April 2009

Financial Aid on Disabilityinfo.gov

Disabilityinfo.gov is a comprehensive online resource designed to provide people with disabilities with quick and easy access to the information they need. With just a few clicks, the site provides access to disability-related information and programs available across the government on numerous subjects, including benefits, civil rights, community life, education, employment, housing, health, technology and transportation. DisabilityInfo.gov is managed by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), in partnership with several additional agencies.  This website includes links to scholarship applications for students with various disabilities for graduate and undergraduate as well as vocational studies. For more information go to http://www.disabilityinfo.gov/digov-public/public/DisplayPage.do?parentFolderId=84.

CHADD of Lee County “Living with AD/HD”

The next CHADD of Lee County meeting topic include information about living with AD/HD.

Project Vision

Project Vision is a bilingual project aimed to connect Latinos with disabilities with employment opportunities. Project Vision lists dozens of scholarships available specifically for students with disabilities, including nearly 50 that have upcoming application deadlines. Learn more about them at http://www.proyectovision.net/english/opportunities/scholarships.html.

RtI Action Network – Including Essential Components

This is an organization dedicated to the effective implementation of response to intervention in school districts nationwide.  The goal is to guide educators and families in the large-scale implementation of RTI so that each child has access to quality instruction and that struggling students – including those with learning disabilities – are identified early and receive the necessary supports to meet academic and behavioral expectations.  This resource is organized into areas addressing pre-kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, high school, and parents/families.  The section regarding essential components provides information about providing high quality instruction, tiered intervention, on-going student assessment, and family involvement. View more at http://www.rtinetwork.org/Essential.

Curriculum Planning and Learning Management System (CPALMS)

CPALMS is an effort coordinated by FCR-STEM at Florida State University and it is one of the projects within the Florida PROMiSE initiative.  CPALMS consists of two main elements (Resource Repository and CPALMS Portal) and it is built on top of the Florida Standards Database and the new Course Code Directory.  Valuable resources and tools include lesson plans, virtual manipulatives, printable worksheets, investigations, assessment, software, games, videos, presentations, curriculum planning tools, professional development events, and more!  Check it out at http://www.cpalms.org/Default.aspx.

DOE Memorandum: VPK Teacher Toolkit

The Department of Education has issued the following memorandum  to announce the availability of the Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) Teacher Toolkit. This new online resource is available free to all VPK teachers, assistants and directors and is designed to support early learning in the VPK classroom. The information included in the folders aligns with the Florida VPK Education Standards and provides guidance that connects instructional needs with professional development. View the VPK Teacher Toolkit at http://www.flvpkonline.org/teachertoolkit and follow the steps to visit the Language and Vocabulary Folder. Those interested can explore each section of the folder as often as they like and there is no need to register or complete an assessment. The complete memorandum may be viewed at http://info.fldoe.org/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-5368/dps-2009-069.pdf.  

With the Retirement of Baby Boomers, ‘Collapse’ of the Teaching Profession?

Articles in The New York Times and USA TODAY are calling attention to the April 2008 report from the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future that projects a third of the nation’s public school teaching force will retire within the next four years. This widespread departure of experienced teachers will be compounded by attrition from new teachers, one out of three of whom will leave teaching within five years. The consequences of these trends will weigh heavily on taxpayer-financed retirement systems and overall teacher quality. In the words of the report, “The traditional teaching career is collapsing at both ends.” One solution proposed is a restructuring of schools around “learning teams,” a model already underway in Boston, in which experienced teachers mentor new teachers and help them through their often challenging first few years. Economist Michael Podgursky from the University of Missouri, who studies teacher retirement, is skeptical of any imminent “collapse,” but agrees that demographics indicate some sort of phased retirement plan should be undertaken so as not to lose many of the baby boomers now contemplating retirement. Read more of this article at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/07/education/07teacher.html.  You may also be interests in a related article through USA TODAY available at http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-04-06-teachers-retiring_N.htm.  The full report is available at http://www.nctaf.org/documents/NCTAFLearningTeams408REG2.pdf. 

Master’s Degree in Special Education

Are you thinking about further building your professional knowledge? Have you considered pursuing a Masters Degree? The FGCU Masters in Special Education is currently accepting applications for the next cohort. The M.Ed. in Special Education program prepares students for work in public and private schools and in state, federal, or community settings at the master’s level. Specific areas of study include advanced studies in special education and hi-incidence disabilities. For more information please visit http://coe.fgcu.edu/specialedmed/index.html. 

Assistive Technology for Infants Resource

The Tots ‘n Tech Research Institute (TnT) is an inter-university collaboration between Thomas Jefferson University (TJU), Philadelphia and Arizona State University (ASU), Tempe. TnT’s mission is to provide up-to-date information and resources about assistive technology (AT) use with infants and toddlers for states, Early Intervention providers of all disciplines,  and families across the country.  In order to achieve this mission, TnT provides technical assistance to states to help them enhance the use of AT with infants and toddlers and conducts a national research program about use of AT. Check out their website at- http://www.asu.edu/clas/tnt/.

$250 Payment to SSI Eligible Beneficiaries

A $250 payment to Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries has been authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which was signed into law February 17, 2009, by President Obama. The Social Security Administration has developed a leaflet describing the one-time payment, who is eligible for the payment, how payments will be made, impact on SSI eligibility, and what to do if the payment does not arrive. The leaflet is available at: www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10519.pdf.

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