Accelerate Academic Achievement This blog series is designed to support school-based administrators in addressing the US Department of Education’s call to action, via the Return to School Roadmap, for federal, state, and local leaders to close the performance gap for students with disabilities during the 2021–2022 school year. Our first post was a quick reference guide providing suggestions for implementing each of the priorities set forth in Landmark 2: Build School Communities and Support Students’ Social, Emotional, and Mental Health. [More]
Build School Communities and Support Students’ Social, Emotional, and Mental Health The American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) Fund provides substantial funding to support the reopening of schools and to address the academic, social, emotional, and mental health concerns that have arisen as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. [More]
Back-to-School Blog Series to Support the 2021 “Return to School Roadmap” The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about an unprecedented number of challenges facing schools and students as they approach in-person learning this fall. Students with disabilities were disproportionately affected by school closures during the 2019–2020 and 2020–2021 school years... [More]
Planning for Extended School Year (ESY) During a Pandemic The past several months brought about unprecedented shifts in how schools are providing instruction to complete the 2019–2020 school year. As the year ends and health and safety concerns related to providing face to face instruction remain uncertain, special education directors are facing news challenges in planning ESY. [More]
Utilizing Paraprofessionals to Support Virtual Learning Recently, due to the COVID-19 emergency, school districts, teachers, and families across the U.S. have scrambled to create and provide meaningful virtual instruction to students. As everyone joins the efforts to crowdsource resources, manage logistics, and develop formal procedures, it is essential for teachers to consider how paraprofessionals can play an important role in delivering supports to students. There are more than 1.2 million paraprofessionals currently working to support various academic, behavior, and social needs of students, and their contributions during this critical time impact the quality of services students receive. [More]