by Common Ground | Apr 20, 2021 | Capitols, Features, Parents, Professionals, Teachers
On March 3, NJDOE issued a broadcast memo to provide guidance to schools, students, parents/guardians of students with disabilities, advocacy groups, and other key stakeholders regarding compensatory education for students with disabilities. The changes in school...
by Common Ground | Apr 20, 2021 | Courts, Features, Professionals, Teachers
The COVID-19 pandemic and its disruption of education has had schools, parents, and advocates wondering about accountability for services for students with disabilities that were lost under school closures, and due to remote and virtual instruction. Dr. Perry Zirkel,...
by Common Ground | Feb 2, 2021 | Features, Parents, Professionals, Students, Teachers
For students, teachers, families, the impact of the pandemic on education has been all too clear. For our education system as a whole and policy makers, the long-term effects of the largest educational disruption in history are today not as easy to assess. What can we...
by Common Ground | Aug 6, 2020 | Features
In our last edition of Common Ground, we introduced issues impacting special educators and parents as schools and policymakers crafted early responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. While New Jersey’s broad response to the health crisis has, on the whole, been clear...
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 | Feb 26, 2020 | Features
By Vasilisa Smith Roughly 7 million students in the K-12 public school system—14 percent—are identified as students with disabilities. Of these, more than 62 percent spend a large majority of their day in general education classrooms. Given the numbers, it is clear...
by Common Ground | Feb 3, 2020 | Features
By Amanda Morin Children with sensory processing issues have trouble organizing information from the senses. This means they can be sensitive to and misinterpret information from the five traditional senses: sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch. Some kids may also...
by Common Ground | Nov 19, 2019 | Features
By Anfal Muhammad Jenkins Effective family engagement is a cornerstone of positive student outcomes, especially for students receiving special education services. It is not easy to sustain, but is always rewarding for parents, schools, communities, and students...
by Common Ground | May 6, 2019 | Features, Parents, Professionals, Teachers
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, IDEA, states that “Beginning not later than the first IEP to be in effect when the child turns 16, or younger if determined appropriate by the IEP Team, and updated annually, thereafter, the IEP must include...
by Common Ground | Jan 24, 2019 | Features, Students
By Josie Badger, PhD Inclusion is Fantastic and… As an individual with a significant physical disability, I was fully included in mainstream education classes, and I believe in the academic and social importance of the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). I graduated...
by Common Ground | Nov 28, 2018 | Features
Schools are filled with students who have experienced recent trauma, or whose lives include ongoing trauma. Children who are traumatized may experience considerable difficulty in the school setting. This occurs not only in terms of focus and learning, but in being...
by Common Ground | Sep 6, 2018 | Features
By Viviana Litovsky, Ph.D. Once children begin to learn how to label what they are feeling, we can teach them how to put their emotions into a proper perspective.These days, it isn’t hard to find someone who feels “stressed out.” The pace and volume of stimulation...
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