Category Archives: Special Education

Child Haven officially opens testing, evaluation clinic – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

To place a troubled child on path to success “really does take a village,” the director of the Desert Mountain Children’s Center said at the official opening Thursday of a new county testing and evaluation program for children suffering from ongoing developmental, social, emotional, behavioral and communication challenges.

Speaking to a group of 40, mostly school district superintendents, educators and behavior specialists, Linda Llamas called the “partners” who helped to open the Solano Comprehensive Assessment Research and Evaluation (CARE) Clinic in Fairfield “agents of change” for troubled youngsters and their families who seek services at the clinic, which is housed in a building behind Child Haven, at 801 Empire St., Fairfield.

Source: Child Haven officially opens testing, evaluation clinic

Using Technology to Empower Students With Special Needs | Edutopia

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By Kathryn Nieves

One of the biggest problems I encounter as a resource room teacher is the self-esteem of the students in my classes. After years of disappointing academic experiences, their confidence is low and their motivation has declined. Combine those points with the peer pressure, bullying, and stresses of middle school, and the students do not have a positive outlook on their education.

In my classroom, technology is a tool for empowerment—it creates a collaborative and innovative space for all students. Along with over 50 million educators and students, I am primarily using Google’s G Suite for Education. The suite is a bundle of Google’s key products, such as Drive, Docs, Slides, and Forms, along with new tools like Google Classroom. While I used these applications in a middle school classroom, the following strategies are appropriate for any age from upper elementary students to high school seniors.

Source: Using Technology to Empower Students With Special Needs | Edutopia

Changes to admission preferences, update on special ed on Kairos agenda tonight – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Revisions to admission preferences and an update on special programs are on the agenda when Kairos Public School Vacaville Academy leaders meeting tonight in Vacaville.

Directors at the Elm Street independent charter school will be asked to consider several amendments to the school’s charter, in accord with state law, as they relate to admission preferences.

Among the changes, as noted by board secretary Anna Rivera in agenda documents, are preferences given to current students; siblings of current students; children or grandchildren of Kairos employees or members of the board of directors; the students of other Kairos programs; and students on the waitlist from the previous year (who submitted an application during the open application period for current-year enrollment).

Source: Changes to admission preferences, update on special ed on Kairos agenda tonight

Child Haven to open testing, evaluation clinic for special ed children – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Solano County families and parents with special education children will get a little more help with the opening of a new early assessment and intervention program for youngsters suffering from ongoing developmental, social, emotional, behavioral and communication challenges.

The Solano Comprehensive Assessment Research and Evaluation (CARE) Clinic will open Thursday at Child Haven, 801 Empire St., Fairfield.

There, children ages 2 years, 9 months to 5 years, 6 months (and their caregivers) can experience an intensive, early assessment and intervention program, Jodie Phan, director of Personnel Development and Consultation Services for the Solano County Office of Education’s Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA), wrote in a press release issued Monday.

Source:  Child Haven to open testing, evaluation clinic for special ed children – The Reporter

Fairfield High School hosts Special Olympics soccer event – The Reporter

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By Jessica Rogness

More than 400 Fairfield students of all abilities gathered Thursday for a Special Olympics soccer event.

Schaefer Stadium at Fairfield High School was packed with K-5 students from Anna Kyle, Center, Crescent, Dan O. Root, K. I. Jones, Laurel Creek, Nelda Mundy, Oakbrook and David Weir.

The event opened with a Special Olympics torch rally. A student from each school’s special education program ran to pass the plastic torch to the next, guided by officers from the Fairfield Police Department and California Highway Patrol.

Source: Fairfield High School hosts Special Olympics soccer event

Helping Troubled Students, One Relationship at a Time | Edutopia

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By David Bulley

When Jimmy, a 6th grader with significant social and emotional disabilities, was sent out of English class every day one week, he devised a plan. On Friday, he smuggled a pair of handcuffs into school, and upon arriving at English class, instead of grabbing his “do now” and sitting down, he ran straight to the teacher’s desk and handcuffed himself to it.

The teacher, a kind and in many ways excellent instructor, was shocked. The teacher and I unlocked Jimmy soon enough, but later, when we had a quiet moment to reflect, I said, “You teach English. Can you see the symbolism here?” Jimmy desperately wanted to stay in class but did not know how. And to compound this tiny tragedy, it seemed obvious he had no one to ask.

Source: Helping Troubled Students, One Relationship at a Time | Edutopia

Law helps with Solano special education center project – Daily Republic

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By Daily Republic Staff

The Solano County Office of Education is one step closer to building a new special education campus at the site of Irene Larsen Educational Center in Vacaville.

“The current plan is to tear down the current buildings and build a new building at the (site),” said Tommy Welch, associate superintendent of administrative services and operations for the county agency.

All the special education classrooms will be placed in a single building with one entry point for added security, Welch said. The plans will be submitted to the Division of the State Architect for review, after which a pre-bid budget for the project will be established.

Source: Law helps with Solano special education center project

Chronically Misbehaving Kids Suffer Mental and Social Disease – Education News

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By Julia Steiny

Naturally, Faina Davis, a lawyer and head of Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth (RJOY), would have a happy-ish story about what happens when troubled kids connect with adults who practice Restorative Justice. Far more often, kids misbehave, get punished, misbehave, get punished, in an endlessly destructive cycle. But Restoration works to interrupt this cycle by solving whatever was driving the misbehavior in the first place.

An 11th grader, whom Davis calls Cameron, transferred into a Restorative Oakland high school. He’d already become, as she put it, one of those “scary-dude kids” with saggy pants, a black hoodie and a horrible attitude. Such charmers come to her through the Oakland’s schools, which have become demonstration sites for restorative justice.

On his first day at the new school, Cameron met with the school’s Director. Cameron probably expected, per usual, to get yelled at, berated, and threatened with dire consequences for any more misdeeds. Instead, this Restorative Director put aside the thick folder of records of Cameron’s academic failures, suspensions and arrests. Start fresh. Cameron couldn’t suddenly become an angel. But together he and the Director would deal with the obstacles in the way of building a brighter, healthier path for this angry adolescent.

Source: Chronically Misbehaving Kids Suffer Mental and Social Disease

Vacaville Unified leaders to mull several Measure A contracts, Independent Study contract – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Several Measure A contracts and a contract to lease a Peabody Road site to eventually house the district’s Independent Study program are on the agenda when Vacaville Unified leaders meet tonight in Vacaville.

The seven-member governing board will consider approval of a three-year lease with An Phu Investment for the office space at 1949 Peabody Road. Besides the IS program, it also will provide additional office space for the district’s Special Education department.

(In the interim, until the new space is ready for occupancy, the district’s IS program offices will remain at Sierra Vista, a newly configured TK-8 school that officially opened to fanfare Wednesday, one day before the district’s first school day of the new year.)

Source: Vacaville Unified leaders to mull several Measure A contracts, Independent Study contract

Retirees miss children, colleagues, classrooms – but not paperwork, tests – Daily Republic

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By Ryan McCarthy

She wore a gray tank top that read, “Retired Teacher – All Children Left Behind,” and had 25 years of memories about classrooms, students and more paperwork than she wanted to remember.

Kathy Cruice, who taught at schools that include Travis Elementary, said at Laurel Creek Park, where retired teachers gathered Wednesday, that the start of this school year came without any nightmares of back-to-school logistics gone wrong.

Source: Retirees miss children, colleagues, classrooms – but not paperwork, tests

Director of Special Education Division – Year 2016 (CA Dept of Education)

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State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced today that he has appointed Kristin Wright as the new Special Education Division Director at the California Department of Education (CDE). She begins her assignment September 1.

Wright has spent more than a decade working in education with a focus on special education. Since December 2014, she has worked for the California State Board of Education as an Education Policy Consultant and liaison between the State Board and the CDE on a variety of subjects, including special education, child nutrition, foster and homeless youth, and computer science.

In 2013 and 2014, she worked as an Education Programs Consultant within CDE’s Special Education Division, serving as a liaison to the Advisory Commission on Special Education (ACSE) and consulting on program and policy matters related to California’s Common Core State Standards and accessibility for students with disabilities. She served as a State Senate appointee to the ACSE from 2006 to 2013 and was chair of the advisory commission from 2009 to 2013.

Source: Director of Special Education Division – Year 2016 (CA Dept of Education)

New Vacaville school program to pair preschoolers with and without disabilities – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

A new Vacaville Unified program will bring together preschoolers with and without disabilities to learn together, district officials have announced.

Integrated Preschool Program classes, to be offered at Hemlock Elementary and the Irene Larsen Preschool Center, are intended “to help children experience different developmental, social and behavioral models from other children,” Rae Ann Quinata, an assistant in the district’s public information office, wrote in a press release.

The blended environment, in two-hour per day classroom settings, emphasizes compassion, understanding and positive perceptions of diversity and disability, she added.

In the written statement, Kuljeet Nijjar, a district special education preschool coordinator, said the program will provide “greater compassion and a more positive perception of children with disabilities.”

 

Source: New Vacaville school program to pair preschoolers with and without disabilities

Parents of Students With Disabilities Seek Vouchers Despite Risks, Report Says – Education Week

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By Christina Samuels

Some parents of students with disabilities see a clear benefit to voucher programs to escape public schools that are a poor fit, even though the vouchers rarely pay the full cost of private school tuition and, in some cases, accepting one means giving up rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

The Council for Parent Attorneys and Advocates, a group that supports the legal and civil rights of students with disabilities, surveyed the landscape of voucher and other school choice programs in a June 8 report called School Vouchers and Students with Disabilities: Impact in the Name of Choice. (COPAA has organized a panel on the report for Congressional staffers that I am moderating.)

The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice says that 11 states have voucher programs that are explicitly for students with disabilities, or that include students with disabilities among other targeted student groups (for example, students in schools deemed to be failing, or from low-income families). They are: Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Utah and Wisconsin.

Source: Parents of Students With Disabilities Seek Vouchers Despite Risks, Report Says – On Special Education – Education Week

Everyone’s a winner at Vallejo Special Olympics – Times Herald

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By Irma Widjojo

The intermittent gusty winds and chilly weather Friday did not stop nearly 200 Vallejo students from having fun and being winners.

The Vallejo school district’s special education students, along with their teachers and families, gathered at Vallejo High School’s Corbus Field for the 44th annual Vallejo City Unified School District Special Olympics.

“It’s great for them to be part of a community event,” said Kathy Hellfeier, Widenmann Elementary special education teacher. “It makes them feel like stars and (helps them) be active for the day.”

via:  Everyone’s a winner at Vallejo Special Olympics – Times Herald

School bus drivers vital link to home, school – Daily Republic

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By Mayrene Bates

Just in case some of us may have forgotten, Tuesday was California School Bus Driver’s Day. I am a huge cheerleader for school bus drivers and each year try to make it a top priority to ride, at least, one of the routes – usually out of town.

I always return enthused, as I get to meet a new driver or renew an acquaintance with a driver who I’ve ridden with before like Eliane Medina. I also get to meet the children, of course, as well as greet parents who meet the bus to see their children off to school.

This School Bus Driver’s Day I was excited about taking the bus at 7 a.m. from the Solano County Office of Education’s transportation yard on Clay Bank Road and head out to schools in Fairfield and Green Valley with driver Medina. By the time we returned to the yard, it was time to join everyone for a mouth-watering barbecue to honor theses special heroes of the road.

Source: School bus drivers vital link to home, school

20 Tips to Help De-escalate Interactions With Anxious or Defiant Students | MindShift

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By Katrina Schwartz

Students’ behavior is a form of communication and when it’s negative it almost always stems from an underlying cause. There are many reasons kids might be acting out, which makes it difficult for a teacher in a crowded classroom to figure out the root cause. But even if there was time and space to do so, most teachers receive very little training in behavior during their credentialing programs. On average, teacher training programs mandate zero to one classes on behavior and zero to one courses on mental health. Teacher training programs mostly assume that kids in public schools will be “typical,” but that assumption can handicap teachers when they get into real classrooms.

A National Institute of Health study found that 25.1 percent of kids 13-18 in the US have been diagnosed with anxiety disorders. No one knows how many more haven’t been diagnosed. Additionally between eight and 15 percent of the school-aged population has learning disabilities (there is a range because there’s no standard definition of what constitutes a learning disability). Nine percent of 13-18 year-olds have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) (although the number one misdiagnoses of anxiety is ADHD), and 11.2 percent suffer from depression.

Source: 20 Tips to Help De-escalate Interactions With Anxious or Defiant Students | MindShift | KQED News

What Special Ed Teachers and Parents Need To Know About Social Media : NPR Ed

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By Byrd Pinkerton

“Discuss, monitor, and educate.”

That’s Kortney Peagram’s advice to parents and teachers who want to help special needs teens lead an online life. She wrote up some of her experiences as a psychologist working to reduce cyberbullying in Chicago for our friends at NPR’s All Tech Considered.

Students can definitely benefit from social media, Peagram says. For kids who can’t be touched, or who can’t look people in the eye, digital networks are a chance to share pictures and interests, and an opportunity to have a social life.

But the internet can be a dangerous place, especially for kids who may struggle with communication.

Source: What Special Ed Teachers and Parents Need To Know About Social Media : NPR Ed : NPR

Ceremony to recognize outstanding service to special needs students – Daily Republic

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By Daily Republic Staff

The 10th Annual Community Advisory Committee Recognition Awards Ceremony is scheduled for April 18 from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at the Solano County Office of Education, 5100 Business Center Drive..

The awards are presented for outstanding service to students with special needs. Awards are given to one person from each school district within the Solano County Special Education Local Plan Area: Benicia Unified, Dixon Unified, Fairfield-Suisun Unified, Travis Unified, Vacaville Unified and the Solano County Office of Education.

In addition, one community organization representative and one student representative will be honored who have shown dedication to the support of individuals with special needs.

Source: Ceremony to recognize outstanding service to special needs students

Budget, Measure A contracts, special education plan on Vacaville Unified agenda – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Vacaville Unified leaders, when they meet tonight, will hear a presentation on the second interim report of the 2015-16 budget, likely approve two Measure A-related contracts, and be updated on the district’s special education strategic action plan.

Deo Persaud, the district’s newly named chief business official, will update the seven-member board about the 2015-16 budget. He will note major changes since the first interim report in December, newly projected revenues and expenses, the ending fund balance, and multiyear projections.

He will tell trustees that he plans to file a “positive budget certification” with the Solano County Office of Education, signifying that the district will be able to pay its bills for the current and next two fiscal years.

Source: Budget, Measure A contracts, special education plan on Vacaville Unified agenda

California moves to bring special education students ‘into the fold’ of mainstream education | EdSource

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By Jane Meredith Adams

Ordered by the federal government to elevate academics for students with disabilities, and by the state to raise low-income student achievement, the California Department of Education is working to create a unified system that will do both, a move that aims to bring special education students into every school district initiative to improve achievement.

The department is “building the basis of one coherent system,” Tom Torlakson, state superintendent of public instruction, told the State Board of Education last week at its meeting.

For the first time, the California Department of Education’s special education division is planning to align new federal progress measures for students with disabilities with the state board’s system of evaluation, now being created, that will gauge success under California’s school finance system. That system, known as the Local Control Funding Formula, directs additional funds to districts to serve “high-needs” students, defined as low-income students, English learners and foster children.

Source: California moves to bring special education students ‘into the fold’ of mainstream education | EdSource