Virtual Co-Teaching: Where to Start and How to Maintain Focus on Student Learning As the unpredictable spread of COVID-19 continues to force school districts across the country to adjust to virtual learning, special educators experience the unique challenge of providing services for students outside of the traditional brick and mortar classroom. For many special educators, this has pushed them into an uncharted ‘virtual’ territory requiring a new set of instructional methods and communication strategies. [More]
The School Bell Rings: Basic Realities of the 20-21 School Year and the Need for a COVID-19 Special Education Steering Committee The 2020-21 school year will be unlike any other experienced by American schoolchildren and their teachers since the Spanish Flu outbreak of 1918. The expectations placed on school district administrators and educators are unprecedented. If the Spanish Flu taught us anything, it is that we may be faced with extended social distancing until the pandemic is managed. [More]
Presuming Competence in Students with Significant Disabilities For too long, students with significant disabilities (SWSD) have been understood as little more than collections of low test scores and high needs. The very nature of a significant disability prevents educators from knowing with any certainty what a student’s true capabilities are, but the simple fact that a student’s IQ has been identified as “low,” or that they have complex physical or communication challenges, doesn’t automatically mean they are incapable. [More]
Happy new year from the EDPlan team! To help you make the most of EDPlanTM and its suite of modules, PCG will be hosting a series of webinars this winter (“What’s Up Webinars”) to explore the following EDPlan modules, highlighting new features and offering insights into how these modules can provide even greater value to you, our valued partners. We hope you’ll take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about all that EDPlan has to offer by registering for one or more of our upcoming “What’s Up Webinars.” [More]
The challenge to change You might never imagine us giving each other professional advice–but in fact, it’s Jason I can thank for one of the most important insights I’ve ever gained into what it takes for leaders of struggling schools to be willing to commit to better intervention strategies to improve results: Committing to the whole program of change from day one–even when you feel just starting one adjustment will be hard enough. [More]