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 | Feb 2, 2021 | Parents, Professionals, Students, Teachers
At the beginning of the COVID-19 public health response and the displacement of students to full remote learning and hybrid combinations of on-site and remote learning, attendance reporting for teachers and schools was challenging and riddled with disparate and...
by Common Ground | Feb 2, 2021 | Parents, Professionals, Students, Teachers
By Rebecca Branstetter, Ph.D. If your child has special needs, remote learning can be incredibly stressful. Here are some tips for helping kids learn, while still taking care of yourself. Parenting a child with additional learning, attention, social-emotional, or...
by Common Ground | Feb 2, 2021 | Parents, Professionals, Students, Teachers
Congress enacted the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 94-142) (EHA), in 1975, to support states and localities in protecting the rights of, meeting the individual needs of, and improving the results for infants, toddlers, children, and youth with...
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 | May 5, 2020 | Parents, Professionals, Students, Teachers
USDOE Supplemental Fact Sheet: Addressing the Risk of COVID-19 in Preschool, Elementary and Secondary Schools While Serving Children with Disabilities This Supplemental Fact Sheet reaffirms the rights of students to receive educational instruction and related services...
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...
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