March 21, 2017
By: Timothy Pratt
Source: The Hechinger Report Brent Agnew remembers feeling a sense of relief when he left the meeting called to discuss his 6-year-old son Caleb’s anxiety attacks. As he and his wife, Jennifer, walked into the parking lot outside the E E Butler Center in Gainesville, Georgia, that day in 2006, the two […]
March 21, 2017
By: Shaun Heasley
Source: Disability Scoop With a new short film, a handful of famous faces are using offbeat humor to question whether the needs of people with Down syndrome truly are “special.” Dubbed “Not Special Needs,” the two-minute clip stars “Glee” actress Lauren Potter and features actor John McGinley of “Scrubs.” “People with Down […]
March 21, 2017
By: Stephen Merrill
Source: Edutopia Hallways and stairwells are bullying hot spots, according to a new report from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). In the 2014–15 academic year, students between the ages of 12 and 18 reported nearly twice as many bullying incidents in transitional areas between classes—where they spend a fraction of […]
March 20, 2017
By: Christopher D. Shea
Source: The New York Times “Sesame Street” will add Julia, a 4-year-old female muppet who has autism, to its cast next month as part of an expanding autism initiative. The TV show rolled out the news of Julia’s arrival on its website and released a series of YouTube videos featuring her on […]
March 15, 2017
By: Ashley Hopkinson
Source: EdSource Los Angeles Universal Preschool, also known as LAUP, launched a new certificate program this month for aspiring early education teachers and others who work with preschoolers that is focused on helping children with disabilities and emotional and behavior challenges. The LAUP Research and Evaluation division found, after five years of […]
March 14, 2017
By: Emilie Eaton
Source: Disability Scoop / San Antonio Express-News When Tom Iland began driving as a teenager roughly 15 years ago, his mother Emily fretted endlessly. Iland was diagnosed with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder, and his mother worried he might be stopped by police and wouldn’t know how to react to common police demands […]
March 14, 2017
By: Roger Riddell
Source: Education Dive In a panel at last week’s SXSWedu, moderated by The Teacher’s Guild Director Molly McMahon, a trio of two Texas K-12 administrators and a district teacher of the year from Georgia discussed the benefits of letting teachers drive innovation. Spring Branch Independent School District Associate Superintendent Elliott Witney, El Paso […]
March 13, 2017
By: Blake Farmer
Source: NPR Reading isn’t usually a competitive sport. But it’s become one for Braille readers because of a lack of excitement about Braille. Right now, the Los Angeles-based Braille Institute is putting on regional competitions like this one in a classroom at the Tennessee School for the Blind. A braille reading competition […]
March 13, 2017
Tim Lisante is the superintendent of the school district that includes Rikers Island, the main prison complex in New York City. By: Monica Disare
Source: The Atlantic In Tim Lisante’s first year as an assistant principal at a school for youth on the prison complex Rikers Island 30 years ago, he met a student […]
March 13, 2017
By: Marjorie Cortez
Source: Deseret News Utah Utah’s state and local policymakers “should be alarmed at the high numbers of teachers leaving the state teaching core, particularly in the first few years,” recent public policy reports caution. More than half — 56 percent — of the public school educators who started teaching in 2008 left […]