News: Accommodations

Seven Suggestions to Help Districts Avoid Special Education Hearings: A Short-Term Win May Be a Long-Term Loss

New Blog discusses seven suggestions not just to help districts avoid special education litigation, but to help them to (a) truly educate all students with disabilities; and (b) collaborate with their...

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When High School Students Have Significant Academic Gaps: More Concerns and Common Sense Solutions (Letters to the Editor)

New Blog revisits the instructional dilemma of having to choose between (a) providing critical intervention opportunities to high school students with significant prerequisite skills gaps in literacy,...

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How the “System” Forces Schools into Decisions that Harm Struggling Students: The “Groundhog Day” Impact of Fear on Staff Mental Health and Job Retention

The movie Groundhog Day is metaphorically used to describe recurring experiences with MTSS Teams across the country who continue to use “mystifying” procedures, practices, and strategies—typically wit...

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Judy Heumann, Special Education’s History of Litigation, and the Continuing Fight: Complacency and Defensiveness Still Stand in the Way of Students with Disabilities’ Rights

The passing of Judy Heumann, a special education advocate and legend, prompts this Blog’s review of the history of special education. The author reflects on his interactions with the advocates and lit...

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Closing the (Pandemic?) Reading Gap in Our Schools: We Need to Link Sound Assessment with Strategic Intervention

Blog critiques August 4, 2022 National Center for Education Statistics report identifying how many students ended the past school year with literacy skill gaps. Also critiquing three follow-up popular...

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Reconsidering or Rejecting Collective Teacher Efficacy and the Acceleration of Students Who are Academically Behind (Part I)

In Part I of this Blog Series, we analyze a well-researched but still murky area of education—Collective Teacher Efficacy. We then discuss an emerging, but still unproven approach recommended to teach...

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