News and Views

The following message was received from Bryan Gould:

Seeking TVI input on WGBH’s Teachers’ Domain enhanced resources

The WGBH Media Access Group is inviting teachers of students with visual impairments to provide input on amendments to lesson plans and activities built around Teachers’ Domain resources that would better serve your students.

Please read the enclosed PDF document for details about this opportunity.

I encourage you to forward this email to fellow TVI’s and others who might enjoy contributing to this project. If there are websites, listservs or blogs that would be appropriate for posting this info, please let me know or feel free to post it yourself.

Thanks for considering this and for helping to get the word out.

Bryan Gould

Invitation to Provide Input (pdf)

Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings addressed the “2008 Global Summit on Education: Inclusive Practices for Students with Disabilities” in Washington, DC.

“There are many who would prefer to return to what I call the ‘aspirational approach’ –- when we aspired to teaching all children, but we didn’t measure results,” said Secretary Spellings. “They say that teaching students with disabilities means ignoring other students, and that education is a zero sum game. I disagree. The truth is, research shows that including kids with disabilities in the classrooms so they can learn side by side with their peers helps all students do better in school.”

Secretary Spellings Addresses Global Education Summit, Announces $7.5 Million in Grants for More Innovative, Effective Tests for Students With Disabilities and Limited English Proficiency.

The grants were awarded to Nevada, Minnesota, Utah, New Hampshire and the District of Columbia

U.S. Department of Education Updates

The following was provided by:
Nancy Reder, Deputy Executive Director, NASDSE
http://www.nasdse.org

Given the focus on dropouts, you might be interested in this new report from the National Center for Education Statistics within the Institute of Education Sciences: “Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States: 2006.” This report builds upon a series of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports on high school dropout and completion rates that began in 1988. It presents estimates of rates for 2006 and provides data about trends in dropout and completion rates over the last three decades (1972-2006), including characteristics of dropouts and completers in these years. To view, download and print the report as a PDF file, go to: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2008053
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