OSEP Monthly Update - January

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     OSEP Monthly Update

     JANUARY 2014

     Volume 4, Issue 1

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School Discipline Guidance Package

The U.S. Department of Education (ED), in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), released a school discipline guidance package that will assist states, districts and schools in developing practices and strategies to enhance school climate, and ensure those policies and practices comply with federal law.   The package includes a Dear Colleague guidance letter on civil rights and discipline, a Guiding Principles document that draws from emerging research and best practices, a Directory of Federal School Climate and Discipline Resources that indexes federal technical assistance and other resources and a Compendium of School Discipline Laws and Regulations, that catalogue State laws and regulations related to school discipline.

See the Secretary’s speech at http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/rethinking-school-discipline.

To view the resource documents, visit www.ed.gov/school-discipline.

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RTP 3+2 Evaluations

  • The 3+2  evaluation on the Center on the Use of Emerging Technologies to Improve Literacy Achievement for Students with Disabilities in Middle School (CET) was held on December 9, 2013.  The CET is researching and developing a technology-rich learning environment called “Udio” that will make it possible for schools to provide all students with Universally Designed for Learning literacy experiences as they read independently across the curriculum.  
  •  The 3+2 evaluation on the Center on Online Learning and Students with Disabilities (COLSD) was held on December 10, 2013.  The COLSD was established to conduct a program of research to study: (1) current and emerging trends and issues related to the participation of all children with disabilities in online learning from kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12); (2) potential positive outcomes and negative consequences of online learning for children with disabilities; and (3) promising approaches for effectively including children with disabilities in online learning.   
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Kick-off Meeting

OSEP’s Research to Practice (RTP) division held a Kick-off meeting in Washington, DC, on December 12, 2013, for the National Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports.

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Message from the Director

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Welcome to 2014! I hope you enjoyed your holiday and are geared up for a great year.

New in 2014, this is the final year of this SPP/APR information collection.  We are finalizing the new SPP/APR information collection that will be used beginning with the FFY 2013 submission (due February 1, 2015).   The FFY 2013 SPP/APR will include the new State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP), which will appear as Indicator 11 (Part C) or Indicator 17 (Part B).  

We look forward to reviewing your FFY 2012 SPP/APR submissions.  I hope you are as excited as we are about embarking on this new journey.  


Best,

Melody