OSEP Awards More Than $35 Million to Recruit, Prepare, and Retain Special Education Personnel
The U.S. Department of Education awarded more than $35 million in funding to invest in programs that support the development and ongoing professional learning of personnel who support students with disabilities. The majority of the funds will be used to help cover the education cost required to complete programs that prepare individuals to work with students with special needs. Additionally, one award funds a new national center to support school and early intervention program administrators to effectively implement IDEA and improve systems serving students with disabilities.
For more information on the funding, read from the following sources here:
Disability Scoop
U.S. Department of Education
Recent Research Offers Practical Solutions to the Special Education Teacher Attrition Problem
Attrition is a contributing factor to the chronic shortage of special education teachers. Recent research indicates that multifaceted solutions, both short-term and long-term, are needed to alleviate the attrition. Short-term solutions include financial incentives and increasing the number of special education teachers by hiring early. Three long-term solutions are eliciting feedback from teachers about working conditions, orienting schools towards all learners, and treating teachers as professional workers, getting rid of the sacrificial teacher narrative. Along with the solutions, it’s necessary to address the working conditions of special education teachers.
For more information, read the research or view the webinar here:
Brookings
Webinar Presented by Research Author
Summary of Solutions
A Bill Ensuring Parents’ Rights to Invite Experts to IEP Meetings Advances in House of Representatives
A bipartisan bill requiring schools to notify parents of their rights to bring an expert or other third parties to IEP meetings has advanced in the U.S. House of Representatives. IDEA already gives parents the right to include third party experts in an IEP meeting, but it’s said most parents don’t know about this right. The bill would require schools to notify parents of their rights before the annual IEP meeting each year.
For more information on this proposed legislation, read these pieces from the following publications:
