed in the 21st century global economy.  And that certainly includes youth with disabilities.  To that end, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy are working closely together to create opportunities for youth with disabilities to graduate college and career ready.