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Description: Based on the work of the CEEDAR Center and Council for Exceptional Children, the GMU TTAC Team has created High Leverage Practice Crosswalks in the areas of Math, Literacy and Transition to support stakeholders in developing personalized professional learning and targeted support, with the goal of bridging research into “practical” classroom practice to improve performance outcomes. The HLP Crosswalks are dynamic documents that will be periodically updated with the most current...
Description: The 2022 Virginia Assistive Technology, Tools, and Strategies (VATTS) Resources will guide the IEP team through the consideration and documentation process. These resources replace the previous versions of the AT Consideration and Resource Guide. VATTS: Consideration and Assessment Guidance Document (PDF) - Guidance for school divisions in the consideration and assessment of AT, including planning and implementing those services for students with disabilities. VATTS: Consideration...
Description: With the passage of the Virginia Literacy Act (VLA) in the 2022 General Assembly, Virginia is taking the lead nationwide to improve early literacy outcomes for Virginia’s young learners. Through the VLA, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) will support school divisions through a multi-year effort with tools, resources, technical assistance and funding.
Description: Rubric – HLP 1 Collaborate with Professionals to Increase Student Success, Rubric – HLP 2 Lead Effective Meetings with Professionals & Families, Rubric – HLP 3 Collaborate with Families to Support Student Learning and Secure Needed Services, Rubric – HLP 4: Use Multiple Sources of Information to Develop a Comprehensive Understanding of a Student’s Strengths and Needs, Rubric – HLP 6 Use Assessment Date, Analyze Instructional Practices and Make Adjustments...
Description: HLP Highlight Tool - HLP 1: Collaborate with Professionals to Increase Student Success, HLP Highlight Tool - HLP 2: Organize and Facilitate Effective Meetings with Professionals and Families, HLP Highlight Tool - HLP 3: Collaborate with Families to Support Student Learning and Secure Needed Services, HLP Highlight Tool - HLP 4: Use Multiple Sources of Information to Develop a Comprehensive Understanding of a Student’s Strengths and Needs, HLP Highlight Tool - HLP 5: Interpret and...
Description: This guide designed to support professionals and families in understanding assistive technology (AT) and identifying possible AT tools for students from preschool through high school. (Updated 9/2023) “I have severe dyslexia and it's hard for me to read and write. In the eighth grade, I could not write down a single word. The first time I used a program with voice recognition, I wrote a whole short story. Using AT means I can do things myself and I don't have to depend on someone else to...
Description: What is Data-Based Individualization? (NCII) DBI is a research-based process for individualizing and intensifying interventions through the systematic use of assessment data, validated interventions, and research-based adaptation strategies. DBI is a process, not a specific program or product. The process is driven by data, characterized by increased intensity and individualization, and considers the academic and behavioral needs of the student. In some schools, intensive...
Description: Challenging Behavior Tips for Families - Young children need help from adults to learn how they are expected to behave in social situations. Check out these helpful tips for how families can promote their child’s positive behavior during common routines that can sometimes be challenging. Disabilities coordinators can download and share the handouts with educators to use during home visits and family nights, or directly with families. Coordinators and education staff may consider creating a...
Description: As the Virginia Department of Education is working to issue formal guidance in response to Governor Youngkin’s Executive Order 28: Parental Notification, Law Enforcement Collaboration, and Student Education to Prevent Student Overdoses, the department is sharing best practices to support decision-making protocols that school leaders are grappling with when developing parent notification protocols and also re-enforcing best practices for law enforcement collaboration. Parent Notification:...
Description: We recognize the impact of violence and trauma on our students, families, and school staff as we all struggle to process the lives lost, continuing violence and current world events, including the recent outbreak of war in Israel and antisemitic demonstrations around the world. School staff and parents may find themselves fielding questions from students and supporting them in processing what they have heard and seen. CONSIDERATION ONE: How can we best support students and families that are...
Description: The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) recognizes the impact that a well-established special education PRC can have on insuring that parents are informed of their rights and responsibilities related to the special education processes outlined in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA 2004) and the Regulations Governing Special Education Programs for Children with Disabilities in Virginia and, as such, have a direct impact on increasing outcomes for students with...
Description: A Resource Guide for Inclusive Postsecondary Education for Students with Intellectual Disability - This guide is designed to introduce you to inclusive postsecondary education (IPSE), or college options for students with intellectual disability (ID). In this guide, you’ll find everything you need to know about IPSE in an easy-to-read format, with helpful tips, information, and resources from the Think College website. You will learn about what IPSE is, how colleges include students...
Description: Biden-Harris Administration Announces Updated Resource to Support the Inclusion of Children with Disabilities in Early Childhood Programs (11/2023) Recently, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Education (the Departments) announced the release of an updated joint-policy statement on supporting the inclusion of children with disabilities in early childhood programs. The HHS-ED Policy Statement on the Inclusion of Children with Disabilities in Early Childhood...
Description: Inclusive Principal Leadership - Students with disabilities and other historically marginalized students are more likely to thrive academically and socially when principals are well-prepared, knowledgeable about special education, committed to inclusion, and take specific leadership practices. These Inclusive Principal Leadership tools are intended to advance policies and practices that support principals to lead inclusive schools where students are provided supports needed to succeed and feel...
Description: Recorded Webinar: Expect, Engage, Empower: Successful Transitions for All - This session targets the recent OSERS initiative 3E: Expect, Engage, Empower. This initiative challenges our field to raise expectations, engage families earlier, and empower all who support students with disabilities to improve postsecondary outcomes. Staff from the National Technical Assistance Center on Transition: The Collaborative (NTACTC) shared information and resources about evidence-based transition practices...
Description: 24 Tips for Traveling With Children - This article discusses how to make flights and road trips easier for children with autism, anxiety, and other challenges. What You'll Learn: How can families help kids with special needs prepare for air travel? What are some ways to make road trips easier for kids with special needs? How can families make hotel stays work for kids with special needs? Hidden Disabilities Sunflower - Some disabilities, conditions or chronic illnesses are not immediately...
Description: An issue in the Impact series that focuses on the brothers and sisters of children, teens, and adults with intellectual, developmental, and other disabilities (IDD) – what we know about them, their roles and needs across the lifespan, their feelings about themselves and their siblings, and how to support them. Siblings of people with IDD are frequently involved in their brother’s or sister’s life longer than anyone else in their family. They have unique experiences,...
Description: 8 tips for helping kids with social skills challenges cope with the holiday season - Kids who have trouble with social skills can find holiday events stressful. From conversation starters to role-playing, discover simple tips that can help your child cope. Download: Help your child get ready for an event - Help make holiday events less stressful. Fill out this worksheet with your child. It breaks down key event details so that kids feel more comfortable about attending new events.
Description: In this practice-based learning opportunity (PLO), a description of how to use Mixed reality simulation (MRS) to teach candidates to use strategies for actively engaging students (HLP #18). Specifically, candidates play the role of a teacher in an inclusion sixth-grade science class. One of the students in the group is Nate; he has high-functioning autism. The candidates are asked to first complete pre-work activities and then plan an explicit instruction lesson that focuses on a science...
Description: The Building Connections Webinar Series explores how social and emotional learning (SEL) connects to topics to strengthen the many systems that support young people.
Description: Educator Webinar: Self Care Tips for Teachers - In this digital workshop, Breathe For Change’s Founder & CEO, Dr. Ilana Nankin, will guide you through transformative wellness practices you can draw on in your daily life to sustain a personal self-care practice! Take this precious time to fill up your own cup - and learn to give to yourself the way we know you so generously give to your students and community every day. You deserve it! At the end of the workshop, we will share...
Description: Webinar: Happy Teachers, Happy Classroom - Many teachers are simply and understandably burning out! The fire and passion that once sparked for teaching are simply becoming extinguished. In this highly-engaging webinar, based on the book by the same title, educators will not only learn how to restore their passion for teaching, they will also explore 12 specific ways to look five to ten years younger, become and remain healthier, and live a longer life! This webinar has been...
Description: Making Educator Wellness a Priority: Simple Self-Care Strategies - Teaching is one of the most stressful professions. That stress can affect your health, your job satisfaction, and even the quality of your teaching. However, decades of research show that when teachers feel better, they perform better. View this edWebinar to: Hear why educator wellness is so important Gain simple self-care strategies you can use immediately to reduce stress and improve your wellness Participate in a...
Description: Level Up Virginia (LUV) is a statewide initiative led by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) and the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE). Their mission is to increase postsecondary readiness, enrollment and completion for all students in the Commonwealth. They are committed to making college access information easily understandable and accessible for students of all backgrounds. Timeline: What Level Are You On? (Infographic) Prepare - Students with Disabilities...
Description: AIM-VA (Accessible Instructional Materials of Virginia), Bookshare, CommonLit - The Library (a free digital collection of fiction and nonfiction for classrooms), Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) - The Education Guide, Learning Ally - Unlocking Student Potential through Literacy Solutions, Library and Resource Center (Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired, DBVI), National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS): The Library of Congress, ReadWorks, Student...
Description: Science of Reading: The Podcast will deliver the latest insights from researchers and practitioners in early reading. Via a conversational approach, each episode explores a timely topic related to the science of reading.
Description: 10 Podcasts for Dyslexia Awareness - Podcasts are a great way to incorporate media consumption into your daily life. Unlike video or reading from books, podcasts are made to be listened to “on the go”. The listening format is particularly accessible for people with dyslexia and those who find themselves super busy. I enjoy listening to podcasts in the car and while exercising. While you can find podcasts about virtually ANY topic, it is worthwhile for teachers to listen to dyslexia...
Description: The IDA Dyslexia Handbook What Every Family Should Know provides necessary information regarding: definition of dyslexia characteristics of dyslexia appropriate assessment tools evidence-based interventions, suggestions for managing a dyslexic’s educational process In addition, helpful resources and a glossary of terms are provided to better understand dyslexia and its relateddisorders.
Description: If we don’t implement critical components of an intervention with consistency, we cannot link student outcomes to the instruction provided. Fidelity can help us to determine the effectiveness of an intervention, and identify if a student requires more intensive supports. This resource outlines five elements of fidelity and provides guiding questions for each.
Description: This Specially Designed Instruction (SDI) and Reading presentationwas given at the Science of Teaching Reading Conference at the College of William and Mary on September 30, 2022.
Description: This log from the National Center on Intensive Intervention can be used as a daily and weekly record of your implementation of an individual student’s intensive intervention plan or specially designed instruction. This information, along with progress monitoring graphs, can inform team intervention and data review meetings. You may choose to supplement the logs with additional items or more detailed notes or adapt for use documenting additional supports and services.
Description: This Science of Reading inforgraphic shows the What, Why and How of Phonological Awareness, Phonics, Fluency and Vocabulary which all lead to Comprehension. This infographic is from R.I.S.E. Arkansas.
Description: Ever since it was first published, Teaching Chemistry to Students with Disabilities: A Manual for High Schools, Colleges, and Graduate Programs has served as a vital resource in the chemistry classroom and laboratory to students with disabilities as well as their parents, teachers, guidance counselors, and administrators. In a changing time of technology, rapid access to information, accessibility tools for individuals with disabilities, and publishing, Edition 4.1 is being published...
Description: Why is it important for students and families to be involved in AT decision-making? “Using AT means I can do things myself and I don't have to depend on someone else to help me." ~Olivia Hampton, I'm Determined Youth Summit, 2019 Check out these Professional Learning Possibilities on TTAC Online: Resource: AT Tools in Schools - 2nd Edition Resource: Information Gathering for AT Consideration Resource: 5 self-advocacy sentence starters for grade-schoolers with dyslexia Resource:...
Description: Assistive Technology That's Built Into Mobile Devices - Most smartphones and digital tablets have built-in assistive technology (AT) that can help with learning and thinking differences. The range of AT features varies depending on the device’s operating system. But iOS devices like iPhones, as well as Android devices like Samsung Galaxy phones, all have built-in AT tools. You don’t need to buy special apps to use these built-in AT features.
Description: Return to School Webinars sponsored by CBIRT, a center under the Department of Psychology at the University of Oregon, conducts research and training to improve the lives of children and adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI). CBIRT’s research focuses on developing interventions to improve outcomes related to education, employability, and quality of life. Our training activities promote the use of best practices among educators and other professionals who serve individuals...
Description: This 2023 Children’s Mental Health Report takes a close look at the following topics to see what can ve done to remedy this urgent problem: What we know about how reading difficulties can affect kids’ mental health The latest brain-based research on how children learn to read, and how the brains of children with dyslexia are different What the evidence tells us about the most effective ways to teach children to read How we can work together to help the next generation of American...
Description: These Project Briefs are from VCU Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC). They provide input from families about the pathway to integrated employment. Project Brief 1: The Voice of Families: Exploring Perspectives on the Pathways to Integrated Employment. (2020). Project Brief 2: Meaningful Work for Individuals with IDD: Insights from Families. (2020). Project Brief 3: Barriers to Employment for Individuals with IDD: Insights from Families. (2020). Project Brief 4: Supporting...
Description: The Commonwealth of Virginia is making a significant investment in public education with $418 million dedicated to high dosage academic tutoring, accelerating the expansion of the Virginia Literacy Act (VLA), and combatting chronic absenteeism.
Description: The Elements of I'm Determined comprise the essentials necessary for increasing self-determination skills. These skills, abilities, and beliefs are grounded in self-determination research. A poster, that is a simple reminder of the Elements and their definitions, is available to download.
Description: Early interventionists (EIs) play a critical role nurturing the relationship between the caregiver and child to enhance all children’s social and emotional development to promote successful future outcomes. This podcast focuses on infant mental health topics that support the emotional well-being of all families. Join us to listen and reflect to promote meaningful moments for all families in early intervention. These podcasts are a collaborative effort from the Virginia Department of...
Description: K-12 Learning Acceleration Grants - Effective September 18, 2023, applications are open for $3000 learning acceleration grants ONLY for qualifying families. Please apply only if you meet the following criteria. Those who apply but do not meet the criteria listed below will not be eligible to receive a learning acceleration grant. Grants will be available until funding is exhausted. The student is school-aged, which means a student who: will have reached his or her fifth birthday on or...
Description: Video Resources: Educator Pathway to Success - Educators often ask, “Where do I start?” While every educator may introduce self-determination in different ways, the Educator Pathway to Success gives you ten bite-sized videos that were created in a way to help answer that question. If you are new to self-determination, it is suggested that you view them in the order laid out below. However, if you want to skip around, it will still make sense, so feel free to go through this...
Description: In the series of four videos, you can explore Student Involvement in the IEP process utilizing three of the I’m Determined Tools: The One-Pager, Good Day Plan, and Goal Plan. These videos provide instructions on how to use these tools to increase student involvement in the IEP process. Hear from Determinators and Youth Leaders who have used these tools and who have participated in their IEPs. Modules include: Session 1 - Overview Session 2 - The One-Pager Session 3 - The Good Day Plan...
Description: Tools & Resources for Families - As family members, you are an important part of your student’s success no matter their age. Explore resources and events that will help you support your child along their journey. Parent Path to Success Critical Decision Points Good Day Plan Parent Summit MOVE Program And much more ...
Description: Self-Paced Professional Learning - SDI: Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD): An Inclusive Meta-Cognitive Strategy for Solving Equations (HLP 14) -General and special education teachers will have the opportunity to learn a research based meta-cognitive strategy (HLP 14) for teaching students how to solve multi-step equations. The Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) for Solving Equations, a 5-hour professional learning session, provides all the materials and resources necessary to...
Description: This module provides an overview of the Concrete–Representational–Abstract (CRA) approach to mathematics instruction, as well as practical classroom applications of this strategy to help you bring CRA to life in your own math teaching practice. This module is targeted at educators in the elementary grades; however, the CRA approach can also be beneficial when adapted for students at the secondary level.
Description: Participate in hands-on learning opportunities and insightful discussion sessions addressing the importance of Specially Designed Instruction (SDI) in today’s classroom. Learn why it is essential for educators to understand how SDI must be implemented in addition to the educational and support services every student is eligible to receive. Find answers you need to know, such as: Who can provide SDI for students? How does our team develop and monitor an IEP that will ensure access to...
Description: This section of the Virginia Tech T/TAC website contains video clips, schema instructional cards and additional resources for schema based instruction and progress monitoring.
Description: To help professionals and the families they work with get started with family math, our Family Activities offer tips, games, and other materials geared toward children from birth to age 8, but children of all ages will delight in the learning.