Special Needs in Rural America

In rural America, the number of students requiring special education and related services—across every disability category—is rising. At the same time, inadequate state and local funding and a national shortage of related service providers is having a disproportionate effect on the nation’s most underserved students.

If you are a school district seeking to:

• Support many students with individual needs
• Maximize limited funding
• Ensure equity, access, and continuity
• Innovate and diversify your services…

Then this new white paper is for you. “Rural America in Focus: Delivering on the Promise of Special Education Related Services” offers an in-depth report on the challenges rural districts face and a guide for how to open up opportunities for students with special needs in your care.

Remote, Online Administration of Psychoeducational Assessments

As the number of school psychologists shrinks, many districts struggle simply to meet compliance requirements—sometimes at the expense of providing broader services that help the general population of students and overall school climate. Relieving overburdened school psychologists from exclusively focusing on testing would give them more time to address student behavior, mental health, and school climate issues.

Remotely delivered social-emotional and behavioral assessments—especially for students in virtual schools and in rural and remote locations—have become more prevalent over the last few years.

Inclusion Is For Every Learner — Or Is It?

Despite decades of legislation and a focus on inclusion, there has only been a small increase in the percentage of students who spend 80% or more of their day in the general education classroom relative to the amount of work that has been done to improve this measure. What’s more, students of color are disproportionately represented in special education programs and have higher rates of suspension and expulsion than their white peers. This new paper based on a webinar by the same title by Dr. Frances Stetson explores issues of inclusion and cultural proficiency, addresses audience questions, and equips educators with a set of worksheets and resources to create culturally responsive classrooms and help struggling learners.

5 Legal Dos and Don’ts for Staying Out of Due Process in Special Education

Expert tips from Julie Weatherly that can save your district a fortune

Innocent mistakes and casual remarks can turn into a big legal headache for your district. In this paper, Julie Weatherly, Esq. provides must-read advice for everyone on your staff involved in developing and implementing IEPs. Practical advice, real-world cases and sample scenarios will help you and your team develop strategies to avoid common errors.

Dialogues on Change

In 2015, more than 30,000 special education leaders, teachers, parents, and related services professionals registered for our professional development webinars. Throughout the year, we explored the need for change in education: change in the ways we manage classrooms, change in the ways we collaborate with families and our peers in general education, and change in the ways we support our students’ mental and emotional needs. After each webinar, we sat down with experts like Dr. Marty Burns, Dr. Barry Prizant, Dr. Frances Stetson, and more to discuss top questions from the audience. This new paper combines these conversations in one downloadable resource.

HOT Questions, COOL Answers About Online Therapy

Though online therapy has become an established option that helps school districts around the country serve their students with special needs, many educators have questions about how online speech therapy, occupational therapy, and mental health services actually work. This new guide answers the questions we hear most frequently as we talk to districts about new ways to access high quality services, alleviate high caseloads, and improve transparency and efficiency. This is a great resource to share with your colleagues who are unfamiliar with online therapy.

Managing Workloads in a Caseload-Driven World

Consultations, meetings, assessments, planning, reporting and myriad other tasks comprise a therapist’s workload. This white paper by education leaders and workload experts Barbara Moore, Ed.D, CCC-SLP, and Judy Rudebusch, Ed.D, CCC-SLP presents the case for taking a workload approach in managing resources that benefits staff – and student outcomes.

Transforming Special Education in a Challenging Fiscal Environment

Over $100 billion is spent on special education annually, and various policies and mandates have increased this cost at the expense of investments in general education. Yet statistics continue to show discouraging results for students in special education. Based on a talk by Peter Bittel, co-founder and CEO of the Futures HealthCore, and Dr. Nicholas Young, Superintendent of South Hadley Public Schools, this white paper presents practical strategies for superintendents for staffing, service delivery and budgeting to create meaningful change in their districts.

How To Setup the Best Home Teletherapy Office

Use these helpful tips to set up a professional and productive space to conduct teletherapy from home.

5 Tips for Managing Your Special Education Caseload

Too many cases, not enough time! Caseload overload can make it difficult to stay organized and be as effective as possible. PresenceLearning’s clinical experts recommend these 5 steps to help you manage your caseload.

The STOIC Framework

The STOIC framework empowers general educators, special educators, and related services professionals with behavior improvement strategies for the whole school. STOIC can be effective with students of all ages.

Facts and Fiction About Special Education Evaluations

Evaluations can cause confusion and consternation in any special education department. Not only is the sheer volume overwhelming, a number of myths persist that lead to additional work, legal issues, and communication problems with parents. This infographic separates the facts from the fiction about evaluations for you and your team.

How Technology Empowers Students with Special Needs in the Least Restrictive Environment

As technology in the classroom has evolved over time (does anyone else remember waiting their turn to use the sole Commodore 64 in the back of the classroom?), so too have options for the least restrictive environment. Today, assistive technology, augmentative and alternative communication applications, and the online delivery of special education services equip students better than ever to work alongside their peers. Learn all about it in our newest infographic.

5 Legal Dos and Don’ts for Staying Out of Due Process in Special Education

This infographic is a companion piece to our white paper by the same name. Julie Weatherly, Esq. describes some common dos and don’ts for your staff. This is a great resource for everyone on your school IEP teams.

Face-to-Face with Online Therapy

Online therapy is becoming increasingly common across the country and districts look for new and flexible ways for their students to have access to qualified Speech-Language Pathologists, occupational therapists and school counselors, as well as to better balance caseloads for existing staff. This infographic answers common questions that educators, clinicians and parents have about this delivery option and all of its possibilities. Feel free to share with your colleagues!

Brain-Aligned Strategies: Addressing the Emotional, Social, and Academic Health of all Students

A student’s emotional, social, and academic health are all interrelated — at the individual level, class level, and even the school level. This collection of writings by Dr. Lori Desautels focuses on neuroanatomy and the science behind strategies that help students —and those who work with them — to better understand themselves and their needs, and to prime the brain for learning.

Lost and Found: What Works (and What Doesn’t) for Behaviorally Challenged Students

Trying to modify behavior in the typical reactive mode has not proven effective. Students who need help the most benefit least from discipline as usual. The Collaborative and Proactive Solutions (CPS) model does just that. Collaborative and Proactive Solutions are described by Dr. Ross Greene in his influential books The Explosive Child, Lost at School, and the recently released Lost and Found. This resource kit is a companion piece to Dr. Greene’s webinar with PresenceLearning “Lost and Found: What Works (and What Doesn’t) for Behaviorally Challenged Students”. It provides you and your staff with the materials you need to implement CPS, including the Assessment of Lagging Skills and Unsolved Problems (ALSUP), a problem solving plan, strategies for drilling down into problems with a student, a Plan B cheat sheet, an FAQ, and tips and tricks for using the ALSUP.

Inclusion is For Every Learner — Or Is It?

Resources to create culturally responsive classrooms and help struggling learners

Helping at-risk students to achieve is a challenge for every educator. To truly help our most vulnerable student population, we often need to dig into our school culture and ask some tough questions. This resource kit includes materials from Dr. Stetson that assist educators in creating culturally responsive classrooms and provide strategies for working with struggling learners.