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David Bateman, chair of the Public Policy Committee for the Division for Learning Disabilities, provides brief reports for TeachingLD.org so that visitors can keep informed about important developments in policies affecting students with learning disabilities and their teachers. (Reports prior to 1 July 2008 were submitted by Judy B. Engelhard in her capacity as chair of the committee.)
14 November 2008
U.S. Education Secretary Appoints 16-Member Council to Advise on State Standards, Assessments and Accountability Systems
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today announced the appointment of 16 members to the National Technical Advisory Council (NTAC), which Spellings announced as part of the proposed regulations to strengthen No Child Left Behind. The Council's purpose is to advise the Department on complex and technical issues regarding the design and implementation of state standards, assessments and accountability systems. The Council will offer expert advice on such things as the use and applicability of minimum subgroup sizes for proficiency calculations, confidence intervals and the principles necessary for ensuring that performance indexes are consistent with the Title I statute and regulations.
New RTI Blog at CEC
CEC has started a new blog on issues related to RTI. Leading experts on RTI will share their thoughts and insights on RTI, its implementation, and how it is affecting educational practice. http://cecblog.typepad.com/rti/
Department of Education Issues Changes to NCLB; Accepts Many CEC Recommendations
On October 31, 2008, the U.S. Department of Education released final regulations on a variety of provisions authorized by No Child Left Behind of importance to students with disabilities and/or gifts and talents such as: critical changes to the graduation rate calculation; the participation of students with disabilities on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP); and increased transparency on approved providers of supplemental educational services for students with disabilities. While CEC is pleased that the Department accepted many of its recommendations, CEC recognizes the additional resources that will be needed to fully implement the final regulations and therefore, has urged the Department to fully utilize technical assistance mechanisms to assists school districts/states in enacting the new provisions.
Supreme Court News
M.M. ex rel. L.R. v. Special School Dist. No. 1, Minneapolis, MN, (U.S.)
On October 22, 2008, The United States Supreme Court denied a petition for certiorari presenting, among others, the question whether states are entitled to legislatively assign the burden of proof in special education administrative hearings. The Eighth Circuit had held that a district court was bound by an Eighth Circuit's decision that it was error to assign the burden of persuasion to a Minnesota school district in an action to enforce the procedural and substantive requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), notwithstanding the district court's conclusion that a close reading of the Supreme Court's decision in Schaffer v. Weast, 546 U.S. 49, 126 S.Ct. 528, 163 L.Ed.2d 387 (2005), did not support the IDEA's preemption of Minnesota law. The petition for certiorari said that the Minnesota State Legislature had statutorily assigned the burden of proof to school districts, thus rendering inapplicable the Supreme Court's decision in Schaffer v. Weast.
GET INVOLVED AND SIGN-UP TO RECEIVE POLICY UPDATES
If you have specific recommendations related to policy or legislative issues that you wish DLD to consider, we welcome you to use TeachingLD's contact form at http://www.teachingld.org/contact/default.htm and link to “content issues” in the drop down menu; use this same form to receive weekly updates from the CEC Policy & Advocacy Unit; please put "public policy" in the subject line. For specific recommendations, it is helpful if you provide examples that illustrate how students with learning disabilities or their teachers are affected. You are encouraged to get involved by visiting the CEC Legislative Action Center and write your members of Congress on special education issues.
David Bateman
DLD Public Policy Committee Chair
http://www.teachingld.org/can_reports/
