by Common Ground | Aug 5, 2020 | Parents, Professionals, Students, Teachers
“Today’s guidance comes with one overarching requirement: that our public schools will open in some capacity with the health of students, their families, and educators being the TOP PRIORITY.” – Governor Phil Murphy NJDOE is basing its guidance...
by Common Ground | Aug 5, 2020 | Parents, Professionals, Students, Teachers
The New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) has released a detailed response to NJDOE’s The Road Back Plan. On June 24, NJEA released its Education Recovery Plan. The NJEA plan addresses specific challenges schools and educators expect to face, and details...
by Common Ground | Aug 5, 2020 | Parents, Professionals, Students, Teachers
SPAN Parent Advocacy Network has developed key questions to ask as stakeholders work with schools in developing their reopening plans. School districts across New Jersey are making plans for reopening schools in the summer and for the 2020-21 school year. “The Road...
by Common Ground | Aug 5, 2020 | Parents, Professionals, Students, Teachers
Many New Jersey districts are planning hybrid programs, with some in-person instruction and some remote instruction. For the in-person cohorts, split day or alternating week schedules are also common in preliminary plans, in order to ensure that a fraction of students...
by Common Ground | Aug 5, 2020 | Parents, Professionals, Students, Teachers
With months of remote instruction already behind New Jersey schools, significant gaps still exist in providing students access to technology and technological equipment, such as laptops, tablets, hot spot access devices, and other electronic mobile devices. Many New...
by Common Ground | Aug 5, 2020 | Parents, Professionals, Students, Teachers
6 Tips from Board Certified Behavior Analyst and Consultant, Jessica Minahan: Review the curriculum. Encourage colleagues to review their curriculum before assigning reading and other work. For example, if a character in a book becomes seriously ill or dies, you may...
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...
.