Partners - 

The impact of the COVID-19 national emergency continues front and center in our daily lives. I know these are not easy times. This is especially true for members of the disability community and those of us with a commitment to infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities and their families. It has been reassuring to hear of examples of strong communication and engagement between parents of children with disabilities and early intervention providers and schools across the nation. Maintaining meaningful relationships between parents, providers, and school districts have ensured remote service delivery and learning opportunities for children with disabilities, as appropriate. As the Department has said from the beginning of the pandemic, school districts must provide a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) consistent with the need to protect the health and safety of students with disabilities and those individuals providing education, specialized instruction, and related services to these students.

The Department has received hundreds of questions regarding IDEA implementation during the COVID-19 national emergency. In response, OSEP is developing topical information briefs that we anticipate distributing soon. Continue to check the Department's COVID-19 web page for the most up-to-date information. Additionally, OSEP-funded technical assistance centers are there to support States, districts, and parents with relevant, useful, and timely information and technical assistance. The OSEP-Funded TA Center COVID-19 Resources section below provides links to TA centers and highlights resources. I encourage you to bookmark these pages and check often for updates.

Finally, I'd like to welcome David Cantrell as the new OSEP deputy director. David is introduced in the section below. I look forward to partnering with David to continue OSEP's excellent work.

On behalf of OSEP, thank you for what you are doing every day to provide early intervention and special education and related services to our 7 million children with disabilities. You are making a difference. Stay safe and stay healthy!

Laurie

David Cantrell, Ph.D., assumes the role of OSEP deputy director beginning May 11. David’s background serving infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities and their families as a special education teacher, administrator, and system-level executive along with his collaborative leadership style and management skills make him uniquely qualified to support the director in leading OSEP.

Prior to joining OSEP, David worked as a director in the Department’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education where he administered grants to States and local education agencies for the Rural Education Achievement Program and the Consolidated Grant to the Insular Areas. Additionally, he spearheaded technical assistance activities for States by leading the Office of Program and Grantee Support Services which oversees the Equity Assistance Centers and Comprehensive Centers.

David is a creative, team-oriented leader with an extensive background serving children with disabilities and their families. He began his career as a special educator in Raleigh, North Carolina and then joined the U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) where he taught students with various disabilities in grades preschool to high school. After teaching, he moved into administration serving as a district coordinator, school administrator, and, finally, as director of special education and student support services for DoDEA.

Throughout his 30-year career, David has passionately advocated on the behalf of students with disabilities. His areas of interest include home-school partnerships, early intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities, and dropout prevention programs for students with disabilities.

David was born in Dayton, Ohio, and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from the University of Louisville, a Master of Education in special education from North Carolina State University, and a Doctor of Philosophy in special education policy from the University of Maryland-College Park.

State Personnel Development Grants 

The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services
proposes a funding priority and definitions under the State
Personnel Development Grants program (CFDA 84.323A), which assists States in reforming and improving their systems for personnel preparation and personnel development in order to improve results for children with disabilities. A notice of proposed priority and definitions was published in the Federal Register on April 24. Comments are due on or before May 26.

Early Childhood

The Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center is providing State Part C and Part B, Section 619 programs with the latest information on funding and guidance, as well as information on talking to children and families during the COVID-19 national emergency.

School Age

The National Center for Systemic Improvement's web page provides a resource hub for supporting students with disabilities during the COVID-19 national emergency, including educator resources to support remote learning.

Virtual IEP Meeting Tip Sheets

The Center for Parent Information and Resources serves as the host a collection of tip sheets on planning for and participating in virtual meetings, including those related to a student’s IEP (Individualized Education Program). The tip sheets, developed by six OSEP-funded technical assistance centers, include:

• a sample agenda for a virtual IEP meeting, in English and Spanish,
• technology tips for all participants,
• suggestions for hosting a virtual meeting,
• tips for those participating in a virtual meeting, and
• an infographic about virtual IEP meetings, in English and in Spanish.

Proficient Communicators Who Are Deaf-Blind

The National Center on Deaf-Blindness has compiled and organized Resources for Providing Technical Assistance During the COVID-19 Pandemic. It covers OSEP guidance, distance TA, resources for families and service providers, and online learning for proficient communicators who are deaf-blind. The page is being regularly updated with input from state deaf-blind projects and national partners.

Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities

TIES Center has launched a distance-learning series that provides a framework for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities to get through these new transitions, engage fully in academics online, and interact with their teachers and peers, a critical component of well-being. TIES Center is regularly adding resources to the distance learning series that offer the following recommendations to support the inclusion and engagement of students with significant cognitive disabilities. Current resources include:

• TIES Distance Learning #1: Morning Meetings
• TIES Distance Learning #2: A Collaborative Start to Behavioral Supports 
• TIES Distance Learning #3: Effective Specially Designed Instruction (SDI) Within the Distance Learning Environment: What in the World Does That Look Like? 

Supporting Parents as Teachers

Parents: Supporting Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic offers practical tools and easy-to-implement tips to help children learn at home during the school shutdowns caused by COVID-19. Created specifically with parents in mind, this module covers strategies to help parents get children ready to learn; support reading and mathematics instruction; promote children's social and emotional wellbeing, and help struggling learners and students with disabilities. These topics and more can be found in this engaging multi-media module.

Providing Distance Family Support

Are you providing early intervention or preschool services using distance technology? Do you have questions about how you can support families as they help their children with learning activities or conducting intervention within routines? On this April 17 webinar, Providing Distance Family Support: What do I say? How can I help?, faculty at the ED-funded National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations discuss challenges related to assisting families using distance learning. They also share ideas on checking in with families, how to respond to difficult questions, and resources that might be shared.

The Department is required to annually notify SEAs and LEAs, as recipients of funds under programs administered by the Department, of their obligations under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232h; 34 CFR Part 98). 

FERPA-covered educational agencies and institutions and PPRA-covered LEAs may wish to review and, if appropriate, revise their policies and procedures, and their notifications under FERPA and PPRA to provide parents and students with information about any revisions necessitated by changes to their operations during this period of remote learning.

Please contact the Department's student privacy help desk at FERPA@ed.gov if you have additional questions.

REMINDER! OSEP's GRADS360° Page Will Stay Live Into 2020

OSEP will continue to use its GRADS360° page for the foreseeable future. We anticipate the that site will remain active until the fourth quarter of 2020/

What this means for the public. All of the publicly-available information currently housed on the website will remain.  

What this means for state users: The SPP/APR online submission system currently hosted on GRADS360° is retired. Beginning with the FY18 SPP/APR,  due Feb. 3, 2020, states will submit using the Department's universal APR tool currently under development on the EDFacts Metadata Process System. In the coming months, OSEP will host several informational calls for states on the new system. Contact your state lead if you have questions.

OSERS is on Twitter with the latest tweets from special education advocates, educators, families, and students. Follow us @Ed_Sped_Rehab and tell your friends. We'll see you in the Twittersphere!

Visit our blog for powerful stories and useful information from parents, families, educators, and practitioners in the field. Be sure to bookmark sites.ed.gov/osers for future posts!

You can also check out the IDEA website newsletter archive for past editions of the OSEP Update. Readers are invited to send their feedback on the newsletter to rebecca.walawender@ed.gov.