CollabNews
Volume 10, Number5June 2007
Welcome to theJune issue of CollabNews!
CollabNews is a monthly electronic newsletterfor members and associates of the Urban Special Education Leadership Collaborative, a network of special and general education leaders from the nation's urban school districts.
FEATURES THIS MONTH:
· Member Update: Welcome New Member Districts and Affiliate Members, New Associate Director, Spring Meeting Follow-up, Save the Date
· Resource:Battling the Stigma of Youth Mental Illness
· Partner Update:Post-School OutcomeData Collection Strategies
· Event: Strategies and More Strategies! Inclusive Practices at the Secondary Level (July 26-27)
· School District Leadership Position:Executive DirectorofSpecial Education for Dayton City School District
· Collaborative Help Desk
WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO FORWARD THIS NEWSLETTER TO OTHERS
1. MEMBER UPDATE
Welcome New Member Districts
The Collaborative is pleased to welcome our newest member:The School Board of Polk County. Polk County is located in Lakeland, Florida andhas a total enrollment of over 90,000. Our member contact is Dr. Sherrie Nickell. For more information visit: www.polk-fl.net.
Welcome Affiliate Members
The Collaborative is pleased to welcome its first Affiliate Members:
· Cathy Rikhye, formerly of District 75 in New York City, and currentlyin the Department of Curriculum and Teaching at the Teachers College of Columbia University.
· Paula Woods, formerly of Cleveland Public Schools in Ohio, and currently a consultant for the Cuyahoga Special Education Service Center.
· David Wood, formerly of Aurora Public Schools in Colorado, and currently at Florida Southern College
· Ken Swanson, formerly of Providence Public Schools in Rhode Island, and currently the Director of Special Populations at Rhode Island Department of Education.
For more information about the Affiliate Membership Program, contact David Riley at
New Associate Director
Ron Felton, retired Associate Superintendent of Schools from Miami-Dade County, has been appointed Associate Director of the Urban Special Education Leadership Collaborative. “Ron’s duties will be focused primarily on expanding the Collaborative’s technical assistance, program and service delivery evaluations, and organizational-management consulting services,” said the Collaborative’s Executive Director David Riley. “We are very excited to have him on our team. We are receiving an increased number of requests for technical assistance and Ron’s extensive background will add a great deal to the integrity of our work in school districts and states.”
For more information about the Collaborative’s technical assistance offerings, please email Ron at
Spring Meeting Follow-up
“General and Special Education: Partnering for the Benefit of ALL Students”
Copies of Dr. Jack Fletcher’s keynote presentation as well as concurrent session PowerPoint presentations and handouts are now available for downloading from our Web site: http://www.urbancollaborative.org.
Save the Date: 2007 Fall Meeting
The Collaborative’s Fall Meeting will be held October 24-27, 2007 at the JW Marriott Buckhead Atlanta, in Atlanta, Georgia.A call for presentations and registration information will be sent out later this summer.
2.Resource
Battling the Stigma of Youth Mental Illness
With funding from the Weyerhaeuser Family Foundation, the Project to Reduce the Stigma and Discrimination of Youth Mental Illness at Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), has created a pamphlet for parents that provides key information on how they can work with their child’s school on mental health issues. It is designed to help families and educators cope with serious mental health disorders that often first arise during adolescence: mood and anxiety disorders, schizoaffective disorder, and schizophrenia.
The pamphlet, “Finding Help and Working with Schools,” covers such topics as symptoms of mental illness in children, its impact on children’s performance at home and in school, andhow to talk with school professionals.
The pamphlet can be downloadedfrom the Collaborative's Web site at www.urbancollaborative.org/pdfs/mental_health.pdf. To learn more about the initiative, contact Eileen Mackin at
3. PARTNER UPDATE
Post-School OutcomeData Collection Strategies
The National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities (NDPC-SD) is pleased to announce the following OSEP approved document "Collecting Post-School Outcome Data: Strategies for Increasing Response Rates" prepared in partnership with the National Post-School Outcomes Center (NPSO) at the University of Oregon. In this document, Drs. Sandra Covington Smith and Loujeania Williams Bost from NDPC-SD provides an overview of the IDEA requirements to collect post-school outcome data, challenges faced by states in collecting these data, and recommended strategies from survey literature and state and local practice to secure sufficient response rates, especially from youth who drop out of school.To view this document click on the following link:
Collecting Post-School Outcome Data: Strategies for Increasing Response Rates
4. EVENT
Strategies and More Strategies! Inclusive Practices at the Secondary Level
July 26-27, 2007 • College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA
Whether you are well on the road to building a more inclusive environment at the secondary level or you are just embarking on the journey—this institute will provide the ideas, strategies, and tools you will need to improve learning outcomes for all students. During the two-day institute participants will engage in lectures, learning activities, and facilitated action planning sessions. All participants will walk away with ideas, tools, and the motivation to implement innovative strategies in their school and/or classroom. Institute participants will gain knowledge and skill in the following areas:
· Relevant and practical co-teaching strategies for middle and high school classrooms, incorporating strategies for students with and without disabilities
· Strategies to promote social success among middle and high school students
· Progress monitoring strategies based on current trends in assessing and grading secondary students with disabilities
· Quick and easy strategies across the content areas to impact the learning of all students
· Curricular adaptations in a high stakes environment
· Culturally responsive educational practices
· Techniques for building stronger partnerships between general and special educators, as well as with students and their families
· Effective use of common planning time
Please visit www.urbancollaborative.org/inclusive.asp for more information.
5.School District Leadership Position
Executive DirectorofSpecial Education for Dayton City School District
The Dayton City School District is currently recruiting for the position of Executive Director, Special Education. This is a 260 day 26-pay administrator position reporting directly to the Assistant Superintendent of Pupil Services. Residency within the Dayton City School District is strongly encouraged.
Qualifications include Supervisory Certification in the State of Ohio; Master's degree in Education or a related field; five years of teaching experience with at least three years in special education; excellent communication and interpersonal skills; outstanding collaboration and partnership skills; and a global, systematic perspective on regular and special education.
Your letterof interest, copy of certification and a complete resume may be forwarded to the attention of Ed Sweetnich, Executive Director, Human Resources, Dayton Public Schools, 115 S. Ludlow Street, Dayton, Ohio 45402. You may also apply online at www.dps.k12.oh.us or email to . You should also include the names, addresses and telephone numbers of three professional references.
6. COLLABORATIVE HELP DESK
Urban Special Education Leadership Collaborative
Education Development Center, Inc.
55 Chapel Street
Newton, MA 02158
Phone: 617-969-7100 x2168
TTY: 617-964-5448
FAX: 617-969-3440
Email:
Web site: www.urbancollaborative.org
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