Resources
New IRIS Center Assistive Technology Module
The IRIS Center is pleased to announce the posting of our latest STAR Legacy Module, Assistive Technology: An Overview, developed with the invaluable guidance of Dave Edyburn of the University of Wisconsin’s Department of Exceptional Education. To view Assistive Technology: An Overview, go to http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/at/chalcycle.htm
The school year is underway, and Ms. Adelaide is pleased at how well she and her students are working together. She enjoys challenging her students to think like scientists even as she recognizes that some of them struggle with the academic demands of her class.
Early one morning, Ms. Adelaide is introduced to Terry, a new student who will be joining her second-period science class. Terry has an IEP because of a learning disability, an IEP that includes assistive technology to help him in the classroom. Terry tells Ms. Adelaide that he is a proficient user of this technology and that one day he wants to be a scientist.
As Ms. Adelaide leaves the office, she smiles to herself about Terry’s confidence but she nevertheless feels a bit apprehensive. Will she be able to learn all that she needs to know about these assistive technology tools? And how adept at using the tools will she have to become?
As always, we encourage you to share all of our materials (http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/) with your colleagues and students. If you have any questions concerning IRIS materials, please contact Kim Skow at 800-831-6134, kimberly.a.skow@vanderbilt.edu, or iris@vanderbilt.edu.
MPI Launches ELL Information Center with National and State Student Academic and Demographic Data
MPI Launches English Language Learner (ELL) Information Center with Videos, Fact Sheets and Maps with National and State Student Academic and Demographic Data
The Migration Policy Institute’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy today launched a new resource, an ELL (English Language Learner) Information Center that offers videos, data and maps that chronicle the growth and academic performance of the ELL student population across the United States.
The ELL Information Center offers videos, fact sheets and other data that trace the rapid growth of ELL students — native-born and immigrant — as well as their performance on standardized tests. The data offerings are national as well as state-by-state. The ELL Information Center is at: http://www.migrationpolicy.org/ellinfo.html.
“More than 5 million children — representing nearly 11 percent of the students enrolled in U.S. public schools — are English language learners,” said Margie McHugh, co-director of MPI’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy. “As immigrants have moved beyond traditional gateway states such as California, Texas and New York, and as No Child Left Behind Act provisions have made schools responsible for the progress of ELLs, school districts across the United States are having to develop educational services for this fast-growing group almost overnight.”
In a series of fact sheets and a pair of videos, MPI discusses:
- The increase in the number of students classified as ELLs, which has risen from 3.5 million in 1998 to more than 5 million in 2008, as total enrollment remained basically flat.
- The growing share children of immigrants represent of the nation’s total child population, rising from 13.5 percent in 1990 to 25 percent today. Half of all children in California are from immigrant families. Reflecting immigrants’ dispersal across the United States, more than a third of all children in Nevada have at least one parent who is an immigrant, as do almost one-quarter of children in Washington state and Rhode Island.
- Today, half of all ELL students are kindergarten and elementary school age, and the other half are roughly split between middle and high school age. Over three-quarters of ELLs of elementary school age were born in the United States.
- ELL students are graduating at substantially lower rates than their non-ELL peers. In Texas, for example, 39 percent of ELLs received high school diplomas, compared to 78 percent of all students.
“While existing data on high school graduation rates are certainly not heartening, many local districts and schools are succeeding in helping ELL students graduate in four to seven years and realize their higher education and career dreams,” said MPI Senior Vice President Michael Fix, who is co-director of the National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy.
Said McHugh: “By offering up the latest research and information about ELL students and their academic performance, we hope to inform the efforts of policymakers, educators and community stakeholders across the country who are grappling with how to best serve the interests of these children and the larger communities in which they live.”
Additional fact sheets offered in the coming months will cover topics such as the top languages spoken by ELL students, their performance on state and national standardized tests and a demographic profile of their families.
The videos can be downloaded from the ELL Information Center. Educators, community organizations or others wanting to obtain copies of the videos for airing can contact MPI Communications at info@migrationpolicy.org.
Resources from the National Early Literacy Panel
The National Early Literacy Panel was convened in 2002 to conduct a synthesis of the most rigorous scientific research available on the development of early literacy skills in children from birth to age 5. The primary purpose of the Panel was to identify research evidence that would contribute to decisions in educational policy and practice which could help early childhood caregivers better support young children’s language and literacy development. The Panel’s work represents a major contribution to the early literacy knowledge base and a significant step in helping early childhood educators understand what the research says about the early literacy skills that are essential for future success in reading. Through an extensive review of the research literature, the Panel identified studies with the strongest findings and synthesized these data using rigorous analytical techniques to answer important questions about the relationship between early skill development and later literacy achievement, and the impact of instructional interventions on children’s learning. In January 2009, the Panel released its final report. The report provides detailed information about the Panel, its charge, the methodology and analytical approach used to conduct the synthesis, and, most importantly, the research findings and implications for improving early education. For more information about the Panel and to download a copy of the report, visit www.nifl.gov.
Cornerstones: An Early Literacy Series
The National Institute for Literacy has prepared this series of research-based publications to support early literacy practices. The publications draw on some of the National Early Literacy Panel’s findings about early literacy development and suggest instructional practices in early childhood education to support children’s acquisition of literacy skills related to future success in reading. Learning to Talk and Listen: An oral language resource for early childhood caregivers is the second booklet in this series. It summarizes the research findings on the relationship between young children’s oral language skills and their later reading achievement, and suggests implications for early literacy practices to promote children’s language development.
PIRC Early Childhood Family Fun Calendar
The Florida Parental Information and Resource Center (PIRC) has created monthly Family Fun Calendars to promote parent involvement specifically for young children. This month’s calendar is available in English at http://www.floridapartnership.usf.edu/documents/Newsletter%20and%20Calendar/EC/2010_09_EC_cal_ENG.pdf and in Spanish at http://www.floridapartnership.usf.edu/documents/Newsletter%20and%20Calendar/EC/2010_09_EC_cal_ENG.pdf. Please use and share as appropriate.
New CONNECT Video on Early Childhood Transition
The Center to Mobilize Early Childhood Knowledge is developing a series of web-based professional development resources that focus on and respond to challenges faced each day by those working with young children and their families in a variety of learning environments and inclusive settings. CONNECT has released an 8-minute video entitled Foundations of Transition for Young Children, which focuses on what teachers and families need to know to help young children transition smoothly from one early childhood program or service to another, the legal requirements to support transition, and the characteristics of effective transition practices. This video is available at http://community.fpg.unc.edu/connect-modules/resources/videos/foundations-of-transition?nectac=. Additional information regarding CONNECT resources may be found at http://community.fpg.unc.edu/connect.
WWC Releases New Reports in Three Topic Areas
Early Childhood Education
The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) has released an updated Intervention Report on Literacy Express, a preschool curriculum designed for 3- to 5-year-old children that aims to improve oral language, literacy, basic math, science, general knowledge, and social-emotional development. The studies that meet WWC evidence standards included more than 1,000 children from 70 preschools in Florida and California. Based on the review of the research, the WWC found Literacy Express to have positive effects on oral language, print knowledge, and phonological processing, and no discernible effects on cognition and math for preschool children.
Read the full report now at: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/early_ed/lit_express/
Students with Learning Disabilities
In the topic area of Students with Learning Disabilities, the WWC has released a new Intervention Report on Read Naturally®, a program designed to improve reading fluency using a combination of books, audiotapes, and computer software. The study that meets WWC evidence standards includes 20 students with learning disabilities in grades 4 through 6 in one elementary school in Washington State. Based on the review of the research, the WWC found Read Naturally® to have a small extent of evidence, potentially positive effects on writing, and no discernible effects on reading fluency for students with learning disabilities.
Read the full report now at: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/learning_disabilities/read_naturally/
Elementary School Math
This updated WWC Intervention Report reviews the research on Scott Foresman–Addison Wesley Elementary Mathematics, a core curriculum for students at all ability levels in prekindergarten through grade 6. The program focuses on developing questioning strategies and problem-solving skills and features embedded assessments and tailored exercises. The studies that meet WWC evidence standards included more than 2,800 elementary students from grades 1 through 5 in 49 schools. The schools were located in a mix of urban, suburban, and rural settings in Connecticut, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming. Based on the review of the research, the WWC found the curriculum to have mixed effects on mathematics achievement for elementary school students.
Read the full report now at: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/elementary_math/sfawem/.
Florida Online Reading Professional Development (FOR-PD) and North East Florida Education Consortium (NEFEC) Free Online Courses
The Department of Education has issued the following memorandum regarding the Florida Online Reading Professional Development (FOR-PD) and North East Florida Education Consortium (NEFEC). The memorandum may be viewed at http://info.fldoe.org/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-5844/dps-2010-143.pdf.
New Brochure titled “Evaluations for Special Education Services:” Information for Parents
District program contacts expressed concerns regarding potential miscommunications between school personnel and parents when parents request an evaluation for special education services for their child. Therefore, BEESS has provided a brochure designed to answer the following questions for parents:
- My child needs help in school. Does my child have a disability?
- What is RtI?
- I have requested an evaluation for my child. Now what?
- What is the evaluation going to include?
- How will I know the results?
The direct link to the brochure is http://www.florida-rti.org/EvaluationsSpecialEd.pdf or you may access the brochure at Florida’s Response to Instruction/Intervention Web site at http://www.florida-rti.org/ under the RtI News section.
New draft Model Core Teaching Standards: A Resource for State Dialog
The Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC) released last week for public comment its new draft Model Core Teaching Standards: A Resource for State Dialog. The public comment period will run until October 15, 2010, to seek broad input from the education community and the public at large.
The Model Core Teaching Standards document, the companion paper State Policy Implications of the Model Core Teaching Standards, and the link to the public comment survey all can be found at http://www.ccsso.org/Resources/Programs/Interstate_Teacher_Assessment_Consortium_(InTASC).html.
If you have communication outlets such as e-newsletters, listservs, blogs, or print publications, please consider using those outlets to let people know about the public comment period. Also, contact Kathleen Paliokas at (202) 336-7058, or by e-mail at kathleenp@ccsso.org of upcoming meetings or conferences for opportunities to present on the standards and collect feedback via focus groups.
SchoolNotes School-to-Home Resources
SchoolNotes understands the importance of school-to-home communication, so provides a FREE and easy-to-use platform to enable educators to do just that!
With SchoolNotes you can create a classroom Web page where you can…
- Post assignments, announcements, and links to important resources
- Notify parents and students each time you update your classroom page
- Create an online calendar to display class events and activities
- Use our free storage to upload documents and add images to your page(s)
- Access practical content from Educationworld.com
- Create online flashcards and other useful learning tools for students
To learn more visit http://new.schoolnotes.com/contents/newuser.
