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LDA NEWS FROM WASHINGTON
November, 2007

 

LEGISLATION
FEDERAL AGENCIES
RESOURCES

Congress left town for the Thanksgiving break on November 16 and will not return until December 4. The proposal for the recess was passed by the House, but the Senate scheduled "pro forma" sessions to technically stay in session to prevent President Bush from making appointments without Senate consent. When Congress returns, there will be less than three weeks to pass essential spending legislation. If not, another Continuing Resolution must be passed to continue funding at the 2007 levels.

LEGISLATION

The status of legislation of interest is as follows:
Passed Legislation:

  • THE COLLEGE COST REDUCTION AND ACCESS ACT OF 2007  (HR 2669. now PL 110-317) will make college more affordable for low-income students by increasing funding for Federal Pell Grants by more than $11 billion.
  • THE IMPROVING HEAD START FOR SCHOOL READINESS ACT OF 2007 (HR 1429) which will establish teacher requirements and expand access to the program for children from low-income families  The controversial proposal to test all 4 year olds in the program was dropped. President Bush was expected to sign the bill into law.  Funding for these provisions are included in the Labor/HHS/Education bill.
  • THE COLLEGE OPPORTUNITY AND AFFORDABILITY ACT OF 2007 (HR 4137) was passed by the House Committee on Education and Labor. This is the second of two bills on higher education which includes forming a Commission on Accessible Instructional Materials for Students with Disabilities to establish model demonstration programs to support improved access to materials for college students with disabilities.

 Passed, but vetoed by the President: 

  • THE STATE CHILDREN'S HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM  (SCHIP, HR 3963)  On Thursday November 1, the Senate passed a revised version of legislation to reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The House had passed an identical bill but failed to garner sufficient votes needed to override an expected Presidential veto. Congressional leaders have agreed not to attempt an override of the revised SCHIP bill, but will instead continue to work with negotiators to reach a compromise. The bill included a provision to delay the Center for Medicaid Services' limits on rehabilitative services and school based transportation for Medicaid eligible children receiving IDEA services.
  • FISCAL YEAR 08 LABOR/HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES /EDUCATION APPROPRIATIONS (HR 3043)  include  $11.292 billion  for Part B of IDEA (FY07 - $10.783 billion); Title I ESEA Grants to local districts - $14.311 billion (FY07 - $12.838 billion); Reading First - $400 million (FY07 - $1.029 billion); Striving Readers - $36 million (FY07 - $31.9 million); Vocational Education State Grants - $1.206 billion (FY07 - $1.182 billion); Adult Education State Grants - $576.5 million  (FY07 - $563.9 million); National Children's Study $110.9 million. President Bush vetoed the bill and the House failed to override the veto.  The White House also rejected a proposal from Senate Majority leader Reid to cut the extra funding from $22 billion to $11 billion. The future of these appropriations is uncertain.

Legislation in process:

  • THE ADA (Americans with Disabilities) RESTORATION ACT (HR 3195, S 1881) would reverse recent Supreme Court decisions, such as the one which ruled that people who use medication to manage their condition are no longer protected by the law. 

Dead for this session:

  • NCLB Chairman Miller of the House Education and Labor Committee and Senator Kennedy of the Senate HELP (Health, Education, Labor and Pensions) Committee have abandoned efforts to pass reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act.
     
  • REAUTHORIZATION OF THE VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION ACT. The Senate HELP Committee drafted a bill to reauthorize the Vocational Rehabilitation Act but contemplates no further action at this time.

Last minute Bills:

    • ASSESSMENT ACCURACY AND IMPROVEMENT ACT ( HR 3979, Petri , WI ) would give states the option to use adaptive assessments to measure student achievement above and below grade level while also measuring grade level performance.
       
    • SUCCESS IN THE MIDDLE ACT (S 2227, Obama)  would provide grants to States to ensure that all students in the middle grades are taught an academically rigorous curriculum with effective supports so that students complete the middle grades prepared for success in high school and postsecondary endeavors.  The bill is similar to HR 3406  introduced by Representative Grijalva. AZ.
    • THE IDEA FAIRNESS RESTORATION ACT (H.R.4188, VAN HOLLEN,MD)  would amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to permit a prevailing party in an action or proceeding brought to enforce the Act to be awarded expert witness fees and certain other expenses.
    • ADVANCING FASD (FETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME) RESEARCH, PREVENTION, AND SERVICES ACT (S.2141, Johnson, SD), would amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize and extend the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome prevention and services program.
    • THE LEAD ELIMINATION AND ABATEMENT AND POISONING PREVENTION ACT OF 2007 (S 2244, Clinton, NY) would require the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human services to carry out demonstration projects and outreach programs for the identification and abatement of lead hazards, establish the Joint Task Force on Lead-Based Hazards and the Task Force on Children's Environmental Health and Safety, and strengthen the authority of the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

    FEDERAL AGENCIES

    US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

    THE TWENTY SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF IDEA consists of two volumes.  Volume I focuses on the children and students being served under IDEA and includes state-level data and selected rank-ordered state data tables.  Volume II contains extensive appendix tables of state-reported data required under IDEA, including the number of infants and toddlers receiving early intervention services disaggregated by demographic characteristics, disability status, and graduation and dropout data.  The report is at: http://www.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/osep/2005/parts-b-c/.

    Nomination for OSERS Undersecretary - On November 15, President Bush announced his intention to nominate Tracy Ralph Justesen, of Utah, to be Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.  Mr. Justesen currently serves as Deputy Director of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research at the Department of Education. Prior to this, he served as an Attorney-Advisor in the Disability Rights Section at the Department of Justice. Earlier in his career, he served as an Associate Director in the Domestic Policy Council at the White House.

    Grants to States to develop more appropriate assessments for students with disabilities who cannot take the general assessment will be used for developing:

    • Modified academic achievement standards.(2% of students)
    • Alternate academic achievement standards ( 1% of students).
    • State assessments based on modified or alternate academic achievement standards.
    • Clear and appropriate guidelines for Individualized Education Program (IEP) teams, which include parents, to identify children with disabilities who should be assessed based on alternate or modified academic achievement standards.
    • Training on those guidelines for IEP teams.

    TWO PERCENT Grants were given to the Alabama State Department of Education, Georgia Department of Education, Iowa Department of Education, Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13/Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network, Maryland State Department of Education, Michigan Department of Education, Montana Office of Public Instruction, Nebraska Department of Education, Ohio Department of Education, on behalf of Ohio, Minnesota and Oregon, Regents of the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, on behalf of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, South Carolina Department of Education, SRI International, Menlo Park, Calif., on behalf of Oklahoma, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, on behalf of Arizona and Indiana, Virginia Department of Education, WestEd, San Francisco, on behalf of Kansas and Louisiana, West Virginia Department of Education, For further information go to http://www.ed.gov/programs/osepidea/index.html

    USING STRATEGY INSTRUCTION TO HELP STRUGGLING HIGH SCHOOLERS UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY READ, a report from the Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning from the Regional Instructional  Laboratory of the Institute of Education Sciences  designed to help high school teachers teach struggling readers by summarizing findings from rigorous, scientifically based studies of the effectiveness of teaching students to use and articulate strategies that foster active, competent, self-regulated, and intentional learning. (http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/projects)

    FROM THE CENTER FOR MEDICARE AND MEDICAID SERVICES
    The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued proposed regulations which, among other provisions, would limit 1) Medicaid's rehabilitative services option; 2) school based services for Medicaid eligible children receiving IDEA services; and  3) transportation for Medicaid eligible children receiving IDEA services. Final regulations are expected to be issued and become effective in February unless Congress delays implementation. 

    RESOURCES

    LITERACY

    ADOLESCENT LITERACY  AdLit.org, funded by Carnegie Corporation of New York and by the Ann B. and Thomas L. Friedman Family Foundation, offers research-based articles, instructional material for classroom teachers, tips for parents, book recommendations, exclusive interviews with top authors, and a free, monthly e-newsletter called Word Up!

    STUDENT THINK-ALOUD REFLECTIONS ON COMPREHENSIBLE AND READABLE ASSESSMENT ITEMS: PERSPECTIVES ON WHAT DOES AND DOES NOT MAKE AN ITEM READABLE (NCEO Technical Report 48) reports on research related to large-scale assessments for students with learning disabilities in reading. The researchers examined the role of ?readable and comprehensible? test items that could make assessments more universally designed, using think-aloud methods to better understand how interventions to improve readability affect student performance. Reducing word counts in items and making important words bold did not seem to affect student achievement but vocabulary did. Students had difficulty with non-construct vocabulary in both the stem and answer choices of items as well as with words that have negative prefixes (e.g., dis). This suggests  that readability correlates with vocabulary and that construct and non-construct vocabulary must be clearly defined in order to make tests more accessible. Available only on the Web at http://cehd.umn.edu/NCEO/OnlinePubs/technicalreports.html

    READING FIRST: LOCALLY APPRECIATED, NATIONALLY TROUBLED a report from the Center on Education Policy highlights findings from CEP's research on the federal reading program.  The report found that, despite problems with the federal administration of Reading First, the program is widely credited by state and local officials for lifting the achievement of students who receive services. Overall, more than three-fourths of states and two-thirds of districts with Reading First grants reported that the program's assessment and instructional programs were important causes of gains in student achievement.  Further, the report finds that Reading First's impact is felt far beyond the participating grades and schools, with more than half of Reading First districts using elements of Reading First in non-Reading First schools and in the upper grades. Similarly, states reported that more than 3,000 non-Reading First districts participated in state-led Reading First professional development. he report  is posted on the Center's web site as the first item under "What's New" and can be downloaded free of charge.

    READING ACROSS THE NATION: A CHARTBOOK presents state information on rates of reading to young children. This free resource can be downloaded from www.healthychild.ucla.edu State pages can be downloaded individually and reproduced without charge. The chartbook has been prepared for Reach Out and Read National Center by UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities.

    DOCUMENTS FROM PROJECT FORUM OF NASDSE (National Association of State Directors of Special EEducation) available for download at http://www.projectforum.org/

    • Reading First and Special Education: Examples of State-Level Collaboration
    • Collaborative Partnerships between SEAs and PTIs
    • Parent Participation in State Monitoring
    • The National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS): Current State Implementation
    • State Definitions of Significant Disproportionality
    • Supplemental Educational Services Under NCLB: State Implementation for Students with Disabilities
    • Standards-based IEP Examples

    LDA News from Washington is a periodic publication of The Learning Disabilities Association of America, Inc. containing news of interest to the volunteer and administrative leadership of National LDA and its State and Local Affiliates written by LDA's Washington Representative, Justine Maloney. LDA members wishing to be added to the email list may contact LDA.

     

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