by Common Ground | Feb 24, 2020 | Q&A
Q: What is Extended School Year? A: ESY means educational programming beyond the traditional 180-day school year. Q: Who determines ESY eligibility? A: Every student with a disability under IDEA must be considered for ESY services. The determination is made on an...
by Common Ground | Feb 24, 2020 | Parents, Professionals, Students, Teachers
By Gerard Thiers Federal law requires that every eligible child with disabilities – more than 220,000 in New Jersey – receive a “free and appropriate” education. Of course, special education services are not free. While they are provided at no cost to students or...
by Common Ground | Feb 24, 2020 | Watch This
In this short TEDxTalk, Travis Davis, a graduate student at the University of New Mexico talks about the value of social inclusion, the role of inviting good questions to break down...
by Common Ground | Feb 23, 2020 | Courts
A judge has ordered a Morris County School district to reimburse the parents of a child with disabilities for four years of private school tuition and transportation as a result of the district’s failure to provide FAPE. The parents had unilaterally placed their son...
by Common Ground | Feb 23, 2020 | Courts
A federal judge heard oral arguments in the case against the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) for failing to meet federal and state timelines for hearing disputes between families and school districts over services provided to students with disabilities. The...
by Common Ground | Feb 5, 2020 | Parents, Professionals, Students, Teachers, Watch This
Our friends at the Regional Center for Independent Living (RCIL) in New York made this fun video, Get the Job… Keep the Job! on seeking work for young people. This student production contrasts the right way — and the wrong way — to apply for a job in person,...
by Common Ground | Feb 3, 2020 | Parents, Professionals, Students, Teachers, Uncategorized
Students can learn a lot in a classroom, but a good field trip lets them see, feel, and touch the curriculum in ways that make learning come to life. When trips are well planned, relevant, and linked to classroom instruction, students gain a better understanding of...
by Common Ground | Feb 3, 2020 | Capitols
A dozen democratic federal lawmakers, most from Illinois, have written a letter to the Trump administration calling for the Department of Education to update its 2016 guidance on restraint and seclusion. They have urged that the USDOE specifically ban seclusion; ban...
by Common Ground | Feb 3, 2020 | Capitols
A measure introduced in the New Jersey Senate would require criminal background checks for certain school employees and prohibit interference with school bus monitoring devices. The “School Bus Safety and Child Protection Act,” sponsored by Senators Beach...
by Common Ground | Feb 3, 2020 | Capitols
The USDOE, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) issued additional guidance on the role of parental involvement in placement decisions, and in particular, the decision about how far from home a child with disabilities can be educated. The guidance came in...
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