by Common Ground | Aug 5, 2020 | Capitols
U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) introduced a bipartisan bill in June to help schools and colleges cover the costs of protecting students and educators from COVID-19. The Reopen Schools Safely Act (S.4081) establishes a federal grant...
by Common Ground | Aug 5, 2020 | Capitols
The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) at U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) has issued a Q&A document in response to inquiries concerning implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B dispute resolution procedures in...
by Common Ground | Aug 5, 2020 | Capitols
In a report issued in June, the US Department of Education found that less than half of states are doing what they should to serve students with disabilities in compliance with federal special education law. Just 21 states, including New Jersey, satisfied the “meets...
by Common Ground | Aug 5, 2020 | Courts
Three years after the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District which held that IEPs “must be appropriately ambitious in light of (a student’s) circumstances, just as advancement from grade to grade is appropriately ambitious...
by Common Ground | May 5, 2020 | Features
For students with disabilities — roughly a quarter million in New Jersey and 7 million nationwide — AND their parents and teachers, the COVID-19 pandemic has been scary. Because such a circumstance is unprecedented in our lifetimes, much of what we know is what we are...
by Common Ground | May 5, 2020 | Parents
By: Rory Panter, Psy.D. and Rebecca Schulman, Psy.D., BCBA-D Behavior Therapy Associates | Somerset, New Jersey The last several weeks have resulted in significant changes for families, as parents and children are now spending most of their time together in the home....
by Common Ground | May 5, 2020 | Better IEPs
The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in the midst of IEP season has left parents and school districts with significant challenges in conducting regular IEP meetings. Federal law has always allowed IEP teams to meet remotely by video conference or telephone. Section...
by Common Ground | May 5, 2020 | Parents, Q&A
By Adam Wilson, Esq. | Hinkle Prior & Fischer, Attorneys at Law 1) My child is turning 21 and is scheduled to graduate in June. After being out of school since mid-March, I don’t think he is ready, and his post-secondary program is not ready for him. He...
by Common Ground | May 5, 2020 | Watch This
A virtual roundtable exploring how to serve the needs of special education students in a changed landscape. While this video is longer than our usual Watch This features, this NJ Spotlight virtual roundtable is a must see. With remote learning having become the norm...
by Common Ground | May 5, 2020 | Letters
April 30, 2020 Dear Editor, We are writing on behalf of the New Jersey Association of School Psychologists (NJASP) and school psychologists practicing across the state of New Jersey. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and especially given the considerable impact on...
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