The Special Ed Advocate Newsletter, September 28, 2004 (Issue 279)

At Wrightslaw, our goals are to help you gain the information and skills you need navigate the confusing world of special education.

Highlights: Facing facts on reading; info and resources about reading for parents & teachers; special offer & free shipping ends tonight (9/28); do reading definitions in NCLB apply to general ed programs; NCLB for attorneys & advocates - reading instruction, research, assessments; new issue of The Beacon: Journal of Special Ed Law & Practice; find help in the Yellow Pages for Kids with Disabilities; Wrightslaw programs in VA, OK, FL, NJ, OH. Download this issue of The Special Ed Advocate.

Wrightslaw is ranked #1 in education law, special education law, and special education advocacy. (2003 Alexa rankings)

Most children with disabilities have deficits in reading. These children need intensive research-based instruction that targets their reading problems. But most children do not receive research-based reading instruction and do not learn to read proficiently.

According to the Nation's Report Card, 64 percent of 12th graders are not proficient readers when they leave school. Minority students and children with disabilities score much lower - just 16 percent of African American and 22 percent of Hispanic students are proficient by 12th grade. (U.S. Department of Education, Nation's Report Card, 2002)

What are the consequences of these alarming facts?

After they leave school, many young adults are unable to get jobs, attend college, or function in society. Nearly 100 million adults lack the basic reading and math skills needed to function in our society. 44 million adults cannot fill out an application, read a food label, or read a simple story to a child. (National Institute for Literacy)

When you order Surviving Due Process before midnight, Tuesday, September 28, you get free shipping on the DVD - and a free gift bag of microwave popcorn. You also get free shipping on all Wrightslaw books you order before midnight, Tuesday, September 28 (save $4.95 per book).

Question: "A school board member was told that the legal definitions of reading, essential components of reading instruction and scientifically based reading research in No Child Left Behind only apply to intervention programs, not to general education programs. Is this true? Can you tell me where to find this in the law?"

What do you think? What are the federal requirements about reading programs? What can parents do to ensure that schools in their community adopt programs that are based on "scientifically based reading research?"

In Do Reading Definitions in NCLB Apply to General Ed Programs? research editor Sue Heath fields questions about state and federal requirements for reading programs, and offers suggestions about how to frame the debate in your community. Do you want your school board to provide an education that does not meet national and state minimum standards?

In addition to writing about creative advocacy strategies in Doing Your Homework, Sue is co-author of Wrightslaw: No Child Left Behind (ISBN: 1-892320-12-6) published by Harbor House Law Press.

Many people - like this school board member - have received misinformation and conflicting advice about No Child Left Behind. If you are a parent, teacher, principal, administrator, child advocate, attorney, or school leader, you need to know what the law actually says. Wrightslaw: No Child Left Behind will help you find answers to your questions in the NCLB statute, regulations, and publications from the U. S. Department of Education. Learn more

The most common question we receive at Wrightslaw is "I need to find a . . . psychologist OR educational consultant OR tutor OR advocate OR attorney. Please help me!"

If you are looking for help - or a helper - visit the Yellow Pages for Kids with Disabilities. Your state Yellow Pages has many resources - evaluators, speech language therapists, tutors, special ed schools, advocates, attorneys, organizations, and support groups.

These articles will help you find help or a helper:

What to Expect from an Evaluation of Your Child

Working with Independent Evaluators and Educational Consultants

Strategies to Find a Support or Study Group

Free Listings in the Yellow Pages: If you help parents get services for children (i.e., an evaluator, educational consultant, academic tutor, advocate, attorney, special ed school, etc.) or you facilitate a support or study group for parents, please submit an application be listed in the Yellow Pages for Kids. Send an email to app@yellowpagesforkids.com for more info. Listings in the Yellow Pages are free.

Help Others: Please print and distribute Flyers for Your State Yellow Pages for Kids.

8. Put a Wrightslaw Program on Your To-Do List

"The Wrightslaw Special Education Law Seminar in Michigan was a tremendously rewarding experience and will forever change our practice." - Bryan I. Eder, Esq., Chudnof & Eder, PLC

Wrightslaw legal advocacy programs focus on four areas: special education law, rights and responsibilities; tests and measurements to measure progress & regression; SMART IEPs; and advocacy tactics & strategies. Participants will receive two books, Wrightslaw: Special Education Law and Wrightslaw: From Emotions to Advocacy, as part of their registration (Value: $59.90).

Mid-Atlantic: Virginia Beach, VA (November 12-13)

The Special Ed Advocate is a free online newsletter about special education legal and advocacy issues, cases, and tactics and strategies. Subscribers receive "alerts" about new cases, events, and special offers on Wrightslaw books.

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