Go to www.ocecd.org and click on Ohio's 4th Annual Special Education Leadership Conference being held at the Columbus Convention Center on Monday and Tuesday, September 20-21, 2010.

The theme of Ohio's 4th Annual Special Education Leadership Conference is INCLUSION WORKS! The purpose of the Conference is to provide a balanced program of knowledge and skill development about inclusive practices that are based on research and best practice.
The cost to register is $100. Make checks and POs payable to OCECD and send to 165 W. Center St., Suite 302, Marion, Ohio 43302.

Prior to registering, participants may want to check the following two items for a brief look at the agenda for each day. Also, those interested in the graduate credit available through Ashland University should be aware that they need to participate in one of the three options offered on Monday morning in order to have sufficient hours to be considered for the credit.

Click here for a quick look at the options available on Monday, September 20, 2010.

Click here for a brief agenda of the Master Sessions and Breakout Sessions available on Tuesday, September 21, 2010.

Click here for information regarding option for a graduate credit for participating in the Conference.

Click here for the OEC flyer on the Conference.

Education companies and organizations interested in exhibiting at the Conference should contact coston-robinson.1@osu.edu.

On September 20, 2010, OEC, the Ohio Association of Elementary School Administrators (OAESA) and the Ohio Association of Secondary School Administrators (OASSA) are sponsoring free all-day (9 -4) separate sessions for elementary principals and secondary principals at the Columbus Convention Center. The Academy will provide administrators the opportunity to learn the skills and inspiration to lead staff members in implementing more inclusive education practices -- while taking into consideration the many factors facing administrators.

For more information about the Academy, click here to see the flyer. A connection to the registration site is on the flyer or click here for direct link to register.

The Statewide Braille Production Center at the Ohio State School for the Blind (OSSB) has accessible copies (including braille and large print) of the updated Whose IDEA is This? A Parent's Guide to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA). To request an electronic copy or a paper copy, please contact Cheryl Boley at cboley@ossb.oh.gov or call (614) 644-8461.

Ohio requires that all IEPs be standards based as the law requires that all children with disabilities have access to and make progress in the general education curriculum. The Office for Exceptional Children (OEC) at the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) has developed Going Places with a Standards-Based IEP (GPS-IEP) to provide assistance to school personnel as they develop IEPs that will prepare Ohio's children for their future beyond school.

This online GPS-IEP is based on A Seven-Step Process to Creating a Standards-based IEP that was developed by Project Forum at the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) with support from the U.S. Department of Education. The tool guides the user through each of the seven steps and uses a sample IEP to display how each step applies to completing the relevant sections of the IEP for a particular child.

For more information, go to GPS-IEP at the top right of this page or click here.

The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) has issued a revised Q&A document to provide States, State educational agencies (SEAs), local educational agencies (LEAs), parents, and other stakeholders with information regarding the IDEA requirements relating to individualized education programs (IEPs), evaluations, and reevaluations. Questions and Answers on Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) (revised June 2010) is available online at http://www.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/idea/iep-qa-2010.pdf

The Office for Exceptional Children has issued an updated version of Whose IDEA Is This? dated June 14, 2010.

Whose IDEA Is This? A Parent's Guide to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA) has been updated to reflect a change to the federal regulations related to parental revocation of consent for special education and related services. This updated version, dated June 14, 2010, must be used starting July 1, 2010.

To assist districts with meeting the requirement of providing this document to parents in their native language, we will once again have this document translated into the top 10 most commonly used languages in Ohio (which are: Albanian, Arabic, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Somali, Ukrainian and Vietnamese). The translations will be available in a few months.

You are invited to participate in the Assistive Technology Summer Institute and earn one hour of graduate credit through Urbana University. OCALI will open their computer lab and lending library so participants can gain hands-on experience with assistive technology. Flexible technologies for reading, writing, planning, organizing, revising and editing will be available for exploration in the hands-on lab. Participants will create their own personal assistive technology learning plan and as a culminating activity will produce a final project they can use in their classrooms for the 2010/2011 school year.

Learn more and register

Question: Can a district hire intervention specialists to be special education supervisors?

Answer: Special education supervisors must have both an intervention specialist license and some type of administrator license. According to 3301-51-09(H)(4) of the Operating Standards, "Personnel with supervisory responsibilities for the delivery of special education services should be appropriately licensed."

The Center for Instructional Supports and Accessible Materials (CISAM) is a statewide project funded by the Ohio Department of Education, Office for Exceptional Children. CISAM's role is to assist school personnel in locating large print and braille textbooks; audio and digital textbooks (publishers' files/NIMAS files); instructional aids and tools; and specialized equipment for students with visual impairments and print disabilities in Ohio.

CISAM Provides:

• Professional Development;
• Technical Assistance;
• Braille Excellence for Students and Teachers (BEST) Grant;
• Statewide Braille Production Center Services;
• Federal Quota Program;
• Listservs: VI Educators, VI Requestors and Transcribers; and
• Brailler Repair.

For additional information, contact CISAM at (800) 310-3317.

CISAM Spring Circular: http://www.ossb.oh.gov/CISAM/docs/Newsletters/Spring2010Circular.pdf

Districts looking for free, online professional development opportunities regarding gifted and talented education should consider taking advantage of the ODE Javits program at http://javits.etech.ohio.gov. With support from the U.S. Department of Education's Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Program, ODE developed this training series, which is administered through eTech Ohio.

The website features audience-specific modules for classroom teachers, school counselors, school psychologists, administrators and parents. Users also will find strategies for differentiated instruction and information to help districts meet local, state, and federal requirements for high-quality professional development. It is best to use the site with guidance from a gifted coordinator or gifted intervention specialist. However, anyone may use the modules as part of a district-approved professional development program. For more information, contact ODE's Office for Exceptional Children at gifted@ode.state.oh.us or (614) 466-2650.

NOW OPEN – Registration for the 2010 OCALI Conference
Registration is now open for the 2010 OCALI Conference. Over 200 sessions will be presented in autism, assistive technology and low-incidence disabilities by leaders and experts from across Ohio and the United States. Register at the special professional rate of $125 through April 30. Details are available at http://conference.ocali.org. Contact OCALI at 614.410.0321 or registration@ocali.org.

Linking Research to Real Life: The Autism Internet Modules (AIM) (For the complete article, click here.)

AIM is an online learning environment that contains comprehensive information on autism spectrum disorders (ASD) at no cost to users. The Autism Internet Modules (AIM) are available at www.autisminternetmodules.org Contact OCALI at 614.410.0321 or email aim@ocali.org.