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]
Planning for Extended School Year (ESY) During a Pandemic The past several months brought about unprecedented shifts in how schools are providing instruction to complete the 2019–2020 school year. As the year ends and health and safety concerns related to providing face to face instruction remain uncertain, special education directors are facing news challenges in planning ESY. [More]
Utilizing Paraprofessionals to Support Virtual Learning Recently, due to the COVID-19 emergency, school districts, teachers, and families across the U.S. have scrambled to create and provide meaningful virtual instruction to students. As everyone joins the efforts to crowdsource resources, manage logistics, and develop formal procedures, it is essential for teachers to consider how paraprofessionals can play an important role in delivering supports to students. There are more than 1.2 million paraprofessionals currently working to support various academic, behavior, and social needs of students, and their contributions during this critical time impact the quality of services students receive. [More]
COVID-19 School Closures and Special Education: Shifting Instructional Practices to a Digital Environment With COVID-19 moving much of traditional K-12 instruction online, educators across the United States are quickly building their capacity to provide equitable services in a new way. They are researching distance learning, setting-up class websites, reaching out to their students and parents, and becoming familiar with the available free digital tools to help them connect with their students. Television stations in many communities are partnering with school districts to conduct media campaigns to raise community awareness, set expectations, and inform students and their parents on what they need to do to get started with distance learning. The sudden shift presents unprecedented challenges for all teachers, especially for those serving students with disabilities. [More]
Conducting IEP Meetings During COVID-19 By Matthew Korobkin, Senior AdvisorOver the next several weeks, school districts and families of students with disabilities may be concerned about how IEP meetings will be convened and how timelines will be met. During a time of “social-distancing” because of COVID-19, school districts should consider hosting remote IEP meetings in order to meet the timeline requirements set forth by their state education agency. [More]