In This Issue:
Message from OSEP Director, Ms. Valerie C. Williams
Dear friends,
May was a heartbreaking and grievous month with at least two mass shootings; one in Buffalo and one at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX. May was also National Mental Health Month which, according to the youth.gov website, “raises awareness of trauma and the impact it can have on the physical, emotional, and mental well-being of children, families, and communities.” This calls us to reflect on how violent and tragic shootings in communities and schools impact us — individually and collectively — and cause grief and trauma within the school community.
The Washington Post has calculated that 311,000 children have experienced gun violence at school, since the Columbine shooting in 1999. Some of the high school students who survived Columbine are now 40 years old, and some of the children who survived Sandy Hook are graduating from high school. They are still suffering from the impact of the school shootings they witnessed and have reported being retraumatized each time a new act of violence occurs. While the Department of the Education’s “School Emergency Response to Violence” grant funds short-term education-related services for school districts and institutions of higher education to help them recover from a violent or traumatic event in which the learning environment has been disrupted, it is not enough to support these 311,000 children and the life-long trauma they may endure. It is not enough to prevent these tragic events from continuing to harm — physically and emotionally — our children.
In addition to the thoughts and prayers offered by politicians, over the coming months there will be legislative proposals to prevent the needless killing and trauma caused by firearms. These proposals are a necessary step toward truly preventing gun violence in our nation’s schools. Importantly, they should include meaningful engagement and input from students, families, educators, and school officials.
As we all do our part to meet students’ whole-child needs and help ensure our students feel safe and secure in school buildings, please take a moment to look at and share a few of the resources ED has made available. These include resources related to trauma, disaster, and emergency preparedness, many of which are from the OSEP Funded Technical Assistance Centers & Other Federally Funded Organizations.
I hope you’ll assist us in disseminating information as widely as possible, so we can ensure the well-being of our students.
In solidarity,
Valerie
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Technical Assistance (TA) Calls
Next TA Call: June 9, 2022 at 4:00-5:00pm (EDT)
We are winding up this year’s SPP/APR review and determination process. During our June TA call, OSEP will provide an overview of:
- The criteria the Department will use to make 2022 determinations; and
- What States should expect once determinations are issued on Wednesday, June 22 (Part C) and Thursday, June 23 (Part B).
State Performance Plans / Annual Performance Reports (APRs)
Thank you for your timely clarification submissions. We are in the process of reviewing each SPP/APR clarification submission in preparation for determinations on Wednesday, June 22 (Part C) and Thursday, June 23 (Part B).
IDEA Part B/C Grants
Thank you for your timely submissions of the FFY 2022 grant applications. We are reviewing those submissions and will be in touch should we need any additional information.
Differentiated Monitoring and Support (DMS)
There will be no OSEP Technical Assistance (TA) Call on DMS during the months of June and July as our teams will be conducting Phase II monitoring with States.
To review other resources and documents related to our monitoring activities (e.g., DMS 2.0, DMS Reports, and older monitoring reports), please refer to the DMS section on our IDEA website.
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The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together
The Center to Improve Social and Emotional Learning and School Safety is delighted to invite you to a keynote address with Heather McGhee on Thursday, June 9, 2022, 10:00–11:00 a.m. PT (1:00–2:00 p.m. ET). She is the author of the widely acclaimed book, The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together. The webinar will focus on the Zero-Sum Paradigm and the Solidarity Dividend learning concepts, illustrated by key stories of race and racism in America and delving into ways that participants, as state leaders, can work together through policy and funding to address structural racism. Click here to register.
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National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance
The BASIE (BAyeSian Interpretation of Estimates) Framework for Interpreting Findings from Impact Evaluations
Improving the quality and relevance of education studies is a central goal for IES’ Standards for Excellence in Education (SEER). IES recently released a guide to help researchers implement the SEER standards in their impact studies, The BASIE (BAyeSian Interpretation of Estimates) Framework for Interpreting Findings from Impact Evaluations: A Practical Guide for Education Researchers. Join IES and partner Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness (SREE), on Monday, June 13th, from 1:00 pm—2:30 pm ET for a webinar discussing this guide, which helps researchers avoid common misinterpretations of statistical significance and report study impacts that are more actionable for end users. This webinar is free, open to the public, and relevant to all researchers who seek to ensure their impact studies are useful to policymakers and educators. To register, click here.
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AEM Center Launches New Video Series in Partnership with Bridge Multimedia
The National Center on Accessible Educational Materials for Learning (AEM Center) has launched a new four-part video series, Accessible Learning Across the Lifespan. These multi-purpose videos apply to K-12, higher education, and workforce training. Use them for your own individual learning or in courses, training, and professional development. Designed to initiate both conversations and actions, these videos feature individuals who rely on and design for digital accessibility as they share their experiences and strategies. The video series will increase your understanding of how learners with disabilities use digital materials, and you’ll learn about the wide range of accessibility features that are built into the technology we use every day. And you’ll begin to understand the relationship between accessibility and Universal Design for Learning. Start broadening the conversation about accessible materials and technologies by watching the trailer on the AEM Center’s homepage.
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In SY 2020-21, students with Emotional Disturbance (11.75%) were more likely to receive services in a separate school than all students with disabilities (2.64%).
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OSEP releases a new OSEP Fast Facts: Educational Environments of School Aged Children with Disabilities, which explore our IDEA, Section 618 data. This Fast Fact takes a closer look at the environments where children with disabilities are receiving special education and related services.
Highlights from OSEP Fast Facts: Educational Environments of School Aged Children with Disabilities
- In SY 2020–21, 66.17% of all school aged children, served under IDEA, Part B, received services inside a regular class 80% or more of the day.
- Students with Intellectual Disability (17.91%) and Autism (40.77%) were less likely to receive services inside a regular class 80% or more of the day while students with Speech or Language Impairment (87.90%) and Specific Learning Disability (74.81%) were more likely to receive services inside a regular class 80% or more of the day.
- Black (3.68%) and Asian (3.48%) students with disabilities are more likely to receive services in separate schools than all students with disabilities (2.64%).
- Students who are two or more races (2.35%) and White (2.54%) students with disabilities are more likely to receive services in parentally placed private schools than all students with disabilities (1.65%).
OSEP Fast Facts is an ongoing effort to display data from the 12 data collections authorized under IDEA Section 618 into graphic, visual representations with the intent to present 618 data quickly and clearly.
Visit the OSEP Fast Facts page for existing and future Fast Facts.
Overnight Camps and Summer School
As we transition into the summer months, the CDC has released two resources that offer guidance across youth-focused settings, to keep programs open, while supporting safe operations and environments. They are:
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Learn More About Assistive Listening Devices
Most environments are not designed with deaf people in mind — assistive listening systems can help! In education settings, deaf students may choose personal hearing systems like hearing aids, cochlear implants or BAHAs as effective tools to support communication.
Understanding the range of systems available is important to effectively serve deaf people who use amplification devices on your campus. Selecting the most effective system is no easy task, and a number of factors should be taken into consideration. Disability Service Professionals need to know how to gather information from students to identify the best assistive listening systems for their individual needs.
The National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes (NDC) has a range of tools, resources and videos, to explore to increase your knowledge and support effective use of assistive listening systems in various educational settings.
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Research Highlights from the National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER)
The Institute for Education Science’s NCSER funds research designed to expand knowledge and understanding of learners with and at risk for disabilities, from infancy through postsecondary settings. We share an update below on findings related to special education.
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 Get ready! The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) will be holding its virtual Leadership and Project Directors’ Conference during the week of July 18, 2022.
Registration for the conference is open. Refer to the conference audience lists below to see who should attend. Whether planning to attend or present (or both!), everyone should register.
Register HERE!
Check the Leadership and Project Directors’ Conference website for additional information and conference updates.
Department of Education
Check the Department's COVID-19 Information and Resources for Schools and School Personnel web page for information and resources, including information and resources from other Federal agencies.
OSEP’s IDEA Covid-19 Questions and Answers and Resources
The National Center for Systemic Improvement is the primary source for TA resources during the COVID-19 national emergency for IDEA Part B programs. The Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center is the primary source for IDEA Part C programs.
Visit the OSERS Blog
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!
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If you have questions or comments, please send them to josiah.willey@ed.gov.
This newsletter may reference and contain links to external sources. The opinions expressed in these sources do not reflect the views, positions, or policies of the Department Education, nor should their inclusion be considered an endorsement of any private organization.
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