Teleconference 15: December 18, 2007

11:30 am Pacific, 12:30 pm Mountain, 1:30 pm Central, 2:30 pm Eastern.
1.5 hours duration

Low assessment scores for students with disabilities? Is it a problem with the assessment or is it a problem with instruction – and what can a state do about it?

NCLB required assessment and accountability systems are triggering efforts in school districts to ensure that all students are effectively being taught their enrolled-grade content. Two district-level leaders in curriculum and in special education will address how they used assessment results to learn where the gaps are. They looked at assessment practices as well as practices in instruction and access to the general curriculum for students with disabilities. Their efforts to fill these gaps have lead to improved accountability status for their schools.

Both of these districts - a large, urban Texas district, and a smaller rural California one - are systematically working with their staff using assessment and instructional data to make instructional decisions and to improve student outcomes. They will address:

·    special and general education structural shifts that foster improved outcomes for schools and students with disabilities;

·    use of data by interdisciplinary planning teams to compact and accelerate learning for these students; and

·    the role of district assessment, curriculum, and special education leadership, intermediate service agencies and state offices of assessment, curriculum, and special education in supporting this important work.

California’s state assessment and special education directors will serve as discussants, followed by Federal partner comments and an open discussion and Q and A among participants.

---

E-mail Rachel Quenemoen at quene003@umn.edu with your questions, comments, and ideas for future telephone conferences, before or after our December 18 call.

---

 

In order to get the most out of our December 18 telephone conference, please review these materials online, or if you prefer, download them to your computer, or print them out. Thank you.

Note: Some of the files below require Acrobat Reader. If you don't have this software, go to the Acrobat Reader Web site for a free download.

I. Materials for Teleconference 15

a. Judith Higgins Moening: No Child Left Behind: A Challenge for Special Education - Meeting the Challenge Through Collaborative Leadership and Systemic Change

b. Jim Canter: Growing the Proficiency of Students with Disabilities

c. Mary Hudler and Deb Sigman: The California Story
 

Panelists for the December 18, 2007 Teleconference

Presenters
Jim Canter, Assistant Superintendent, Curriculum, Snowline Joint Unified School District, Phelan, CA.

Judith Higgins Moening, Executive Director, Special Education, North East Independent School District , San Antonio, TX.

State Discussants

California:

Mary Hudler, Director of Special Education Division, California Department of Education

 

Deb Sigman, Director of Standards and Assessment Division, California Department of Education

Co-hosts
Eileen Ahearn, National Association of State Directors of Special Education

Rachel Quenemoen, National Center on Educational Outcomes, University of Minnesota

 

Federal Partners
OSEP: David Egnor, Cynthia Bryant, and Susan Weigert

OESE: Sharon Hall and Sue Rigney

Top of page