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I think it odd that I am actually seriously celebrating and thinking about the 20th anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities act. As a man who has spent well over half of his life in a wheelchair with a permanent spinal cord injury I can say that my feelings about this landmark law have generally been negative. For instance, the law famously began as a civil rights act enforced by alleged victims filing lawsuits to force compliance in individual cases. I wonder if racial desegregation in education would have happened at all if Governor George Wallace had confronted a civil complaint instead of the National Guard on the steps of the University of Alabama back in 1963. The ADA was sadly bereft of enforcement teeth when it was passed 20 years ago. There have been phased upgrades that have produced some improvements in certain kinds of workplace accommodations and in particular, the IDEA law has bolstered equality for disabled students since its passage in 2004. In general, though, the ADA’s quiet, seemingly ad hoc effort to achieve a justice and equality that I found absolutely clear and imperative in my life has been frustrating. 

Teachers at one of Denver's poorest schools have discovered a key to improving student achievement that's as easy as stepping out the door. High-performing schools in affluent neighborhoods are usually buzzing with parents — moms and dads volunteering, chauffeuring or helping out in classrooms. But at schools in high-poverty neighborhoods, the opposite tends to occur — many of them have little to no parental engagement. Indeed, teachers rarely see a parent in the building unless a kid is in trouble. That's why Fairview Elementary teachers are going to the families. Every year, educators try to visit the homes of every child in the school — getting to know the families and discovering more about their students.

September 2010 - AT Assessments: The Right Device Is the Best Device

According to Leonard Trujillo Ph.D., an occupational therapist and AT assessment expert who chairs the occupational therapy department at East Carolina University and heads the university’s graduate OT assistive technology certification program, the best assistive technology device for a child is the device that enables a child to achieve at least some degree of independence.

The Brain Balance Achievement Center, a franchise that opened in Mequon last summer, offers a program that it contends can help children overcome attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, Asperger's syndrome, Tourette syndrome, autism and other disorders. The 12-week program - costing $6,000, plus roughly $125 to $500 in nutritional supplements - purportedly does this by addressing an imbalance between the right and left sides of the brain that it calls "functional disconnection syndrome." The program is based on the contention that ADHD, dyslexia, autism and other disorders all result from this syndrome. "That functional disconnection syndrome basically states in the literature that the two sides of the brain are not communicating effectively together due to the fact that one side of the brain is actually maturing at a faster rate than the other side," said Jeremy Fritz, a chiropractor and co-owner of the franchise. The "literature" consists of one study of children with ADHD, co-authored by the program's founder, published in an obscure journal based in Tel Aviv, Israel. There are no studies in respected, peer-reviewed journals that contend ADHD, dyslexia, autism and other disorders stem from the development of one side of the brain faster than the other. "None of the neuro research would even come close to suggesting that," said Mina Dulcan, a professor at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine and the head of the child and adolescent psychiatry program at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

Creating a Sense of Urgency - Great Falls - Feb. 3, 2011 Click here to download the full brochure with registration form (PDF) When: February 3, 2010 Where: Hampton Inn Great Falls, MT What: This motivating keynote focuses on how we can adapt our educational system to a rapidly changing world. Participants will begin to look at education in a global context, how this view is imperative to raising student achievement, and why a sense of urgency must be created in order to engage all stakeholders. FREE TRAINING FOR: Elementary middle school and high school teachers special education teachers administrators paraprofessionals and parents.

It would be easy to define 18-year-olds TJ Hancock and Elise Thomas by their Down syndrome -- or by their enviable accomplishments.

For preschoolers in the United States, the pressure is on to learn math early and learn it well. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has put pressure on schools to make sure that all students are meeting state standards for achievement, and this has resulted in more rigorous math curricula and testing, starting in early elementary school. With increased public attention on the value of high-quality early childhood education, the pressure to perform has trickled down to our youngest students, and preschools are taking a closer look at their math programs and making adjustments that will prepare “little learners” for the challenges of elementary school.  And parents are always searching for better ways to boost their youngsters’ mastery of early math.

A new study shows that assistive technology employed by a team of occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, and educators has a significant impact on helping students with disabilities achieve their academic goals.

The research was published in the January/February 2010 issue of the American Journal of Occupational Therapy.

Each year at its national convention in July, the NFB gives a broad array of thirty scholarships to recognize achievement by blind scholars.

In addition to a scholarship, each winner will receive assistance to attend the 2010 National Federation of the Blind Annual Convention in July, providing an excellent opportunity for high level networking with active blind persons in many, many different professions and occupations. 

In 2003, the American Academy of Pediatrics partnered with national child care and health organizations to build on the achievements of two successful campaigns: The Back to Sleep Campaign and the Healthy Child Care America Campaign. This effort, known as the Healthy Child Care American Back to Sleep Campaign, aimed to promote the health and safety of infants in child care settings by providing education and outreach to child care providers regarding safe sleep recommendations.

When: Wednesday, April 14, 2010 from 10:00am-11:30am Mountain Presented by: Kayla A. Bower, Esq., and Joy J. Turner, Esq. Cost: $50.00 (includes phone and Web access to 90-minute live event plus unlimited access to archived event and related materials) About the webinar: This presentation will provide an understanding of the many dimensions to ethics in special education advocacy and its key components in both the approach to substantive issues and the methods by which an advocate achieves an outcome.

Research shows that a project to use the devices as teaching tools in some N.C. districts has had a measurable impact on student achievement in math.

ANACONDA - Of all the artwork and posters that decorate Fred Moodry Middle School's main hall, one blue flag hangs just a little higher than the rest. Like most flags, it is a uniting symbol to those who helped raise it. It honors progress, achievement and teamwork, with bold white words that say it all: Distinguished School. The National Title I Association recently honored Fred Moodry as one of its distinguished schools for 2009. Only two schools from Montana received the award, joining 63 nationwide.

HELENA – The reading skills of Montana students continue to exceed the national average, new findings show. The National Assessment of Educational Progress, also called "The Nation's Report Card," out today, details the continued achievement of Montana fourth- and eighth-graders on the tests, administered by the U.S. Department of Education earlier this year. 

Achieving Excellence and Innovation in Family, School, and Community Engagement is a series of free webinars that aim to provide opportunities for stakeholders representing national, regional, and local organizations to learn about family, school, and community engagement research and innovations, as well as best practices from the field. The first installment of the webinar series addresses the question, How can stakeholders build the capacity to transform schools through effective family, school, and community engagement? This webinar will include real-life examples of innovative family and community engagement efforts, as well as discussing how to successfully integrate family engagement systems into student learning and how to sustain engagement efforts across the cradle-to-career pathway.

Public health scientists and clinicians tout vaccines as one of the greatest achievements of modern medicine. But for many ordinary Americans vaccines have become controversial. Young parents are concerned at the sheer number of shots--some 26 inoculations for 14 different diseases by age 6--and follow alternative vaccination schedules advocated by gurus like Dr. Robert Sears. Other parents go further. In communities like Ashland, Oregon, up to one-third of parents are choosing not to vaccinate their kids at all. And some advocacy groups, like Generation Rescue, argue that vaccines are no longer a public health miracle but a scourge; they view vaccines as responsible for alarming rises in certain disorders, including ADHD and autism.

Click here to download the full flyer with registration information (pdf) What: Quantum Learning is a synergistic approach to the learning process, integrating best educational practices into a unified whole. It has been proven to increase student achievement as well as improve students’ attitudes toward learning. Quantum Learning for Teachers programs empower educators to create joyous, engaging and successful learning – turning their classrooms into optimal learning environments. Quantum Learning for Teachers is a professional development program for educators that provides a proven research-based approach to curriculum design and delivery. Each level is a one-day, six-hour workshop, which sets the stage for the next level and emphasizes fundamental competencies.

University of Montana student Emily Lund's academic resume is six pages long, with no fluff or repetition. It details her research projects, volunteer work, internships, teaching and research assistant positions, thesis papers, scholarly publications, scholarships, honors and grant awards. Oh, and the 22-year-old is only an undergraduate.

Identifying High-Ability/High Potential Students What: A hands-on workshop on best practices in Identification for Gifted Education Programming for Administrators, School Psychologists and Gifted Education Coordinators. Participants will gain information about achievement and ability testing, observation tools, portfolios and using multiple criteria for identification. Opportunities for discussions to allow for adaptation of material for each school setting will be included. Featured Workshop Facilitator: Dr. Karen L. Westberg is a faculty member in the Gifted/Creative/Talented education program at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. She spent ten years as a faculty member at the University of Connecticut where she was a principal investigator at the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented (NRC/GT) and taught coursework in gifted education and research methodology. She began her career as a classroom teacher and gifted education specialist in Minnesota schools. She has served on the Executive Committee of the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) and is a member of the Gifted Child Quarterly Editorial Board. Her research interests include classroom practices, gifted education identification, program development and differentiating instruction. When: Friday, January 21, 2011 Where: Montana State University-Billings Student Union Building Lewis/Clark Room 8:30 A.M. – 4 P.M.   Registration: There is no fee for the workshop, but registration is required. Lunch is provided and OPI renewal units will be available. For Registration Contact: Deb Poole, Gifted and Talented Specialist, at debpoole@mt.gov (406) 444-4317

World Access for the Blind is a Non-Profit organization whose mission is to facilitate the self-directed achievement of blind people.