NASET

WEEK IN REVIEW

National Association of Special Education Teachers

August 12, 2022                 Vol 18 Issue #32

Dear NASET Members and Guests,

Welcome to NASET's WEEK in REVIEW.  Here, we provide you with the latest publications fromNASET to read and or download, as well as some of the most interesting articles that have happened this week in the field of special education. We hope you enjoy this publication.  Feel free to send us articles for this publication or let us know your thoughts about the WEEK in REVIEW at news@naset.org. Have a great weekend.

Sincerely,

WHATS NEW AT NASET

NASET’s RTI Roundtable Series

RTI and MTSS Explained for Private School Educators: What are Our Colleagues in Public Schools up to?

This issue of NASET’s RTI Roundtable series was written by Caryn London. Given that private schools are generally not governed by national, educational mandates outside of those impacting Title IV and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), educators at these settings are generally less aware of new educational buzzwords or acronyms. From personal perspectives as a private school educator, by attending a myriad of professional development opportunities, one can create rewarding learning outcomes that can help to lessen the gap on the awareness and implementation of beneficial educational initiatives from the public school system in private schools. The national propagation of Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports (MTTS) and Response to Intervention (RTI) have created new learning challenges and opportunities for private education given that these educational frameworks have been empirically validated as effectively impacting student learning. 

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Almost Every State Needs More Special Ed Teachers. How Can They Get Them?

As a special education teacher in Arizona a dozen years ago, Elizabeth Bettini worked with middle school students considered potentially dangerous to themselves or others. One “made some really credible threats and had access to weapons,” she recalls of her emotionally demanding work. But that wasn’t the hard part. “I loved the kids,” Bettini says. “You can handle that emotional demand if you have time” to plan lessons and decompress. Yet while her contract guaranteed that time, the guarantee was premised on an assumption that her students could do without her during her planning time—an inaccurate assumption, given the behavior issues of some. She usually missed her planning bloc. Read More

Only Half of Children with Autism Receive Early Intervention Services

Despite a federal mandate requiring access to early intervention programs (EIP) for children with disabilities, fewer than half of autistic children in four New Jersey counties received services before 36 months of age, according to a Rutgers study. Income and race-based disparities were significant obstacles to accessing EIP support, researchers found. "For infants and toddlers on the autism spectrum, early intervention is important for improved later-life outcomes," said Josephine Shenouda, an adjunct professor at the Rutgers School of Public Health and lead author of the study published in JAMA Pediatrics. "We wanted to understand the level of early intervention participation among children with autism." Read More

Ed Dept Prioritizes School Mental Health Staff Expansion in Funding Distribution

The U.S. Department of Education published its priorities for grant distribution in the federal register Tuesday to increase student access to mental health services in schools. Together, the grant requirements would encourage states and districts to expand school-based mental health services by increasing, diversifying, recruiting and retaining school mental health staff. One of the two grant proposals, the School-Based Mental Health Services Grant Program, will prioritize funding for states and districts that plan to recruit and retain mental health service providers, as well as states that respecialize existing social workers, counselors, psychologists or other mental health professionals to serve in schools through training. The second proposal, the Mental Health Service Professional Demonstration Grant Program, would prioritize projects that partner high-need districts with higher education institutions to train school-based mental health services professionals. It also prioritizes projects that would increase professionals from diverse backgrounds. Read More

When Schools Resist Evaluating & Addressing Learning Disabilities

Almost two-thirds of children with ADHD have at least one other condition, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 45 percent are affected by learning disorders, 32 percent by anxiety, 17 percent by a mood disorder, and 14 percent by autism spectrum disorder. Yet despite the prevalence of co-occurring conditions, experts in the field — advocates, learning specialists, and psychologists — report that many students with ADHD do not receive assessments for common comorbidities, at least initially. Read More

Study: Up to Two-Thirds of Children with ADHD Have Used Alternative Therapies

The most-used alternative therapies included nutrition modifications, natural products, and mind-body practices. Higher education among parents, and other factors including gender, predicted complementary and alternative medicine usage in youth with ADHD. Up to two-thirds of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have used complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) to address their symptoms, according to a new study published in the Journal of Attention Disorders. Nutrition modifications; natural products, such as herbs, vitamins, and minerals; and mind-body practices like mindful meditation were the most-reported CAMs. The use of alternative therapies was higher in families where the caregiver preferred natural therapies for ADHD and believed CAMs could synergistically boost conventional medicine. Read More

Intermittent Explosive Disorder Symptoms

The essential feature of intermittent explosive disorder is the occurrence of discrete episodes of failure to resist aggressive impulses that result in serious assaultive acts or destruction of property (Criterion A). The degree of aggressiveness expressed during an episode is grossly out of proportion to any provocation or precipitating psychosocial stressor (Criterion B). A diagnosis of intermittent explosive disorder is made only after other mental disorders that might account for episodes of aggressive behavior have been ruled out (e.g., antisocial personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, a psychotic disorder, a manic episode, conduct disorder, or attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder) (Criterion C). The aggressive episodes are not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition (e.g., head trauma, Alzheimer’s disease) (Criterion C). The individual may describe the aggressive episodes as “spells” or “attacks” in which the explosive behavior is preceded by a sense of tension or arousal and is followed immediately by a sense of relief. Later the individual may feel upset, remorseful, regretful, or embarrassed about the aggressive behavior. Read More

OCR: Discrimination Complaints Involving K-12 Total Over 5,200 in Fiscal 2021

The arm of the U.S. Department of Education charged with investigating and resolving reports of discrimination in schools received more than 5,200 complaints related to elementary and secondary schools in fiscal 2021. The Education Department shared the figure with Higher Ed Dive as its Office for Civil Rights this week released a report detailing how many complaints it received in fiscal 2021. More than 8,900 complaints were filed that year related to K-12 schools and colleges combined, and OCR resolved more than 8,200 complaints, the report states. Read More

Entertainment for Everyone: How Idaho Theaters are Accommodating Viewers with Disabilities

Whether it’s being transported to Harlem in the roaring twenties, or Denmark in the middle ages, live theater invokes a sense of immersion that’s difficult to explain in words. As the music booms and dramatic scenes take shape on stage in front of you, it might be hard for some audience members to get in on the action. Specifically, those who cannot hear or see the performance. That’s where accessibility features like subtitles and interpreters come in, giving those with disabilities a better experience at theaters, cinemas, and concert venues. "We've had several deaf people say it makes such a difference that they continue to be engaged in different ways and they really appreciate that thoughtfulness," said LaVona Andrew, coordinator of the “Signing Shakespeare” program at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival. She says accessibility features aren’t new in larger production houses, but for a smaller company like the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, its bringing access where none existed before. Read More

TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE WEEK

This week's trivia question: The name of this "treat" test, which was created by psychologist Walter Mischel, is one of the most famous psychological experiments ever conducted. The test lets young children decide between an immediate reward, or, if they delay gratification, a larger reward. The minutes or seconds a child waits measures his or her ability to delay gratification. Studies by Mischel and colleagues found that children’s ability to delay gratification when they were young was correlated with positive future outcomes. What is the name of this test?

If you know the answer to this week's trivia questions, email it to us at contactus@naset.org by August 16, 2022. If you are correct, you will be acknowledged in next week's NASET's Week in Review

After 100 Years of Research, Autism Remains a Puzzle

Michael Wigler, a professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) was surprised. A molecular biologist and geneticist, with a background in mathematics and medicine, he devoted two decades of his research career to studying the causes of autism. In the early 2000s, Wigler and his team revealed that a certain portion of autism cases have genetic underpinnings. One of the team’s goals was to elucidate the full extent of autism’s genetic causes in order to find clues to its treatment and prevention. The team thought they had a good theory, which they dubbed the “unified hypothesis,” but in 2017 that theory began to develop cracks. Now, the most recent findings produced by Wigler and his colleagues are not at all what they expected. Read More

As Back-to-School Time Approaches, the Fight Over Cellphones in the Classroom Continues

As summer begins to draw to a close, back-to-school season promises the renewal of an ongoing fight over whether cellphones should be allowed in the classroom. With students' mental health top of mind, many teachers, school leaders and state legislators have been pushing for tighter restrictions — saying that after decades of studying technology's grip on American kids and years of competing for students' attention, they've had enough. "It's a losing battle for kids & their brain," Tyler Rablin, a high school teacher in Sunnyside, Washington, tweeted in May. Rablin, who wrote that he once championed phones in the classroom as a learning tool, now likens teenagers with cellphones to alcoholics at a bar. Read More

Using Games to Help Students Develop Executive Function Skills

“The professor lost his invisibility potion and needs our help getting it back. He said to message him.” I whipped out my phone, and my students’ eyes widened. “Hi professor. We are ready to solve the mystery,” I narrate-typed. My students were so surprised to see me texting in front of the class—to a fictional professor, no less—that they jumped out of their seats and raced over to verify what I was sending. I was using a mystery activity called The Professor’s Missing Potion, in which automated chatbots move the mystery forward by offering new clues as previous clues are solved. When I got a response to my text, my students were beside themselves. In sixth grade, they were still not clear on the finer point of chatbots. “You are seriously messaging this guy, Ms. Culp? Who is it?” Read More

Paraeducators Push for Better Training and Wages

Each morning when Jennifer Corbeil steps into Groton Middle School, she’s greeted by students who are excited to see her. As a paraeducator who supports teachers in the classroom, it’s the perfect way to start the school day. “We’re the first people that the students see every day,” Corbeil said. “We can tell whether they’re going to have a good day or a bad day. And if they’re going to have a bad day, we’ll see what we can do to turn it around.” Paraeducators help both general and special education teachers in the classroom. They often work one-on-one with students who have disabilities, support smaller groups, help with behavior and physical management, and assessing students’ learning experiences. But they are expressing concerns of feeling overworked and underpaid, an ongoing situation that was only made worse by the pandemic. Read More

Research on Recognizing Facial Emotion Expressions Could Change Our Understanding of Autism

There’s a common perception that individuals with autism are poor at recognizing others’ emotions and have little insight into how effectively they do so. But adults with autism are only slightly less accurate at reading people’s facial emotions compared to their non-autistic peers, according to new Australian research. Recent research published in two papers in the leading international journal, Autism Research, shows we may need to revise widely accepted notions that adults diagnosed with autism experience difficulties when it comes to recognizing social emotions and have little insight into their processing of others’ face emotions. 63 people diagnosed with autism and 67 non-autistic adults (with IQs ranging from 85 to 143) participated in a Flinders University study, with participants taking part in 3- 5-hour sessions comparing their recognition of 12 human face emotion expressions such as anger and sadness. Read More

Law Leaves Little Wiggle Room for Loosening Special Education Teacher Requirements

As some states loosen college degree requirements for K-12 teachers, special education experts are warning that credentials are not as flexible for teachers of students with disabilities — even as schools struggle to fill special educator vacancies. The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires special educators to have at least a bachelor’s degree. And although special educators with bachelor’s degrees who are not fully certified or licensed can teach in a classroom, IDEA requires those teachers to be enrolled in a traditional or alternative certification program. Read More

Modeling Ideal Behaviors in Curriculum Plans Can Help Young Students Develop Executive Function

Even very young students can benefit from lessons that incorporate and build executive function skills, learning to share, manage time and control impulses. Lessons that support the development of these abilities can help children grow into more independent learners while supporting future success throughout their academic, personal and professional careers. One of the best practices educators can adopt for this is modeling, said Taína Coleman, an educational specialist in the Learning and Development Center at the Child Mind Institute. That activity, in which a teacher shows students how to handle a specific task, is ideal because it helps all students — from those who need more time to learn a skill to those who have mastered the ability but can use the time to refine their work. Read More

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JOB POSTINGS

* Teacher Child Development Center - The Teacher is responsible for the planning and provision of individualized instruction to children with disabilities and typical role models ages birth to three years old. Incumbent in this position demonstrates sensitivity to the service population’s cultural and socioeconomic characteristics. To learn more- Click here

* Special Education Teacher $2,000 sign-on bonus! - BASIS is seeking an experienced Special Education Teacher who is eager to develop leadership skills by serving as a member of the school’s administrative team. This is a teacher/administrator hybrid role whose primary responsibilities include the provision of special education services and supporting special education program operations as part of the administrative team at a school site. To learn more- Click here

* Special Education Assistant $2,000 sign-on bonus! - BASIS.ed offers an incredible opportunity to be deeply involved in an academic community that is dynamic, exciting and unpredictable. You'll join others in a highly social, supportive and collaborative environment. To learn more- Click here

* Special Education Teachers - The Teacher position is responsible for the planning, organization and implementation of an appropriate instructional program, in an elementary or secondary virtual learning environment, that encourages students to develop and fulfill their full academic potential, in accordance with the school’s vision and mission. An appropriate instructional program includes academic instruction that is aligned to state standards, and includes appropriate interventions to improve student learning. To learn more- Click here

* Private Teacher - An experienced, private, in-home schooling educator is needed for a full-time opportunity! Promote academic, social, and environmental growth of child. Plan and implement lessons and activities to engage the child in learning. To learn more- Click here

* Teacher - Special Education - This position involves developing and implementing individualized educational programs, which address the educational needs of elementary, secondary, and transition-age students with disabilities or the remediation of social/emotional, educational, and prevocational/vocational skill deficits primarily for students in a transition 18–21-year-old program at Skagit Valley College and to serve as a transition facilitator as our students leave the juvenile justice school and return to their districts. To learn more- Click here

* [2022-2023] Middle School Learning Specialist - Reporting to the Academic Dean, the Learning Specialist will be responsible for providing tailored support to students with special education needs, through integrated co-teaching, in small group settings, or a combination of both. This is an exciting opportunity for a seasoned educator who is passionate about ensuring all students succeed and thrive in school. To learn more- Click here

* Learning Specialist/IDD Program Manager (Grant) - The Full-Time Learning Specialist/ IDD Program Manager reports directly to the Director, Center for Accessibility and Inclusive Education. The Learning Specialist/ IDD Program Manager performs administrative level functions to support the daily activities of the Adult Transition Program and in doing so, contribute to the success of grant implementation. To learn more- Click here

* Speical Needs Teacher for 8 year old with Mild Autism - Silver Spring MD - Our family would like to hire a Part Time Elementary Teacher experienced in teaching high-functioning ASD children in the elementary grades. We would like to bring someone on from September 2022 through May 2023 for three hours per day to provide in-home instruction. If desired, we are open to starting instruction during August. To learn more- Click here

* Special Education Teachers (In Person) - Reporting directly to a Special Education Administrator the Special Education Teacher provides services to special education students with a range of moderate to severe disabilities ages three to 21 years of age. The Special Education Teacher leads the IEP team to develop data driven student learning and behavioral goals. To learn more- Click here

* Special Education - Elementary Teacher - Career opportunities where you can choose your path. From coaching to administration, there are many options to grow your career, while pursuing your interests and passions. We are hiring immediately for a full-time Special Education - Elementary Teacher. Come grow your career with the Clark County School District! To learn more- Click here

* Special Education Teacher K-12 - To develop students' interest, abilities, talents and skills for education and understanding by implementing district approved curriculum; documenting teaching and student progress/activities/outcomes; developing lesson plans; modeling the necessary skills to performing assigned tasks; providing a safe and optimal learning environment; and providing feedback to students, parents and administration regarding student progress, expectations, goals, etc. To learn more- Click here

* Special Education Teacher for Private New York Schools Program - Under general direction, is responsible for conducting educational classes for special education pre-school and school age students or Early Intervention, Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) or Day Care programs in accordance with the needs of the students and in accordance with the regulations and requirements of the applicable governmental and other regulatory agencies. Acts as team leader of each student’s team. The Teacher is a management and supervisory position. To learn more- Click here

* Special Education Teacher - Watertown, NY - Responsible for the supervision of all other staff in the classroom. Ensures that the appropriate staff/child ratio for the classroom is maintained at all times. Support the contribution of parent involvement and to assist in the implementation of this in all aspects of the educational program. Provide homebound services as requested by supervisor as schedule permits. To learn more- Click here

* Special Education Teacher and Paraprofessional Positions – District Wide - The purpose of these positions is to help each student learn subject matter and skills that will contribute to his/her development as a mature, capable, and responsible adult. Provide a positive, healthy, and safe environment in which the student can achieve his/her maximum potential. To learn more- Click here

If you are an Employer looking for excellent special education staff - Click here for more information

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing. Dale Carnegie