by Common Ground | Jul 26, 2017 | Features
By Amy Golden, M.S., BCBA Research confirms that becoming as independent as possible often substantially impacts future success in all aspects of life, so as a student moves through adolescence, it is essential for the educational team and the family to place...
by Common Ground | Jun 4, 2017 | Features
By Sussan, Greenwald & Wesler Does your child crash into walls? Does he cover his ears in a crowded amusement park or shy away from birthday parties? Does she seem insensitive to pain, or overly sensitive to sound or light? When children have difficulty...
by Common Ground | May 2, 2017 | Features
By Elizabeth W. Barnes Children with special needs are guaranteed a “free, appropriate public education” (FAPE) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). When Congress enacted IDEA in 1975, the goal was to address the “perception...
by Common Ground | Mar 1, 2017 | Features
by Renay Zamloot During the past week, I received frantic phone calls from six different parents throughout the state asking these questions. Each one relaying a very similar story: “I received a call from my case manager today informing me that my child’s...
by Common Ground | Dec 12, 2016 | Features
Students without a home face steep educational challenges: the absence of basic necessities such as food and clothing; poor healthcare and medical services; a lack of quality mental health services; interruption of education due to mobility; and trauma.Poverty...
by Common Ground | Oct 25, 2016 | Features
by Janet Renda “It is vital to consider the role of the Paraprofessional as potentially temporary” One-to-one paraprofessionals are often considered highly desirable in special education settings as a means of ensuring that a student with a significant...
by Common Ground | Sep 4, 2016 | Features
Living among America’s 74 million children are growing numbers experiencing mental illness. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) finds that roughly 20% of adolescents ages 13 to 18 and 13% of 8 to 15 year-olds experience severe mental...
by Common Ground | Apr 15, 2016 | Features
When it comes to standardized testing, New Jersey students consistently score in the top half of test-takers nationally. But quality curriculum and instruction matter little when a student is not in school. “Chronic absenteeism” is typically defined as missing 10...
by Common Ground | Feb 18, 2016 | Features
Last winter, President Obama signed into law The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The new law replaces No Child Left Behind (NCLB), which had been on the books since 2002. Like NCLB, ESSA reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) and...
by Common Ground | Oct 6, 2015 | Features
There are many things that can cause or prompt challenging behavior in a student with disabilities. Recognizing that behavior may be rooted in prior traumatic experience can help educators develop effective responses that not only reduce unwanted behavior, but also...
by Common Ground | May 14, 2015 | Features
An 8-year-old boy with Asperger’s Syndrome is suspended from his elementary school after getting frustrated in class and balling his fist around his pencil, an action that the school called “aggressive.” A 10-year-old boy with emotional and behavioral...
by Common Ground | Sep 25, 2014 | Features
By: Nina Peckman, Esq. and Mary Coogan, Esq. In New Jersey, approximately 7,600 children live in foster care situations; many of them have learning issues, some of which have not yet been identified. Because of the complexity of the special education system, it can be...
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