Newsline

In This Issue

March 2010

Parent Center Updates

• TATRA Award for Excellence in Transition-Focused Parent Training
• SPAN Co-Director Receives National Award

Announcements & News

• TA&D Center of the Month: Personnel Improvement Center
• Common Core Standards Draft Released
• U.S. Department of Education Releases ESEA Reauthorization Blueprint
• 2010 National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day

Resources

• Free Webinars from Bookshare
• 2009 Disabilities Statistics Compendium
• Text4Baby Program
• National Center for Technology Innovation Conference Materials
• Child Trends: What Works for Programs for Older Youth
• CELL Practice Guide: Baby’s First Picture Books

Technology

• GoTo Webinar Now Available from TechSoup
• Network Troubleshooting
• National Education Technology Plan 2010

Nonprofit Management

• Nonprofit Boards and the New 990
• Communicating Policy Changes

Parent Center Updates

TATRA Award for Excellence in Transition-Focused Parent Training

The TATRA (Technical Assistance on Transition and the Rehabilitation Act) Project is proud to announce a call for entries to the annual Award for Excellence in Transition-Focused Parent Training. This annual award seeks to identify and highlight promising transition tools developed by OSEP-funded Parent Training and Information Centers, Community Parent Resource Centers, and RSA-funded parent training projects. Entries are due April 16, 2010. The winner will receive an expense-paid opportunity for one staff member to attend the TATRA National Conference being held in Washington, DC on July 13-14, 2010. More>>>

SPAN Co-Director Receives National Award

Diana Autin, Executive Co-Director of New Jersey's Statewide Parent Advocacy Network (SPAN), received the 2010 Outstanding Family Leader Award from the National Initiative for Children's Healthcare Quality (NICHQ) at their annual Awards Dinner in Atlanta, Georgia on Tuesday, March 9. The award is given to "an individual who has shown substantial leadership in advancing partnerships and support networks for parents and family members of children with special healthcare needs" and who has "made a significant contribution to improving the quality and safety of healthcare for children through the creation or participation in a program and/or series of projects that foster collaboration of all participants." SPAN is the New Jersey Parent Training and Information Center and the Region 1 Parent Technical Assistance Center. Congratulations, Diana! More>>>

Announcements & News

TA&D Center of the Month: Personnel Improvement Center

The National Center to Improve Recruitment and Retention of Qualified Personnel for Children with Disabilities (Personnel Improvement Center) is a technical assistance and dissemination project of the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE). The project seems to recruit, prepare, and retain highly qualified special education, early intervention, and related service providers. Through a variety of activities, the Personnel Center helps States and districts to implement best practices in developing and supporting special education personnel. More>>>

Common Core Standards Draft Released

On March 10th the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) released a public draft of the K-12 Common Core State Standards. Public comments will be accepted until April 2, 2010. The standards and feedback form are available online: http://www.corestandards.org/.

U.S. Department of Education Releases ESEA Reauthorization Blueprint

The Obama administration released its blueprint for reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA – previously known as No Child Left Behind) on March 13th. Five priority areas are included in the broad plan: (1) college- and career-ready students, (2) great teachers and leaders in every school, (3) equity and opportunity for all students, (4) raise the bar and reward excellence, and (5) promote innovation and continuous improvement. More>>>

2010 National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day

National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day will celebrate its 5th anniversary on May 6, 2010. Awareness Day programs will focus on increasing understanding of the mental health needs of children and their families, with an emphasis on the early childhood years. Activities include “Art Action” for young children and “Youth Action” for older children and teens. More>>>

Resources

Free Webinars from Bookshare

Bookshare, an OSEP-funded project providing an online accessible library for individuals with print disabilities, offers pre-recorded webinars for educators and parents. Topics presented include “Bookshare 101” and how to use various audio software programs. More>>>

2009 Disabilities Statistics Compendium

The 2009 Disabilities Statistics Compendium is a first edition of a new annual publication compiling data on people with disabilities and the government programs serving them. Information is broken down by state and disability type and covers topics such as employment and earnings, health care, and benefits programs. The publication was developed by the Hunter College Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Disability Statistics and Demographics. More>>>

Text4Baby Program

Text4Baby provides new mothers with information on pregnancy and caring for infants via weekly text messages. Women can text “Baby” (or “Bebe” to receive Spanish texts) to 511411 to register. Information is sent based on the mother’s due date. Text4Baby is a public-private partnership program of the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition. More>>>

National Center for Technology Innovation Conference Materials

The National Center for Technology Innovation (NCTI)’s recent Tech Innovator’s Conference featured several sessions with information on students with disabilities and technology, such as “The Future of Assessments for Students with Disabilities” and “Games for Therapy for Students with Disabilities.” Check out the conference archives for more information. More>>>

Child Trends: What Works for Programs for Older Youth

Child Trends recently released a new fact sheet that summarizes evaluations of 31 programs focusing on youth transitioning to adulthood. More>>>

CELL Practice Guide: Baby’s First Picture Books

This CELL (Center for Early Literacy Learning) Practice Guide for Parents shares ideas for introducing children’s picture books to infants. More>>>

Technology

GoTo Webinar Now Available from TechSoup

Citrix Online is partnering with TechSoup.org to offer their GoToMeeting, GoToWebinar, and GoToMyPC products to nonprofit organizations at a reduced rate. Learn more about these programs and if your organization is eligible to participate in this donation program. More>>>

Network Troubleshooting

This article from TechSoup is first in a series on identifying and fixing the most common networking problems. More>>>

National Education Technology Plan 2010

The U.S. Department of Education published an update of its national education technology plan in March 2010. Recommendations are given in five areas: learning, assessment, teaching, infrastructure, and productivity. Comments on the plan can be submitted on the National Education Technology Plan Web site. More>>>

Nonprofit Management

Nonprofit Boards and the New 990

Philanthropy Today hosted an online chat with experts on nonprofit management and federal compliance. Read the transcript of the discussion that will help boards of directors understand their new responsibilities. More>>>

Communicating Policy Changes

This article from HR Hero reminds organizations why it is important to communicate any changes in employee policies and handbooks to all employees and provides tips for effective ways to distribute policy changes. More>>>

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