March 26, 2008 Newsletter

Celebrating 20 years of supporting Missouri Families! www.ptimpact.com
Trainings Fact Sheets Volunteer News Staff	In this issue: MPACT Training Calendar Pete Wright - Special Education Law & Advocacy Training Department of Defense: Special Needs Parent Toolkit Students with Disabilities Get Extra Hand in Transition to College The National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems Provisions Related to Children With Disabilities Enrolled by Their Parents in Private Schools Information from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Monthly Webinar
	Upcoming Trainings from MPACT Pete Wright presents Special Education Law and Advocacy Training May 15, 2008 CLICK HERE TO REGISTER Please RSVP to ensure that everyone will have have handouts and materials Art of Effective Advocacy 4/14/08 Blackwater *Bullying* 4/21/08 St. Louis 6/10/08 Poplar Bluff *Disagreement Resolution* 3 5/5/08 St. Louis How to Write Measurable Goals and Objectives 4/9/08 St. Louis 4/24/08 Jefferson City 5/30/08 Joplin 6/27/08 Springfield 7/25/08 Springfield IDEA Boot Camp (Special Ed Law, IEP Process, Disagreement Resolution Process) 4/3/08 St. Louis City 4/23/08 Bloomfield Part 1 5/7/08 Bloomfield Part 2 *Positive Behavior Interventions* 4/2/08 St. Louis 4/24/08 Jefferson City 5/13/08 Poplar Bluff 5/19/08 St. Louis Special Education Law 3/22/08 Lebanon 4/1/08 Joplin 4/7/08 St. Louis 5/23/08 Joplin 6/20/08 Springfield Understanding the IEP Process 4/1/08 Joplin 4/1/08 Poplar Bluff Postponed 4/8/08 St. Peters 5/23/08 Joplin 6/20/08 Springfield Understanding the IEP Process for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders 7/18/08 Joplin 7/25/08 Springfield Understanding the IEP Process Presented in Spanish 4/3/08 Kansas City Part I 4/10/08 Kansas City Part II 4/17/08 Kansas City Part III *Northwest Missouri Conference on Autism* Save the Date!! Saturday, April 5, 2008 Missouri Western State University Download an Informational Flyer Here! Back to Top Department of Defense: Special Needs Parent Toolkit Comprehensive information and tools that are geared towards helping military families with special needs children navigate the maze of medical and special education services, community support and benefits and entitlements Click here for more information... Back to Top Students with Disabilities Get Extra Hand in Transition to College College Living Experience teaches academic, independent living and social skills to students from across the country. Click here to read the full article... Back to Top The National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems (NCCRESt) provides tools for parents and professionals to use in an effort to close the achievement gap between children of culturally diverse backgrounds and their peers and to reduce inappropriate referrals to special education. NCCRESt has posted a Practitioner Brief on the topic of disproportionality prevention entitled Preventing Disproportionate Representation: Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Prereferral Interventions. This document outlines best practices for professionals who encounter culturally and linguistically diverse students in order to promote academic success and prevent unnecessary referrals to special education. The emphasis of this Practitioner Brief is on prevention of disproportionality. This brief is available at http://www.nccrest.org/publications/briefs.htm. Back to Top Provisions Related to Children With Disabilities Enrolled by Their Parents in Private Schools A new publication of the U. S. Department of Education, Office of Non-Public Education is now available. It addresses the provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) relating to private school students. Click here for more information... Back to Top Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Monthly Webinar Video and Q&A from March 5, 2008 Heidi Atkins Lieberman, Assistant Commissioner The video and Q&A of the March 5, 2008, webinar is now available at http://dese.mo.gov/divspeced/mnthlywebstrmHAL.html. The topics included: *Response to Intervention (RtI), discipline, IMACS, and educational surrogates.* Note - the Q & A includes a SUPPLEMENTAL RESPONSE to Answer #14 from the February 6, 2008 webinar, regarding the evaluation report conclusions when RtI has been in an LD eligibility determination. Please note that the video of each webinar is posted on our website shortly after the webinar; you do not need to wait until you receive the SELS announcement about the posting before viewing the video, as the SELS announcement is really to announce that the Q&A has been posted. Upcoming Webinar On Wednesday, April 2, 2008, at 11:45 a.m., join me for the next monthly webinar. Submit questions to: lina.browner@dese.mo.gov (indicate "Webinar Question" in the subject line). Please ensure your questions are not specific individual children questions, but rather more systemic in nature. To participate in the webinar, go to: http://desemo.acrobat.com/r70946483/. NOTE: Each webinar has a different web address; please make sure to use the correct one. To determine the effectiveness of the webinars, we are suggesting you use your county district code when signing into the webinar (you may also include your first and/or last name), then select "Enter Room." For the testing site and/or archives for the monthly webinars, go to: http://dese.mo.gov/divspeced/mnthlywebstrmHAL.html. The topics to be covered during this webinar include, but are not limited to: *General Ability Index (GAI) and pending legislation.* I welcome your ideas for future topics. Please email those ideas to the email address listed above. Back to Top This Newsletter can also be viewed on MPACT's website at: www.ptimpact.com/resources/newsletters/newsletters.htm
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