Please join the chancellor's community forum on September 29th 2010. The topic would be on GETTING THE SCHOOL YEAR OFF TO A STRONG START
Chancellor’sCommunityForumSeriesCheck in with two key parts of a successful school year:
•Meet the Instructional Superintendents. This year, all principals and their schools will have the benefit of more attention and guidance from instructional “supes.” Meet them and learn how their work will benefit your child’s school.
•Meet the Comprehensive School Plan. Each DC public school must complete one each year. What’s their purpose? How important are they? What do they have to do with your child’s learning? How can they be improved for next year?
Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2010 6:30 –8 p.m. at Cleveland Elementary School
1825 Eighth St. NW
Washington, D.C. 20001
Friday, September 24, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
AJE's Testimony in a Public Hearing hosted by OSSE on IEP Process Policy
AJE testified before a public hearing hosted by OSSE on IEP Process Policy on September 16th 2010. Below is a copy of the testimony.
Good afternoon, my name is Weadé Wallace, I am a project director with Advocates for Justice and Education, Inc, an organization dedicated to educating parents, youth, and the community about the laws governing public education, specifically for children with special needs.
As the federally mandated Parent Training and Information Center of D.C., we also seek to empower youth and parents to be effective advocates and youth to self advocate by providing direct services and trainings to parents of students, regarding special education and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act.
On behalf of Advocates for Justice and Education, Inc, we commend the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) for the proposed Individualized Education Program (IEP) Process Policy to ensure that students with disabilities are provided a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE). We support this proposed policy and believe that it will strengthen parental engagement and promote school accountability.
In our work relating to the IEP process, we have discovered that the core of the challenges faced by parents lies within the implementation of this policy. Implementation of the IEP Process policy is very important to the progress of students with disabilities. Some of the challenges faced by many of our parents include the unwillingness of the public school agency to identify and evaluate children who are suspected of being disabled and in need of special education, even if they’re passing from grade to grade. Prior to commencing the initial evaluation process of a child suspected of being in need of special education, some schools often implement supports and pre-interventions like the Student Support Team (SST). However, there is a lack of follow-through or systematic evaluation to examine the effectiveness of these pre-interventions, like the SST. Also, all local educational agencies must be made aware that the Student Support Team (SST) process is not a prerequisite to referring a child for initial evaluations. Both of these processes can and should occur concurrently.
The public school agency has 120 days to evaluate a child from the date a parent submits a written request and consent for evaluation. This process does not always occur in a timely manner. Some local educational agencies (LEAs) prolong this process by waiting until a few weeks before the 120 day period to convene the Multidisciplinary team (MDT) to review existing data about the child and to identify what evaluations are needed.
Frequent communication with parents must be a key component to the implementation of the IEP Process policy. The LEAs must adhere to the evaluation procedures and schedules of a child’s IEP. Parents should be informed of their child’s progress in all areas of services on a quarterly basis, or as stated on their child’s IEP.
As part of the recent Easy IEP process, schools are not obligated to take notes during IEP meetings. Note taking must be mandatory to reflect parents’ concerns, issues addressed by the IEP team and all decisions made by the IEP team. Parents are the primary stakeholder in their children education and it’s necessary that they leave their child’s IEP meeting with meeting notes for their personal records. Meeting notes are an important document for parents and should be mandatory at all IEP meetings.
All IEP meetings must include at least one general education teacher. Despite the overall efforts of IDEA to get more students in general education with the appropriate supports, general education teachers are not always invited to IEP meetings. Also, the LEA must increasingly notify parents of their option to invite a representative of Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) to IEP meetings when discussing post-secondary transition. The presence of RSA will provide parent with more knowledge and resources about their child’s transition options.
Local Educational Agency (LEA) representatives at non-public schools should also be fully knowledgeable of the students’ needs and services when attending IEP meetings. These individuals should be present at all IEP meetings and have some authority to make important decisions when necessary.
In closing, we are pleased with the efforts of the OSSE to strengthen the implementation of the IEP process for students with disabilities. We realize that this is a collective effort and that all participants of the IEP Team, including parents, must be fully engaged in this process. It is our hope that the local educational agencies (LEAs) will consistently implement the IEP Process policy to develop successful and valid IEPs for all students with disabilities.
Good afternoon, my name is Weadé Wallace, I am a project director with Advocates for Justice and Education, Inc, an organization dedicated to educating parents, youth, and the community about the laws governing public education, specifically for children with special needs.
As the federally mandated Parent Training and Information Center of D.C., we also seek to empower youth and parents to be effective advocates and youth to self advocate by providing direct services and trainings to parents of students, regarding special education and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act.
On behalf of Advocates for Justice and Education, Inc, we commend the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) for the proposed Individualized Education Program (IEP) Process Policy to ensure that students with disabilities are provided a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE). We support this proposed policy and believe that it will strengthen parental engagement and promote school accountability.
In our work relating to the IEP process, we have discovered that the core of the challenges faced by parents lies within the implementation of this policy. Implementation of the IEP Process policy is very important to the progress of students with disabilities. Some of the challenges faced by many of our parents include the unwillingness of the public school agency to identify and evaluate children who are suspected of being disabled and in need of special education, even if they’re passing from grade to grade. Prior to commencing the initial evaluation process of a child suspected of being in need of special education, some schools often implement supports and pre-interventions like the Student Support Team (SST). However, there is a lack of follow-through or systematic evaluation to examine the effectiveness of these pre-interventions, like the SST. Also, all local educational agencies must be made aware that the Student Support Team (SST) process is not a prerequisite to referring a child for initial evaluations. Both of these processes can and should occur concurrently.
The public school agency has 120 days to evaluate a child from the date a parent submits a written request and consent for evaluation. This process does not always occur in a timely manner. Some local educational agencies (LEAs) prolong this process by waiting until a few weeks before the 120 day period to convene the Multidisciplinary team (MDT) to review existing data about the child and to identify what evaluations are needed.
Frequent communication with parents must be a key component to the implementation of the IEP Process policy. The LEAs must adhere to the evaluation procedures and schedules of a child’s IEP. Parents should be informed of their child’s progress in all areas of services on a quarterly basis, or as stated on their child’s IEP.
As part of the recent Easy IEP process, schools are not obligated to take notes during IEP meetings. Note taking must be mandatory to reflect parents’ concerns, issues addressed by the IEP team and all decisions made by the IEP team. Parents are the primary stakeholder in their children education and it’s necessary that they leave their child’s IEP meeting with meeting notes for their personal records. Meeting notes are an important document for parents and should be mandatory at all IEP meetings.
All IEP meetings must include at least one general education teacher. Despite the overall efforts of IDEA to get more students in general education with the appropriate supports, general education teachers are not always invited to IEP meetings. Also, the LEA must increasingly notify parents of their option to invite a representative of Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) to IEP meetings when discussing post-secondary transition. The presence of RSA will provide parent with more knowledge and resources about their child’s transition options.
Local Educational Agency (LEA) representatives at non-public schools should also be fully knowledgeable of the students’ needs and services when attending IEP meetings. These individuals should be present at all IEP meetings and have some authority to make important decisions when necessary.
In closing, we are pleased with the efforts of the OSSE to strengthen the implementation of the IEP process for students with disabilities. We realize that this is a collective effort and that all participants of the IEP Team, including parents, must be fully engaged in this process. It is our hope that the local educational agencies (LEAs) will consistently implement the IEP Process policy to develop successful and valid IEPs for all students with disabilities.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
OSSE Division of Early Childhood Education and Child Care Licensing Is Moving
Today the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) announced that the Division of Early Childhood Education will be moving its offices, including Child Care Licensing, from the current locations at 717 14th Street, NW, and 825 North Capitol Street, NE, to join the other divisions of OSSE at the 810 First Street, NW headquarters. The new location is convenient to Metrorail and is served by the Red Line, Union Station stop, as well as several bus lines.
This agency within OSSE is responsible for coordinating early childhood education services for children from birth to kindergarten for the District of Columbia.
Due to the move, the Division of Early Childhood Education offices will be closed beginning on Thursday, September 16th and will reopen for business on September 20th at the new offices. Please contact (202) 727-1839 or visit OSSE’s website for more information.
This agency within OSSE is responsible for coordinating early childhood education services for children from birth to kindergarten for the District of Columbia.
Due to the move, the Division of Early Childhood Education offices will be closed beginning on Thursday, September 16th and will reopen for business on September 20th at the new offices. Please contact (202) 727-1839 or visit OSSE’s website for more information.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
D.C. Receives $75 million in federal Race To The Top funding
District of Columbia schools have been awarded $75 million in federal Race To The Top funding. Race To The Top is part of President Obama’s $4 billion education reform agenda.
Along with Maryland, DC was one of 9 states to receive the award in this second round of the competition.
The competition is funded through the 2009 economic stimulus law. It encourages ideas to connect student performance data to individual teachers and principals, targeting low-performing schools, adopting common national standards and creating public charter schools.
Along with Maryland, DC was one of 9 states to receive the award in this second round of the competition.
The competition is funded through the 2009 economic stimulus law. It encourages ideas to connect student performance data to individual teachers and principals, targeting low-performing schools, adopting common national standards and creating public charter schools.
OSSE Posts Proposed Individualized Education Program (IEP) Process Policy for Public Comment
This proposed policy creates uniform expectations for local education agency (LEA) implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requirements governing the individualized education program (IEP) process. The IEP process requires parents, teachers, LEA personnel, evaluators, and related service providers to pool their collective knowledge and expertise to ensure that students with disabilities are provided a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE). As the state education agency (SEA), OSSE expects all LEAs to ensure that all appropriate IEP Team members participate in the IEP process to develop complete and valid IEPs.
The public comment period is for 30 days beginning Friday, August 20, 2010, and concluding Monday, September 20, 2010. A public hearing for the proposed policy will be held Tuesday, September 7, 2010. A copy of the hearing notice can be found here*.
Individuals who wish to submit their comments as part of the official record should do so no later than 5 pm Monday, September 20, 2010 to:
Tameria Lewis, Assistant Superintendent for Special Education
c/o Desirée Brown
Office of the State Superintendent of Education
Division of Special Education
810 1st St. NE - 5th Floor
Washington, DC 20002
or
e-mail to osse.publiccomment@dc.gov
The public comment period is for 30 days beginning Friday, August 20, 2010, and concluding Monday, September 20, 2010. A public hearing for the proposed policy will be held Tuesday, September 7, 2010. A copy of the hearing notice can be found here*.
Individuals who wish to submit their comments as part of the official record should do so no later than 5 pm Monday, September 20, 2010 to:
Tameria Lewis, Assistant Superintendent for Special Education
c/o Desirée Brown
Office of the State Superintendent of Education
Division of Special Education
810 1st St. NE - 5th Floor
Washington, DC 20002
or
e-mail to osse.publiccomment@dc.gov
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Judge Rules in DL Case that D.C.'s Child Find Program Violated the Law
Last week, a Federal District Court judge ruled that D.C. broke the law by failing to locate, identify and evaluate disabled pre-school children and offer them an education, as required under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The case has been in litigation since 2005
Chief Judge Royce Lamberth found that there was no "genuine dispute" that [the District] only provided a [free and appropriate education] to approximately 600 students per year, which is half of the qualifying 3- to 5-year-old children in the District” who qualified. He relied on data for the years 2000 to 2007.
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/blogs/capital-land/dcs-special-needs-pre-schoolers-vindicated-in-court-100432679.html#ixzz0wzyxYWVV
Chief Judge Royce Lamberth found that there was no "genuine dispute" that [the District] only provided a [free and appropriate education] to approximately 600 students per year, which is half of the qualifying 3- to 5-year-old children in the District” who qualified. He relied on data for the years 2000 to 2007.
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/blogs/capital-land/dcs-special-needs-pre-schoolers-vindicated-in-court-100432679.html#ixzz0wzyxYWVV
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
D.C. School Performance Toward Adequate Yearly Progress
In 2010, 15 schools in the District of Columbia met the annual goals of No Child Left Behind, down from 54 in 2009. AYP is a yardstick of a school's progress toward full proficiency by 2014.
Eight DCPS elementary schools met the benchmark, down from 29 in 2009 and 38 in 2008. Two of those schools, Mamie D. Lee and Sharpe, provide services exclusively to special needs students. Of the remaining six, Mann, Key and Stoddert elementary schools are in Ward 3, Kenilworth is in Ward 7, and Ludlow-Tayor is in Ward 6. Montgomery was merged into Ward 6's Walker Jones Educational Campus in June. Two senior high schools joined the ranks as did four public charter elementary schools.
Eight DCPS elementary schools met the benchmark, down from 29 in 2009 and 38 in 2008. Two of those schools, Mamie D. Lee and Sharpe, provide services exclusively to special needs students. Of the remaining six, Mann, Key and Stoddert elementary schools are in Ward 3, Kenilworth is in Ward 7, and Ludlow-Tayor is in Ward 6. Montgomery was merged into Ward 6's Walker Jones Educational Campus in June. Two senior high schools joined the ranks as did four public charter elementary schools.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
