Guest guest Posted December 18, 2008 Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 You're receiving this email because of your relationship with SPAN. Please confirm your continued interest in receiving email from us. You may unsubscribe if you no longer wish to receive our emails. Statewide Parent Advocacy Network, (SPAN) E-Newsletter Empowered Families: Educated, Engaged, Effective In This Issue SPAN Workshops SPAN is Your Information Resource SPAN Annual Conference The START Project Dental Care Special Education Monitoring Participation in State Assessments The Promise of Inclusive Schooling Writers' Group Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic Contact Us Quick Links SPAN Website Schedule of Trainings Request a Workshop Workshop Archives Publications Special Health Care Needs Inclusive Child Care Find a Parent Group Transition to Adult Life Violence Prevention SPAN Workshops Inclusion/LRE East Orange Bd. of Ed. Essex County January 15, 6:30 - 8:30 pm Title I and NCLB Family Support Org. Passaic County January 15, 6:30 - 8:30 pm For complete information on our workshops click here or call Vivian Dewitt at 973-642-8100 ext. 116 SPAN is your Information Resource! We provide infomative workshops for parents and professionals on a variety of topics related to general and special education, transition to adult life, health care for children with special needs and many more. Click here for our Calendar of Trainings SPAN Conference HOLD THE DATE!!!! Statewide Parent Leadership Summit Saturday, March 21, 2009 Empowering Parents for Effective Leadership Crowne Plaza Hotel burg, NJ 08831 The START Project For assistance or information on starting and running your local special education parent group contact the Statewide Technical Assistance Resource Team (START) Project at (973)642-8100 or by e-mail at start@... Learn more about the START Project Dental Care SPAN is collecting information from families of children with special healthcare needs regarding oral health/dental care. If you would like to share your story, please email it to diana.autin@.... In the spring we will be hosting a statewide forum on improving oral health/dental care for children with special needs. Stay tuned! Join Our List Share With A Friend Vol. 4, Issue: 1 December 2008 Happy Holidays, Thank you to all the parents, caregivers, professionals and colleagues who have partnered with us at SPAN to empower families to be educated, engaged and effective partners in promoting the healthy development and education of all children. Wishing you and your family a healthy and happy Holiday Season. We look forward to collaborating with you in 2009. Please take a moment and forward this Newsletter to friends and colleagues by clicking the " Forward to A Friend " link. Parent Involvement in Special Education Monitoring 2008-2009 Listen to a recording of the Teleconference sponsored by the New Jersey Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs' (NJOSEP) and the Statewide Parent Advocacy Network (SPAN.) Process Focuses on Improving Educational Results The self-assessment/monitoring process focuses on improving educational results and functional outcomes for students with disabilities and ensuring compliance with those special education requirements related to positive student outcomes. All school districts in New Jersey will be involved in the self-assessment/monitoring process, at least once, over the next five years. Get more information on Self Assessment/Monitoring Get a list of districts in Self Assessment Participation in State Assessments by Students with Disabilities No Child Left Behind requires all students to be assessed throughout elementary school until the completion of high school. For students with disabilities who have IEPs, the IEP Team - which includes the student's parents - determines whether the student should take the regular state assessment (such as the NJ ASK, GEPA, HSPA), the regular state assessment with specified accommodations, or an alternate assessment based on alternate achievement standards known in NJ as the Alternate Proficiency Assessment (APA). The APA is to be used only for those students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. The decision whether a student is to take the APA is not predetermined by his or her placement or by disability category. That is, simply because a student is placed in a self-contained classroom or is classified as cognitively impaired does not mean that the student must be assessed by means of the APA instead of the regular state assessment with accommodations. Call SPAN for Assistance. If you believe your district is not following the appropriate guidelines for assessing your child and is pressuring you to agree to use the APA, please call SPAN's Information Specialists for assistance. We can be reached on our toll-free line at 1-800-654-SPAN (7726). Click here for NJ's guidelines on use of the APA Click here for NJ's assessment accommodations For an excellent parent-friendly brochure on alternate assessments, we suggest you read the National Center on Educational Outcomes' brochure, " Learning Opportunities for Your Child through Alternate Assessments, " which can be found at Learning Opportunities. Improving Education: The Promise of Inclusive Schooling This document was developed by the National Institute for Urban School Improvement, a project funded by the United States Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), and it includes examples of inclusive educational environments, assessment and observation tools, and guidelines for supporting inclusive practices. Inclusive Schools Writers' Group for Family Caregivers The M. Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities invites you to join its writers' group for family caregivers of individuals with developmental disabilities. The purpose of the group will be to give caregivers an opportunity to tell their own stories, in their own words. Meetings will be held every other month on Saturdays mornings at The Middlesex Public Library, 1300 Mountain Ave., Middlesex, NJ. Contact Kathy (732-235-9317 or kathy.roberson@...) if you are interested in learning more about the group. Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic Free Website Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic, in partnership with CAST, is pleased to offer a free website, Learning Through Listening. This new K-12 website resource promotes the use of audio materials for all students, with an emphasis on how a focus on listening can support Universal Design for Learning and differentiated instruction, particularly for the benefit of students with disabilities. Contact Us For Information or Assistance Our experienced SPAN Information Specialists provide telephone assistance to parents, educators and service providers to enable them to advocate for appropriate education and health care services for children and youth. To reach our Information Specialists, give us a call at 973-642-8100 or 800-654 SPAN (7726). Statewide Parent Advocacy Network 35 Halsey Street, 4th Floor Newark, NJ 07102 973-642-8100 www.spannj.org Forward email This email was sent to jbmistletoe@... by spanenewsletter@.... 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