Frontline Blog

Providing individualized special education services in school is crucial to fulfilling the mission of the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA). However, in-school services only get you partway to accomplishing IDEA’s goals for students with disabilities.

When I visit schools as an RTI/MTSS consultant and talk with teachers about Tier 1/classroom academic interventions, I often hear frustration over the difficulty of collecting and interpreting data to monitor student progress. Yet, the critical importance of data is that it ‘tells the story’ of the academic or behavioral intervention, revealing the answers to such central questions as:

ESSA requires districts to adopt a systematic approach for data-based decision-making to enable a rapid response to students’ needs. As a result, many district leaders are considering or re-validating RTI/MTSS models.

Now that all 50 ESSA plans have been approved by U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, we have a clearer window into each state's accountability roadmap and goals, including strategies to meet the requirement of providing struggling learners with evidence-based interventions.

Mid-term elections are today, which you no doubt already know from the ceaseless coverage. Hopefully you’ve exercised your right to vote, or will later today. Any number of issues could be motivating your choices on the ballot — but, of course, near and dear to our hearts is education.

When I began working with individuals with dyslexia in 1988, I was so green. I only had three years of teaching experience under my belt, and my college classes had not prepared me to find solutions for struggling readers.

When I became principal for a specialized school with various sites throughout a borough in New York City, one of my first priorities was to develop a plan of action to better support my special education staff.

It’s estimated that up to almost 50 percent of a special education teacher’s time is spent completing paperwork. Yet, as a teacher, you want to spend your school days teaching. You want to work hard in ensuring that every student — no matter their ability — gets a fair shot at success. In short, you chose to become a special education teacher because you care. Because it’s a hard job and somebody has to do it; why shouldn’t that somebody be as qualified and invested as you?

Not far from Houston, Texas, Alvin Independent School District is a rapidly growing organization with enrollment increasing by well over 1,000 students annually. New schools are planned and built every year to keep up with projected expansion.