Message from Acting OSEP Director, Dr. David Cantrell

Greetings Stakeholders!

As I write this month’s message, I find myself reflecting on the many activities and events that have occurred across our nation this spring in support of infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities and their families. These are certainly challenging times, but I am humbled to see the extensive collaboration and partnerships between the many national disability organizations which I have had the pleasure of speaking with since January. Additionally, I have been impressed with the collaboration across our Department as well as with other agencies, such as the Administration for Children and Families at the Department of Health and Human Services. This collaboration is resulting in the development of short and long-term activities which will have a positive impact to improve the outcomes of children and youth with disabilities!

On April 30th, the Biden-Harris Administration reached its first 100-days mark. Our office continues to work closely with the new administration, particularly in the areas of equity and the health and safety for all students. Specifically, the OSEP team is working hard to support the administration’s goals which include:

• Promoting equity in student access to educational resources, opportunities, and welcoming environments;
• Supporting a diverse education workforce, and educators’ professional growth, to strengthen student learning;
• Meeting students’ social, emotional, behavioral, and academic needs;
• Improving student postsecondary education pathways, college affordability and completion; and
• Strengthening cross-agency coordination and community engagement to advance systemic change.

These are indeed challenging times. However, it is reassuring to see that educators across the nation meet those challenges head on. Thank you for all you do to support our infants, toddlers, youth and young adults with disabilities and their families!

David Cantrell, Ph.D.
Acting Director
Office of Special Education Programs

The IES/SBIR program is hosting the 8th Annual ED Games Expo (All-Virtual) from June 1 to 6, 2021. The ED Games Expo is an annual showcase of game-changing innovations in education technology that were developed through more than 30 programs at the US Department of Education and across the federal government. (NOTE: The new Expo YouTube Channel will be launched on June 1, 2021).

Showcase Events focus on a range of important topics in education with timely and relevant resources. Event topics include special education, early learning, social studies, eSports, learning games, student STEM challenges, and many more.

Registration for the Early Childhood and Special Education Showcase event (Game Changing Technology, Tools, and Supports that Grow with Children and Families), scheduled for June 2, 2021 at 1:00pm ET, is available here.

The number of students with disabilities, ages 14–21, who graduated with a regular high school diploma has increased by over 20% between SY 2008–09 to SY 2018–2019.

Source: 2018–19/2019 IDEA Section 618 Data Fast Facts

OSEP is excited to release two new Fast Facts that take a closer look at our newly released 2018–19/2019 state level data files on the IDEA Section 618 Data Products website.

The new 2018–19/2019 IDEA Section 618 Data Fast Facts provides information on this release and includes displays related to Part B Child Count and Educational Environments, Part C Child Count and Settings, Discipline and Part B and Part C Exiting data collections. Our Part B Personnel Fast Facts provides visualizations on special education teachers, related services personnel, and paraprofessionals employed or contracted to work with children with disabilities who are ages 3 through 21.

Differentiated Monitoring and Support

OSEP State Leads have begun monthly COVID-19 calls with all States. The purpose of these calls is to ensure that States have the support they need during these uncertain times, to answer any questions they may have related to the pandemic, and to help us better understand the issues that are occurring as a result of COVID-19 at the state and local level. These discussions will inform the pandemic-related TA and guidance we provide moving forward.

OSEP will continue convening monthly DMS Technical Assistance (TA) Calls on the fourth Thursday of each month at 4:00 p.m. ET. The next scheduled call is May 27^th, at 4:00 p.m. ET. Please check the OSEP Monthly TA Call page for additional information to register and access the schedule. 

To access resources related to monitoring activities (e.g., DMS 2.0, DMS Reports, and older monitoring reports, etc.), please refer to the DMS section on our IDEA website.

Join the Lead for Literacy Center’s Ursula Hill and Jennifer Pierce on June 3, 2021 at 2:00pm ET as they present the seventh session in the NAESP-Lead for Literacy Center series. Learn about the critical components of high-quality professional development for effective school-wide reading programs, key considerations for job-embedded learning and coaching, and effective collaboration structures for professional learning. Participants will have the opportunity to develop a well-articulated professional development plan that will help teachers support students with or at risk for reading disabilities.

“We are pleased to increase access to NLS services for people with dyslexia and similar perceptual reading disabilities,” NLS Director Karen Keninger said. “This change aligns NLS with educational specialists who are the most likely to identify a reading disability, and we hope that NLS can provide tools that can help.”

NLS administers service through a national network of libraries, providing books and magazines in audio and braille. Materials can be conveniently downloaded to a patron’s personal device and are also available through the mail, along with playback equipment, on digital cartridges or in hard-copy braille. Music instructional and accessible scores are also available. For more information, visit loc.gov/ThatAllMayRead or contact nls@loc.gov. Click here to find the NLS library in your state.         
  

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Visit our blog for powerful stories and useful information from parents, families, educators, and practitioners in the field. Be sure to bookmark sites.ed.gov/osers for future posts!