| News for special education professionals | March 26, 2009 |
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CEC 2009 Convention & Expo preview
Special education convention set for April 1 to 4 |
The Council for Exceptional Children will host its CEC 2009 Convention & Expo in Seattle from April 1 to 4. The four-day event will be packed with workshops, speakers, special events, an expo and career center, and networking opportunities.
A series of Preconvention Workshops will be held April 1: "Implementation of RTI at the School and District Level"; "Addressing the Self-Regulation, Behavior and Social Needs of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder"; "Positive Interaction and Effective Strategies for Defying Gravity in the Classroom"; and "New and Pending IDEA/NCLB Federal Policy," as well as 13 more. The Wednesday events will be rounded out with a keynote address from Academy Award-winning actress Marlee Matlin, who is deaf. Matlin will offer her insights into helping children with disabilities succeed and will also share her personal story. The convention also will feature several topic-based strands, with session tracks focusing on Response to Intervention, assistive technology, behavior therapy, IDEA, Autism Spectrum Disorder, development of highly qualified special educators, literacy and fostering family-professional relationships. CEC plans to recognize special educators who go the extra mile at its Teachers of the Year Luncheon. Honorees include the 2009 Clarissa Hug National Teacher of the Year and CEC's 2009 State/Provincial and Division Teachers of the Year. Students with disabilities who excel also will be recognized at a Yes I Can! award ceremony, an inspirational highlight of the convention.
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| Response to Intervention | | |
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- Response to Intervention gets "What Works" support
Struggling students benefit from instruction in small groups three to five times weekly with monthly monitoring, according to a guide published by the federal Institute of Education Sciences that outlines the challenges as well as the strengths of the early-intervention program. The popularity of Response-to-Intervention programs has come despite a lack of IES-supported research of the program's most intense tier, said Russell Gersten, chairman of the group that developed the "What Works" guide. Education Week (premium article access compliments of EdWeek.org)
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Responsiveness to Intervention: Important Considerations in Its Design and Implementation: RTI is a relatively new and important policy initiative, described in the 2004 reauthorization of IDEA and its regulations. The purpose of this strand is to discuss key design, organization, content and communication issues in hopes of strengthening RTI implementation. Presenters will discuss evidence-based assessment and instructional practices in general education, the need for reorienting special education toward the most difficult-to-teach children in schools and a vision of what this would look like. Find out more about this convention strand.
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| Professional Development | | |
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Recruiting, Developing and Retaining Highly Qualified Special-Education Teachers: In this convention strand, presenters will address one of the most challenging issues facing our field: securing an adequate supply of special-education teachers who are qualified to effectively educate students with disabilities. In the overview presentation that will kick off the strand, participants will learn about the factors contributing to chronic shortages of well-qualified teachers: an insufficient supply of new teachers, particularly those who are culturally and linguistically diverse; increasing numbers of special-education teachers entering through fast-track alternative routes; insufficient mechanisms for inducting special-education teachers into the profession; and struggles retaining teachers in high-poverty environments. Find out more about this convention strand.
- Who needs to be certified to administer therapy?
Under Connecticut law, practitioners of autism therapy do not have to be board-certified in behavior analysis, but that may change. Under proposed legislation supported by some Connecticut parents of children with autism, providers of applied behavioral analysis would have to have national certification or be properly trained school personnel under the supervision of a certified analyst. The Advocate (Stamford, Conn.)
(3/17)
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Critical Issues Affecting the Roles, Employment, Training and Supervision of Para-educators: This strand will address some of the legal and ethical issues involving the employment, supervision and training of para-educators who assist with instruction. Topics will focus on national perspectives concerning role clarification and the need for state and local policy concerning administrator, teacher and para-educator qualifications and their orientation and training. Quality indicators for designing staff development for para-educators, administrators and teachers will be addressed. Find out more about this strand.
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| Learners with Autism | | |
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Students with Asperger's benefit from "social thinking"
Some say students with Asperger's syndrome should be taught social skills, but research suggests students with AS would benefit from a broader approach that includes lessons in the thinking that will help them interpret and express themselves through reading, writing and talking. This approach focuses on social thinking and related skills. Opposing Views/SocialThinking.com (03/10)
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Effective Practices With Learners with Asperger's Syndrome and Higher-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders: This convention strand is designed to assist professionals in understanding and planning for learners with Asperger's syndrome and higher-functioning autism spectrum disorders. The sessions in the strand will concentrate on elements of identifying and correctly using maximally effective supports and intervention strategies that bode well for positive outcomes for these learners. Find out more about this convention strand.
- Specialist talks behavior management
Behavioral specialist Deborah Lipsky, who learned to control her autism and helps schools develop behavior plans, offers advice to educators on improving the behavior of students with disabilities. Negative behavior, she says, is often an attempt to communicate -- meltdowns signal a person's overwhelming frustration, she says, while tantrums are used to manipulate others into changing their behavior. Disability Scoop
(3/2)
| Education Technology | | |
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Special Education Technology -- Strategies for Enhancing Academic Performance: Technology is a central component of life in the 21st century; however, its application for students with special needs has been limited in many schools. The purpose of this convention strand is to provide participants with a vast array of evidence-based strategies for using technology in all forms (e.g., assistive technology, instructional technology and components of universal design for learning). Particular emphasis will be placed on providing participants with decision frameworks for discerning the many possibilities among products and services, how to select the appropriate technology tools and how to engage students with disabilities in general-education classrooms in activities that enhance academic performance. Find out more about this convention strand.
| Pathways to Secondary Education | | |
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- Help students with disabilities better prepare for adult life
Keeping students with disabilities in school as long as possible helps them maximize services that can make them more independent, says transition specialist Mary Korpi. She offers special educators and students with disabilities tips on preparing for adulthood, including emphasizing communication systems for students with multiple disabilities and helping students explore vocational options. Disability Scoop
(3/17)
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Maximizing Attainment for All High-School Students: This convention strand will highlight practices that enable all students, regardless of the type or lack of disability, to obtain the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed across all post-secondary pathways. Sessions will draw upon the knowledge base of general and special education by connecting and integrating common practices that support high attainment for all students. Find out more about this convention strand.
| Gearing up for Seattle | | |
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Washington Post columnist Jay Mathews writes that school districts should focus on hiring and training more high-quality teachers instead of pushing for smaller class sizes. "A great teacher can teach 60," said Rafe Esquith, a Los Angeles teacher with a class of 31. "A poor teacher will struggle with five." 
