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At Wrightslaw, our goals are to help you gain the information and skills you need to navigate the confusing world of special education. In this issue, we focus on testing and the No Child Left Behind Act. Highlights:
Message
from the editor; tests & measurements & measuring progress;
educational progress graphs; assessment terms; savings & free
shipping in the Wrightslaw holiday sale; final regulations for No
Child Left Behind; A Parent's Guide to No Child Left Behind; Oklahoma
Boot Camp and From Emotions to Advocacy Cruise to Bahamas. The Special Ed Advocate newsletter is free - please forward this issue or the subscription link to your friends and colleagues so they can learn about special education law and advocacy too. We appreciate your help! Help others - download and distribute the flyer about your state Yellow Pages. 1.
A Message from the Editor As you know, s*am is a huge problem. Many folks use sp*am filters that automatically delete newsletters - including ours. People write to say they have not received The Special Ed Advocate newsletter, even though their email address is the same. Life was simpler in the old days, when we published the newsletter in text. We will continue to publish The Special Ed Advocate newsletters in html and publish them on the Wrightslaw site. Link to this issue. All issues published since 1998. Thanks for your support! 2. Tests & Measurements for the Parent, Educator, Advocate, and Attorney Your child has received special education for three years. Is your child catching up with the peer group? Is your child falling further behind? How do you know? What do standard scores, percentile ranks, subtest scores, and age and grade equivalents mean? To successfully
negotiate for quality special ed services, you must know what test
scores mean. If you do not know how to measure your child's progress,
you will not be an equal participant in planning your child's special
education program. Tests & Measurements for the Parent, Educator, Advocate & Attorney is the #1 download from Wrightslaw since 1998! Tip:
To ensure that you have the graphics in this article, print the article
from the screen. 3. Slide Show: Educational Progress Graphs To supplement our article about tests and measurements, we created a slide show to show you how to create educational progress graphs. This slide show is available in html. The slide show is also available as a PowerPoint presentation. Learn more about tests, evaluations, and assessments. 4. Assessment Terms OK, we convinced you. You know you must read the Tests & Measurements article at least three times. As you embark on this course of action, you run into some unfamiliar terms. Download our Glossary of Assessment Terms. You can
also download the Glossary
of Assessment Terms as a pdf file. 5. Free Shipping & Savings - Wrightslaw Holiday Special Are you looking for a special gift for a friend or family member? Wrightslaw books make great gifts for friends, family members, teachers, colleagues, and advocates. To make your gift unique, Pete and Pam will autograph your books. Your books will be packed in holiday gift boxes. You get free shipping when you purchase any Wrightslaw book - save $4.95! Save more on our Combo Packs. Get more info about the Wrightslaw Holiday Special. 6. No Child Left Behind Act - Final Regulations Published! On
November 26, 2002, U. S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige released
the final regulations for the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). You
can download the No
Child Left Behind regulations in Word or PDF.
7. Parent's Guide to No Child Left Behind No Child Left Behind is a comprehensive plan to reform schools, change school culture, empower parents, and improve education for all children. Does this law apply to children with disabilities? Yes! No Child Left Behind applies to all children who attend public schools - kids with disabilities, kids with behavior problems, and other kids who have often been written off - minorities, immigrants, and English as Second Language (ESL) youngsters. Learn about new requirements for teachers and paraprofessionals, school and school district report cards, annual testing in math and reading. Also learn about new options for parents, including transfers from failing schools and free supplemental services - tutoring, after-school programs and summer school. Download A Parent's Guide to No Child Left Behind by Suzanne Heath. We encourage you to print and distribute this article so parents, teachers and child advocates learn about this important law. Printer-friendly pdf version. No Child Left Behind requires annual testing of reading and math skills. The law may make it easier for parents to get annual objective testing of your child's skills - a battleground for many parents of kids with disabilities. Get the facts about testing and progress: Supplemental
services refers to extra help for children in reading, language arts
and math. This extra help can be provided before school, after-school,
and on weekends. Learn about supplemental
services 8. Oklahoma Boot Camp & FETA Cruise to Bahamas * Boot Camp * Do you want to learn more about special education rights & responsibilities? Do you want to fine-tune your advocacy skills? Do you want to prepare for the next IEP meeting? Please join Pete and Pam Wright at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmund, OK on December 6-7, 2002 for Wrightslaw Boot Camp, a two-day intensive training program in special education law and advocacy. This Boot Camp is FREE to Oklahoma parents! Learn more about the Oklahoma Boot Camp. Download
the Registration
Form. Do you want to learn more about special education law and advocacy? Do you want to network with others who share your interests? Do you want to have fun in the sun? Please join Pete and Pam Wright on the From Emotions to Advocacy Cruise II - A Very Special Cruise Seminar and Fund-Raiser for Special Education. On Wednesday, January 15, 2003, Pete and Pam Wright will do a full day of legal and advocacy training at the Radisson Resort Hotel in Port Canaveral. The seminar will focus on four areas: special education law, rights and responsibilities; tests and measurements to measure progress & regression; SMART IEPs; and tactics & strategies for effective advocacy. * This program has been approved for 7 CLE credits * What is a FETA cruise like? Get the "inside story" about last year's cruise. 9. Subscription & Contact Info The Special Ed Advocate is a free online newsletter about special education legal and advocacy issues, cases, tactics and strategy, and Internet resources. Subscribers receive announcements and "alerts" about new cases, events, and special offers on Wrightslaw books. Subscribe Need Help? Visit the Yellow Pages for Kids with Disabilities. Link
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