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Special Education: Ensuring Excellence for All Students - Broadcast live on Tuesday, November 15, 2005

See http://www.connectlive.com/events/ednews/ and scroll down for Webcast versions and related links, including download information for viewing software and options for captioned viewing.

The November broadcast of Education News Parents Can Use from the United States Department of Education featured a panel of educators, policymakers, community leaders and parents in three segments.

In segment one, Assistant Secretary of Education John Hager discusses how IDEA and NCLB work together to ensure all children succeed, highlighting how NCLB and IDEA together are beginning to close the achievement gap for children with disabilities.

In segment two, principal Marilyn Walder and teacher Joe Giannantonio from PS 29 Elementary in Yonkers NY describe how they have used effective practices to ensure all students meet high standards. Video footage from this diverse school demonstrates these practices. PS 29 has nearly ¾ of their students qualifying for free and reduced-price lunch, has 14 languages spoken by their families, and over ¼ of the student body is eligible for special education services. On the 2005 state assessment, 100 percent of fourth-graders were determined to be proficient in both reading and mathematics.

They are joined by NCEO’s technical assistance team leader Rachel Quenemoen, whose daughter who has Down syndrome was born in 1975, the year P.L. 94-142, the law that preceded IDEA, was first passed. Quenemoen talks about her family’s experiences with high expectations and supportive school partners, and what we are learning today about schools like PS 29, where all children are successful in the challenging curriculum. Finally, we hear from Lee Alderman, a student with autism at Washington, D.C.'s Cardozo High School who took challenging courses such as AP English and AP Chemistry, finished high school with a GPA of 3.91, and was the valedictorian of his 2001 graduating class. Following his senior year at Cardozo, he attended St. Mary's College on a full academic scholarship and is now attending graduate school in chemistry and working in the medical field.

In segment three, Troy Justesen Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services at the U.S. Department of Education, Jennifer Gill, Principal of Oak Park Elementary in Overland Park, Kansas, and Connie Hawkins, Executive Director of the Exceptional Children's Assistance Center (ECAC) in North Carolina address what parents need to know to navigate the special education process – and get the services needed.  Dr. Justesen is serving as Acting Director of the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). Gill has worked to ensure the continued success of Oak Park's highly rated Positive Behavioral Support program, and a video of their program is also shown in segment three. Hawkins is known statewide and nationally as an advocate for the educational rights of students with disabilities.

For additional program details, see http://registerevent.ed.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewer.description&intEventID=191