A Multi-Tiered Approach to Social-Emotional Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic This year’s return to school is unlike any other in our nation’s history. Educators across the country are contending with extraordinary circumstances, as they welcome students back to school amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Educators, students, and our communities, have all been impacted. The realities of the 2020-21 school year require the prioritization of safe and supportive learning environments, as students learn best when they feel physically and emotionally safe and supported. [More]
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]
PCG Offers Free Special Education Planning Resource to Aid Schools’ Reopening Preparations Amid Pandemic Public Consulting Group, Inc. (PCG), a leading consulting firm supporting state and local education agencies across the country, today announced the launch of its Special Education Reentry Checklist: a free resource to help special education departments prepare for schools to reopen for the 2020–2021 school year amid the COVID-19 pandemic. [More]