Parent Advocacy

http://www.doe.mass.edu/sped/prb/
Helpful for everyone, not just parents. It provides complete procedural safeguards to know and understands; to give to parents when necessary or even for teacher and other school personnel to have in order to make sure to follow the law. The most important valuable characteristic about this is that the Parent’s Notice of Procedural Safeguards is provided not only in English but in 9 other languages including, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Russian and more. In a multicultural society, having the necessary tools to help everyone, regardless of their language or race, is what will help the world become a better place, and have others better and greatly appreciate what we do for them, specially if it affects a child’s education.

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/1580/listall.html
This was a nice and informal page designed to help parents. They provide some moral and supporting words, they also include legal matters and topics, and finally they have provided resources with related topics like diagnostic testing, behavioral concerns, and other creative ways of intervening. Providing parents a helping hand, an encouraging word, or a better understanding, might help the everyday life of many.

http://www.dmoz.org/Reference/Education/Special_Education/
This page is like an open directory of special education. By entering options like “Support”, one can have access to a list of websites that offer support for special education, there is also the option of choosing other more specific disabilities like ADHD, Autism, TBI or CP. Another option back in the Special Education page, is the option of Legal Information, which provides pages to legal advices, information and more. At the top, there is a See Also: section which usually provides related pages or sections that might be useful. This one, (Legal Information) includes- Society: Issues: Disabilities: Advocacy. This page serves as a multipurpose page, for parents, teachers, school personnel, and more, regardless of what disability is being discussed or being treated; having a quick and multiple option page to turn to in moments of distress can save someone’s lives, or education any day.

Diagnostic Testing & IEP Development

http://ntuaft.com/Departments/Research___Communication/SpecialEd/Training%20Modules/Training%20Modules/Developing%20an%20IEP/Start%20IEP%20Training%20Module.htm
This is an interested page, put up by the Newark Teachers Union (NTU), focused on different areas of special education. It provides a brief and simple explanation of what an IEP is, and to the left side of the page, they provide the different steps required to create and write and IEP. Each step is a Lesson, with some lessons having smaller section on the smaller topics of each section. They provided definitions, explanations, examples, and other considerations to keep in mind, depending on the student’s age. It seems like a helpful page, specially for those parents who would like to know and understand more about the IEP process before they attend the ARD.

http://learningdisabilities.about.com/od/publicschoolprograms/ht/spedreferrals.htm
As common as this page might be, it can come off as very handy to parents of students with disabilities. Many parents have no idea what to do, or how to go about contacting the school in regard to their child having a possible learning disability. This page provides 7 simple and easy to understand steps for parents to follow when deciding to contact the school. They provide sample letters, what to include in their referral letter, what not to, and what comes next. Many parents and/or persons involved with people/children with have a better understanding of the topic when matters are explained in common terms, with little Special Education/Psychological terms; this page serves that purpose.

http://www.vdps.net/special/test.html#Terms%20used%20in%20Standardized%20Testing:
This page provides a little of everything, from principles of psychoeducational testing, to a list and description of some of the most commonly used standardized testing. One of the most beneficial sections of this page is the section on the Terms commonly used in Standardized testing. This are terms we as psychologists learn in school, but when presented in a report to school personnel or parents, a great percentage of them will not understand what we are talking about, so having access to a place where they can review all this terms, without having to travel back and forth between pages will help the understanding of these.

SPECIAL EDUCATION CASE LAW

http://www.specialedconnection.com/
Specialedconnection.com is a page who focuses on special education law cases; provide updates on new, current cases and court decisions, in addition federal guidelines, advice and litigation advice. Even though it required a fee to obtain all the full benefits of the website, there is still a Free E-news section where briefs of some of the latest cases across the different states, and sometimes even a link as to where to obtain some extra information about topics related to that case. Additionally, they are allied with LRP publications, so they also offer updates and offers on new products as well as new services provided to the community. It is a useful page where those parents with students with disabilities can turn to whenever doubting services or placement of their children; either to decide to take further action or to rectify that the school and the district are doing what they are supposed to. For teachers, and school personnel, it is a good way to keep update with recent changes that might come about.

http://www.wrightslaw.com/caselaw.htm#supreme
Wrightslaw is a law page designed to provide information regarding some of the most important, or influencing law cases related to special education; placement, eligibility, services, FAPE, and more. By picking the Home option, one can go to the home page and look up any specific case. There is also the option of finding out about legal guidelines and procedures of some of the most related Acts in special education, such as No Child Left Behind, and IDEA. The specific link presented above, direct the reader the Case Law Library where they present some of the most predominant and history making cases of special education, divided by the level of law that settled the case and provided the last ruling; U.S. Supreme Court, Courts of Appeals, or District Courts. For anyone who deals with special education on a day-to-day base, it is important that they are aware of commonly cited case law, their decision, their influence on education and services, as well as their jurisdiction.

http://www.megalaw.com/top/education.php
This page, similar to other website focused on Special Education Law, focuses on special education cases, through out time. They have organized their page in a way that is helpful to their readers. They present the option of looking at cases handled by the U.S. Supreme Court, or by the U.S. court of Appeals; which is later divided by circuits. Both of these options will direct you to Cornell’s University Law School page (http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/search/search.html?query=education), which is another excellent source for education law and cases. Finally, there is the option of looking at educational statues by states. They also included other available options such as Government Agencies, Departments of Education by states, and even link to others educational legal websites. Being able to have access to all previous settled education cases, along with state statues and a way to contact any department of education in case of emergency, is always helpful to anyone dealing with special education. Additionally, having access to legal matters and other legal websites where one can obtain advice, and guidance surely helps keep things in line.

*EXTRA*

http://fapeonline.org/

Many of the educational cases go back to the provision and implementation of services of a “free appropriate public education” as regulated by IDEA, so here is this extra page, to give readers a little help when it comes to FAPE, their terms, resources, best practices, family issues and more.

Inclusion and the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)

http://www.circleofinclusion.org/
Circleofinclusion.org focuses mainly on early childhood inclusion. It expresses their view on inclusion, the benefits that might come from it, and how there might be several different ways to carry out inclusion. They have several different options to choose form in their site. There is the option to visit and lean about other inclusive programs in the state of Kansas. There also is the option to read about some of the methods and practices of inclusion. Their present a preschool Manual, which is guideline to different areas of inclusion in preschool; from helping parents, from understanding our roles in inclusion to actual strategies utilized with children across different hours and settings of school. Finally, there also is a section for downloading materials like observation forms, or aids for IEP’s and more. The site has many helpful tools for teachers on learning how to carry out proper inclusion, and for parents of students with disabilities in order to become more familiarize with inclusion and its process.


http://www.tash.org/index.html
TASH’s, The Association for the Severely Handicapped, is a non-profit, international organization whose main purpose is to promote full inclusion and participation by students with disabilities in all areas of life and their community regardless of their degree of disability. The have resources, and advocacy guidance for those parents of children with disabilities, or even adults with disabilities who wish to find support and the right knowledge about their rights to the least restrictive environment. They also have links to other websites with similar interest. Whether it be adults or children with disabilities, it is always good to know there is somewhere to turn to for support and guidance.


http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/lre.index.htm
Wrightslaw mainly discusses issues related to the rights students and adults with disabilities have, and this time, it’s no exception. Their page for Inclusion, Least restrictive Environment (LRE) and Mainstreaming talks about the rights actually delineated by IDEA 2004. They also present some of the most frequently asked questions about LRE, and some articles related to the topic of LRE. To conclude their page, they include some of the most notorious cases that dealt with Inclusion/LRE. Knowing what exactly IDEA requires schools to provide to students in relation to inclusion and LRE, what parents can fight for or what is off the requirement certainly will help every parent, teachers and school staff and personnel that deals with students with disabilities, in order to not only follow the law, but to provide students with the education they deserve.

Assistive Technology

http://www.dynavoxtech.com/
DynaVox is a company that for the last 16 years has helped those people with hearing or language disabilities who need an alternative way of communicating. On their website you can find a list of products that can help those students who don’t participate greatly in class due to their language disability. There are interactive picture and phrase board, writers, and more. All with the purpose of helping students communicate themselves. As a teacher, having access to a page like this might help whenever parents ask what else can they do to help their child communicate more while at home. Not to mention that it can also be a device for within the classroom. Having ideas as to what is available out there, can only improve the options that can be provided to students.
Similar pages like, http://www.assistivetech.com/corporate/home.aspx, who also provide a variety of assistive devices like text readers with synthesized speech, portable devices and more.


http://www.rfbd.org/
Reading for the Blind and Dyslexic is the website for audio-books available to students with disabilities. They offer a vast variety of books, in every subject and every grade. Even when it requires an annual fee, for those students whose modifications include having their books read to them, it can save a lot of work. This way, more students will be able to obtain their class material at their own time, without having to disrupt the teachers. Being able to provide students with disability with access to a book, even when they are unable of reading it themselves, is an easier way of following the IEP’s. Therefore giving schools, school personnel and teachers access to a page like RFB&D will aid in making available a better education.

http://www.ablelinktech.com/
AbleLink Technology was created by a Daniel Davies, who has been closely related to families with children with intellectual and cognitive disabilities; having an older brother with severe mental retardation. AbleLink focuses on research and the developmente of assistive technology for individuals with cognitive disabilities. Interesting enough, they are very similar to regular computers, cell phones or PDA’s, but their mere functions and programs are simpler to manage and understand; including bigger pictures, voice commands, schedulers and more. They have products like their Visual Assistant which can provide task-prompting-support step-by step, and with visuals to each of the steps to follow. Teachers usually face questions from parents with students with disabilities, especially those who are soon to finish school, in relation to what can they recommend to keep helping their children once out of school and promote their independence. Well, this is an excellent source for those students!

No Child Left Behind (NCLB)

http://www.wrightslaw.com/nclb/law.htm
Wrightslaw is a page that focuses on special education law and advocacy for students with disabilities, where on can find information and articles about specific educational cases that helped made a difference in today’s education as well as laws, and acts that shape our education system. Their No Child Left Behind section, as mentioned in the page, focuses on “NCLB statute, regulations, guidance publications…, policy letters, and other essential publications from the U. S. Department of Education.” It is a helpful resource whenever one whishes to learn more about NCLB not just the simple overview that everyone else knows, specially if you are a teacher. Learning and understanding what are the guidelines and expectations will greatly help facilitate a teacher’s job.


http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/states/index.html
Ed.gov. is a website from the U.S. Department of Education, where common education topics are presented and discussed. Like other similar pages, they contain a section solemnly for NCLB. It was many options as to what one wishes to read about, from friendly A-Z Index for NCLB, and the progress made by each of the states, to NCLB Policy and statues to Success Story videos. Entering topics such as NCLB Policy takes the reader to a list of option s for Accountability, and Assessment plans, models, reports cards, to Budget, Flexibility and Teacher Quality. Areas like the last mentioned (Teacher Quality) can help and guide teachers to being better prepared to follow the requirements the state and country set forth under NCLB. Additionally, every area has a different advantage that will help not only teachers, but school faculty and staff better apply NCLB in their campus and among their teachers.


http://www.educationsector.org/issues/issues_list.htm?attrib_id=16015
Education Sector is an independent page that primarily focuses on educational policies; either by challenging some of this, improving previous reforms or helping out with new ideas about those new reforms and education ideas. On their ISSUES section, they include a category for K-12 Accountability Systems/NCLB, where they provide a list of research articles, reports, analysis, perspectives and more, all targeting NCLB directly or areas that are influenced or influence NCLB. Interesting enough, the Home page for the site provides an article on President Barack Obama’s education priorities, as outlined by his Education Secretary. One of the mayor aspects of NCLB is accountability, and this page focuses on it by addressing topics such as Yearly Progress, Assessment measures and more. This are good ways of learning about what others think of and how they deal with these issues, how some changes could be made in order to improve these areas and more. It always better to know more than it is necessary about a topic than to lack information for whatever circumstance life may bring.

IDEA 2004

http://www.cec.sped.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Policy_and_Advocacy&Template=/TaggedPage/TaggedPageDisplay.cfm&TPLID=1&ContentID=6183
Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) has a very complete website where they support special education, children with disabilities and the families of these children. Additionally, they have their Policy and Advocacy section where thy focus on policy issues, law cases, federal, state or local legislation in addition to trying to influence many of these for the benefit of special education. This website, along with their Policy and Advocacy section can greatly help teachers, parents and special educators be up to date with any new changes, new legislations or educational proposals that might be in place.


http://www.thearc.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=420
The Arc is a community not only set out to help people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, but made up of people who relate to these disabilities in a personal way. Their website includes a section for what they call the Capitol Insider, in collaboration with the Disability Policy Collaboration, which is made up of weekly released issues that include news, and information about related Special Education and IDEA topics and updates as new changes, and legislations take place in the nation. Similar to our previous link, having all means to keep up-to-date with news related to Special Education, will help special educators be more aware of what is going on in their area of specialty, in order to provide better services.


http://idea.ed.gov/explore/view/p/%2Croot%2Cdynamic%2CVideoClips%2C14%2C
Idea.Ed.Gov is the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs’ (OSEP’s) IDEA website. It is there to help with IDEA regulations, implementations and resources. It provides access to information about IEP’s, early interventions, procedural safeguard, statues, regulations and more. This specific Link will take you to a video between the Director of OSEP, the Director’s to OSEP’s Research to Practice Division and the Director of OSEP’s Monitoring and State Improvement Planning division addressing some of the questions the OSEP Office of Special Education Programs had been receiving in relation to the implementation of the IDEA 2004. It is handy video where one can watch about what others have asked in relation to IDEA 2004 and learn about the answers theOSEP provided to these questions.