School Age & Beyond

Ability Tools, formerly the AT Network, is California’s Assistive Technology Act Program. We provide a variety of services for Californians with disabilities of all ages. Ability Tools is made possible through funding from the Department of Rehabilitation, financed by the U.S. Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services Administration with funds allocated by the Assistive Technology Act of 2004.

Afterschool programs keep kids safe, inspire them to learn and help working families. For every child in a program, two are waiting to get in. We're working to change that. The Afterschool Alliance grew from public awareness efforts undertaken by the Mott Foundation through an unprecedented, public-private partnership with the U.S. Department of Education to expand afterschool programs through the 21st Century Community Learning Centers afterschool program. The federal government provided grants to local communities for afterschool programs, while the Mott Foundation funded training, evaluation and public awareness activities. The Foundation and the Department's efforts caught the attention of several outside entities with a shared interest in achieving afterschool for all. These groups came together in September 1999 to create the Afterschool Alliance.

• Guest Blog: Inclusive Out-of-School Time
• Afterschool Supporting Students with Disabilities and Other Special Needs 2014 Find under Research Briefs

Length: 4:15 minutes The Family Center on Technology and Disability (FCTD) and PACER Center are pleased to announce the release of our new assistive technology awareness series, AT in Action. Funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), this fully-captioned video series is designed to strengthen awareness of AT devices that help individuals with disabilities participate fully in school, at home, and in the community. In this third video, you'll meet Mason, a young boy with vision loss who, with the help of AT, is able to learn reading and writing in the same classroom as his sighted peers. We invite you to view and share this video with your colleagues and the families you serve.

Best Buddies is a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the lives of people with intellectual disabilities by providing opportunities for one-to-one friendships and integrated employment.

Education Matters is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to supporting students and out-of-school time professionals by providing resources and opportunities for education, empowerment, and career support. We are committed to quality out-of-school time care and a professionalized, sustainable workforce. We are teachers, out-of-school professionals, production professionals and parents who are coming together to transform what is possible for students and teachers in our communities. We focus on Youth Development philosophy in our programs and our annual conference. The partner with CalSac, the California School Age Consortium, to present an annual conference for out-of-school time providers.

• Beyond School Time Conference is September 14-16, 2018 in San Francisco

American Institutes for Research (AIR) released a series of briefs and tools focused on how afterschool programs can support the social and emotional development of young people. Beyond the Bell: Research to Action in the Afterschool and Expanded Learning Field was designed to make research on the afterschool and expanded learning field accessible, easy to read, and ultimately useful in practice.

Special Needs Anti-Bullying Toolkit for parents, teachers and students dealing with bullying and children with special needs. This toolkit is a set of resources for people to confront bullying of children with special needs from all angles - from talking to your children to knowing your rights to teaching tolerance in schools. Start by reading the Top Ten Facts to know about bullying and children with special needs, and then learn about the unique challenges children with special needs face when encountering bullying. Now you have the facts, but want to DO something to help create a bully free world? Getting started is as easy as writing a letter to your child's teacher, or asking your Principal to post your school's anti-bullying policy in public places around the school building. It could mean talking to your child about how he or she has experienced bullying, or reading about the roles of bullying and identifying your personal place in the cycle of bullying.

The goal of the Bullying Prevention Project is to support Sacramento County districts and their demonstration school sites as they implement bullying prevention programs and strategies. This initial project of the countywide Student Mental Health and Wellness Plan will allow each district to focus on a school-based bullying prevention program, provide staff training, promote student mental health and provide early interventions for students and families who need them. Resources housed on this site include national research, professional development resources and evidence-based strategies to address bullying.

The California AfterSchool Network provides leadership and links to state policy makers to support high-quality programs. It offers a collective voice to support policies, research, public awareness campaigns and innovative strategies. Networking partnerships are built to support opportunities for mutual learning so that California’s after-school programs can keep children safe, inspire learning, and help working families. Search on “disabilities” for resources.

• State of the State Expanded Learning in California 2016-2017 (PDF) Oct 2018
• Quality Self-Assessment Tool 2.0 Oct 2018 CAN and its many partners realized it was time to revisit the Self Assessment Tool so that it is more inclusive to the work that is currently happening in the field. So beginning in August 2017, we have started working on the QSAT 2.0. This tool will align even more closely with the Quality Standards, as well as addressing some items that may not have been as clearly defined in the Standards, such as Social Emotional Learning, Cultural Competencies, English Language Learners and Summer. Find the current version at the link above and look for the new version in the coming months.

CalSAC helps build an out-of-school time workforce (such as before school, afterschool and summer learning) that is filled with strong mentors and highly skilled practitioners who reflect the communities they serve. They provide opportunities for training, leadership and advocacy.

• CalSAC Out-of-School time elearning Catalog (PDF) May 2018

A nonprofit leader in education, CAST works to improve learning opportunities and outcomes for all individuals thorough Universal Design for Learning. Explore this website to find out more about our research and development, innovative learning tools, and professional services.

The Center for Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Special Education (CADRE) works to increase the nation’s capacity to effectively resolve special education disputes, reducing the use of expensive adversarial processes. CADRE works with state and local education and early intervention systems, parent centers, families and educators to improve programs and results for children with disabilities. CADRE is funded by the Office of Special Education Programs at the US Department of Education to serve as the National Center on Dispute Resolution in Special Education.

• Resources For Family Members
  • Working Together: Building Improved Communication
• Sitio en Español (Site in Spanish)
• Video Resources
• CADRE Webinar - Practical Strategies for Helping Parents in Conflict: Assisting Divorced or Estranged Parents Through the IEP Process
• Cadre Webinars Archive

Founded by world-renowned neuroscientist Richard J. Davidson, the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds (CIHM) at the Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, is a global leader in conducting novel research that has revolutionized how we understand the mind, our emotions, and how to nurture well-being for ourselves and others.

• 5 Tips for Building Empathy in Youth Sept 2018 A discussion about what research tells us about empathy in middle schoolers is followed by 5 easy activities that help youth gain insight into their own emotions and the feelings of others.
• Finding the Friend within: The Science and Art of Self-Compassion July 2018

• Additional Resources from Center for Healthy Minds
  • University of Wisconsin-Madison “Kindness Curriculum” Nurtures Emotional Awareness in Preschoolers September 18, 2017 Wisconsin Public Radio interview UW-Madison's Center For Healthy Minds is providing its "Kindness Curriculum" to preschool teachers. Thousands of teachers have requested the curriculum, including Sesame Workshop. The researchers at the Center For Healthy Minds consulted on kindness episodes for the 47th season of "Sesame Street" premiering Sept. 18 on Wisconsin Public Television.
  • Sign-up to receive the Kindness Curriculum… free!
  • Kindness Curriculum Boosts School Success in Preschoolers
    Over the course of 12 weeks, twice a week, the prekindergarten students learned their ABCs. Attention, breath and body, caring practice — clearly not the standard letters of the alphabet rather, these 4- and 5-year-olds in the Madison Metropolitan School District were part of a study assessing a new curriculum meant to promote social, emotional and academic skills, conducted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Investigating Healthy Minds (CIHM) at the Waisman Center. Researchers found that kids who had participated in the curriculum earned higher marks in academic performance measures and showed greater improvements in areas that predict future success than kids who had not. The results were recently published in the journal Developmental Psychology.

Our mission is to promote social and emotional learning and character development, bridging the gap between research and practice by providing evidence-based professional development, consulting, coaching and resources to educators and practitioners in formal and informal settings.

• Resources
• Growth Mindset Tool Kit
  • The effects of different kinds of praise (Video) Jan 2015 | Length: 4:09 mins
• Mindfulness Tool Kit
  • Perspectives of mindfulness from students and parents (Video) June 2017 | Length: 2:33 mins
• A Parent’s Guide to Social and Emotional Learning

The Center on Response to Intervention at the American Institutes of Research (AIR) continues the work of the National Center on Response to Intervention (NCRTI), which AIR ran from 2007-2012 with a grant from the Office of Special Education Programs. When the Center’s federal funding ended in 2012, AIR took over upkeep and maintenance of the Center’s website and products and continues to provide support for states, districts, and schools implementing RTI. A graphic is used to help navigate through and learn about the Essential Components of RTI including screening, progress monitoring, multi-level prevention system and data-based decision-making.

• RTI Implementer Series The RTI Implementer Series is intended to provide foundational knowledge about the essential components of RTI and to build an understanding about the importance of RTI implementation.

The Center on Technology and Disability (CTD) is funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). The Center is designed to increase the capacity of families and providers to advocate for, acquire, and implement effective assistive and instructional technology (AT/IT) practices, devices, and services. Research-based technologies, used appropriately, have great potential to help infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities participate fully in daily routines; have increased access to the general educational curriculum; improve their functional outcomes and educational results; and meet college- and career-ready standards.

• CTD Library
  • Hmong
  • Somali
  • Spanish
  • Video
• Isabel Needs Assistive Technology (Video)
  In this story, you'll meet Marta, the mother of Isabel, a young girl with fine motor and learning disabilities. The video introduces viewers to assistive technology (AT) and takes them through an Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting during which AT is considered. This video is captioned in English and is "described" as well. FCTD and Dicapta invite you to view and share this video with your colleagues and the families you serve. This video was originally produced as a Spanish-language resource. Voice-over and captioning were added to provide access to larger audience.
  • Video en Español (Video in Spanish)

Circle of Friends (CoF) provides the opportunity for students with disabilities to build genuine friendships with non-disabled peers. Nationwide, CoF establishes a social inclusion program on school campuses that increases the understanding, acceptance, and appreciation of differences while decreasing bullying, creating a safer school environment in which all students can learn. Students with disabilities are integrated into mainstream campus life and helped to expand the new relationships they have formed into the community at large. Offices are located at 11965 Venice Blvd. Suite 301 Los Angeles, CA 90066. Phone is 310-312-6600.

Session Recordings and Slide Handouts of the 2016 Community Education Conference

• Dan Siegel’s Keynote Address Recording (Video) How our Relationships Shape a Healthy Brain and Resilient Mind: The Power of Connection, Inside and Out by Dan Siegel, MD, UCLA School of Medicine, Mindful Awareness Research Center, Mindsight Institute. In Dr. Dan Siegel’s keynote address for this USC UCEDD conference, he specifically addresses the damaging effects of exclusion and the need for empathy when a child has differences in speech and learning or any kind of difference. At about 16:40 he talks about research that shows that the experience of exclusion shows up in the brain the same as being hit with a red hot poker.....as physical pain! He also talks about how important it is to be able to articulate your differences and to be understood and acknowledged for who you are. The damaging effects of invisibility are also described. Although it's focused on transition aged youth with developmental disabilities, it's applicable to the broader population.

This website provides a definition and description of cyber bullying along with information, resources and recommendations on how to address it.

Edutopia is dedicated to transforming kindergarten through 12th-grade (K-12) education so all students can thrive in their studies, careers, and adult lives. We are focused on practices and programs that help students acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, skills and beliefs to achieve their full potential.

• Additional Resources from Edutopia
  • Helping Students with Autism Transition Into a New School Year In this article a mother reflects on what helped her son with successful transitions to a new class and teacher. She provides common sense suggestions that can contribute to reducing stress and encouraging well-being for both the teacher and student.
  • Response to Intervention: Meeting Students at Their Learning Ability Meyer Elementary uses RTI to provide targeted instruction and support to meet students at their learning ability.
  • Special Report: Overcoming Autism
  • Autism Peer Help (Video)
  • Enabling Dreams (Assistive Technology) (Video)
  • Introduction to Social-Emotional Learning (Video)
  • Fundraising and Grant Resources for Tech Integration
  • 5 Educational Resources for Parents and Families
  • Free tools and guidelines for Social-emotional learning in after school programs
  • Building Social and Emotional Skills in Elementary Students: Passion and Strengths
  • Simple Music Integration for Primary Classrooms
  • Empathy In the Classroom: Why Should I Care?
  • The Long Game: 4 Essentials for a Successful Mindfulness Program
  • Social Emotional Learning: A Schoolwide Approach Strategies like mindfulness, emotional regulation, and supportive small groups help Symonds meet the academic and social needs of their students.

  Family Engagement

  • Edutopia’s 2011 Home-to-School Connections Guide This guide highlights solutions for connecting home and school in order to improve student learning and success. Whether you’re a teacher, parent, or district administrator, this guide provides you with relevant and valuable tools and resources for how best to strengthen the bonds between schools, families, and communities for student learning and success.
  • Mobile Devices for Learning This guide can help you better understand how mobile gadgets -- cell phones, tablets, and smartphones -- can engage students and change their learning environment.
  • Cultivating Parent Engagement (Video)
  • Parent Engagement in Education Resource Round up

  Healthy Mind, Healthy Body

  • The New PE: Special Report: Students Learn That Active Bodies Lead to Active Minds As research linking physical fitness to academic success continues to emerge teachers are coming up with creative ways to keep kids active during teaching time, instead of relying on recess and those ever-dwindling PE hours. Teachers say they find that using movement in the classroom doesn't just get the jitters out, but actually makes for better learning as well, because engaging students' bodies in turn activates their minds.
  • Move Your Body, Grow Your Brain Incorporating exercise and movement throughout the school day makes students less fidgety and more focused on learning. Improving on-task behavior and reducing classroom management challenges are among the most obvious benefits of adding physical activities to your teaching toolkit. As research continues to explore how exercise facilitates the brain's readiness and ability to learn and retain information, we recommend several strategies to use with students and to boost teachers' body and brain health. The article includes the following resources:
    • Brain Breaks Physical activity ideas in the classroom from the Michigan Department of Education
  • Just Breathe: When Teachers Practice Mindfulness In this Edutopia blog by Elena Auguilar she introduces Meena Srinivasan's new book,Teach, Breathe, Learn: Mindfulness In and Out of the Classroom. She describes it as a resource that "speaks to a yearning I hear across our country: a desire to teach and work in a way that is anchored in joy, emerging from compassion, and that is more humane and slower than the way we work now." This easy-to-read book is a roadmap for this desire. She introduces a variety of mindfulness practices and then offers a wealth of resources for how to integrate these into our lives and classrooms.
  • Energy and Calm: Brain Breaks and Focused Attention Practices
  • Simple Music Integration for Primary Classrooms The blog describes five easy ways for primary teachers to integrate music into their classrooms. Each activity is specifically designed for individuals of all backgrounds and abilities, and none require musical training or experience. So why use music in your primary classroom? Well-designed music activities can deepen and reinforce knowledge and skill development across a wide range of subjects. Music is engaging, fun, and can motivate even the most detached students.
  • Empathy In the Classroom: Why Should I Care?
  • The Long Game: 4 Essentials for a Successful Mindfulness Program
  • Social Emotional Learning: A Schoolwide Approach Strategies like mindfulness, emotional regulation, and supportive small groups help Symonds meet the academic and social needs of their students.
  • Empathy In the Classroom: Why Should I Care?
  • The Long Game: 4 Essentials for a Successful Mindfulness Program
  • Social Emotional Learning: A Schoolwide Approach Strategies like mindfulness, emotional regulation, and supportive small groups help Symonds meet the academic and social needs of their students.
  • Resources on Mindfulness in Education
  • Positive Strategies to Avoid Stress, Anxiety and Burnout
  • 5 Simple Lessons for Social and Emotional Learning for Adults
  • How Emotions Affect Learning, Behaviors and Relationships Bring lessons from the movie "Inside Out" into your classroom
  • Islands of Personality and Trains of Thought (Inside Out)

Expect More Arizona is a public-private partnership dedicated to making education the top priority in the state of Arizona. Expect more Arizona unites individuals and organizations that believe expectations must be much higher and sharing our commitment in making Arizona's commitment, birth through career, the best in the nation. The path to higher expectations and educational excellence requires great teachers, motivated students, engaged parents, committed leaders and supportive communities – all working together to increase student academic achievement and ultimately their readiness to succeed in college and career.

• Familes Engaged in Education is the Leading Factor in Student Success (Video)
• Helping Your Child Succeed Resources describing key academic milestones and what to do at each stage of a child's academic development.

For many people, owning and maintaining a home is one of the most significant investments they ever make. But for individuals and veterans living with disabilities, or seniors aging in place, the fact that much of the world outside is not built to accommodate their needs magnifies the value of a comfortable home. It's vital they and their loved ones have access to the best resources about how to make their homes livable and enjoyable. Unfortunately, without access to the right resources, creating a comfortable home can be an expensive task. This guide will identify legal and financial resources available to citizens, seniors, and veterans, offer tips to hire the right home remodeler, and suggest modifications throughout the home to make the space as accommodating as possible.

School-Age Notes is a publisher and retailer of books, videos, DVDs, music CDs and other resources for after-school professionals and after-school programs and summer programs geared to school-age children. Science and math enrichment, literacy, curriculum planning, staff training, discipline, summer programs, arts and crafts, fitness, games, cooking, drama, multicultural activities and many more topics are covered in resources available for order from School-Age Notes.

FosterEdConnect.org is an online community connecting and supporting California's foster youth liaisons, foster youth advocates, and all professionals working to improve the educational outcomes of foster youth.

Got Transition/Center for Health Care Transition is a cooperative agreement between the Maternal and Child Health Bureau and The National Alliance to Advance Adolescent Health. Our aim is to improve transition from pediatric to adult health care through the use of new and innovative strategies for health professionals and youth and families.Health care transition resources are listed and organized by topic.

Many schools and organizations offer assistance to help students with disabilities reach their goals. From tutoring, to financial aid and tax breaks, students with disabilities, and their parents, can access a wide range of resources. But finding these resources and applying for them can be a bit overwhelming. This site lists a wide range of scholarships and grants available for specific categories of disability and provides tips on how to apply for them.

A project of the VA Department of Education, the I'm Determined website offers resources for youth, families, and educators around self-determination. Self-determination is about youth with disabilities taking control of their lives. Resources include videos, modules, a transition guide, downloadable brochures, and more.

Published: Jul 2012 | 12:14 minutes Tyler is a typical high school student who happens to have cerebral palsy and some other challenges. He has taken on a mission to educate the world about Ability Awareness. He believes that what a person, any person, CAN do is much more important than what he/she can't. The people in Tyler's life who have seen this and practiced Ability Awareness have made all the difference in the world to him. For more information, go to the I'm Tyler website.

The IRIS Center is a national center that aims to provide high-quality resources for college and university faculty and professional development providers about students with disabilities. IRIS seeks to obtain this goal by providing free, online, interactive training enhancements that translate research about the education of students with disabilities into practice. It is made possible through a grant between Vanderbilt University and the Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education.

• Universal Design for Learning Training Module

KIT stands for Kids Included Together, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that was founded in San Diego, California in 1997. The mission of Kids Included Together is to support recreational, child development, and youth development programs that include children with and without disabilities. KIT's goals are to enrich the lives of all who participate and to increase understanding and acceptance of disabilities as a natural part of life. We invite you to explore our site and learn more about our work in San Diego County and across the nation.

• KIT: Top 5 Trends in Disability Inclusion 2018 Sept 2018 Kids Included Together (KIT) is leading the field in disability inclusion and behavior support through work with over 450 organizations in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Using research, media, and recent KIT data from 625 training sessions, 100 online courses, 325 onsite visits, and 1,752 support center calls, we have identified the top 5 trends in childhood disability inclusion. In 2018, we can exploit these trends to help increase meaningful inclusion of children with disabilities in schools and communities.
• Inclusion Resources: Videos, Tip Sheets, Checklists, Guidebooks and Websites Sept 2018
• Who We Are-Our Work: Publications Sept 2018
• What is Inclusion? (PDF) Sept 2018
• Inclusion Checklist for Programs Sept 2018
• Case by Case Checklist (Gathering information about individual children or youth) Sept 2018

• Additional Resources from KIT
  • KIT National Training Center on Inclusion (NTCI) NTCI was established to support the overall mission of Kids Included Together through training, technical assistance and resources of the highest quality for staff in out of school time programs at all levels of experience and interest. KIT's National Training Center on Inclusion utilizes a combination of the latest technology coupled with live presentations by dynamic and experienced trainers and practitioners to support providers like you in welcoming children with disabilities.

Here you will find Disability History Lesson Plans for grades K-3. All documents are in PDF format and available for download.

• Educational Resources
• Virtual Museum
  Our Virtual Museum brings the rich historical exhibits that we're known for right in to your living room.
• Disability History Lesson Plans
  Here you will find Disability History Lesson Plans for grades K-3. All documents are in PDF format and available for download.

Length: 8:36 minutes This video was presented at the 2009 CEC Convention. My Own Bookshelf SoftTouch is a project designed to bring literacy into the lives of children with disabilities. The video shows volunteers scanning books, the children adding their voices to the stories, and the children with disabilities enjoying the stories by themselves and with other children using switches and sharing their books with others through the same access technology.This video illustrates the possibilities of using technology to integrate learning with all populations, and to create something entirely unique with relative ease.

The National AfterSchool Association, formerly the National School-Age Care Alliance, was founded in 1987. They are a professional association with a membership component. The membership includes more than 7,000 practitioners, policy makers, and administrators representing all public, private, and community-based sectors of after-school and out-of-school time programs, as well as school-age and after-school programs on military bases, both domestic and international. As the leading voice of the after-school profession, they are dedicated to the development, education, and care of children and youth during their out-of-school hours.

This website was developed by a cooperative agreement between CAST and the US Department of Education (IDEAs that Work). Accessible educational materials, or AEM, are materials and technologies usable for learning across the widest range of individual variability, regardless of format or features. Whether a material or technology is designed from the start to be accessible for all learners or is made accessible for learners with disabilities, it is considered AEM.

• Quick Starts Organized by audience, each Quick Start offers brief answers to the most commonly asked questions about AEM along with links to additional resources for further information.
• Early Learning Resources

National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability (NCHPAD) is the premier resource for information on physical activity, health promotion, and disability, serving persons with physical, sensory and cognitive disability across the lifespan. NCHPAD features a variety of resources and services which can benefit all ages and populations and can be found online at www.nchpad.org.

• Guidelines for Disability Inclusion in Physical Activity, Nutrition, & Obesity Programs and Policies Oct 2018 As part of the National Center on Health, Physical Activity, and Disability (NCHPAD), the Center on Disability at the Public Health Institute (COD-PHI) has developed these Guidelines for Disability Inclusion in Physical Activity, Nutrition, and Obesity Program Initiatives to assist in the updating of community health programs and policies to be inclusive of the needs of people with disabilities.
• Inclusive Out-of-School Time Oct 2018 The purpose of this article is to promote inclusion of youth with disabilities in after-school, expanded learning, and out-of-school time programs. For the purposes of this article, the term “include” and “inclusion” embodies the values, policies, and practices that support all youth, those both with and without disabilities, to participate in a broad range of out-of-school time activities. The article introduces tool kits to support kids with disability in out-of-school time from various sources.

• Additional Resources from NCHPAD
  • Can Disability, Chronic Conditions, Health and Wellness Coexist? Mar 2015
  • Fun and Leisure: Program Considerations for Integrating Children with Disabilities into Community Sports and Recreation Programs Mar 2015
  • Preventing Obesity in Youth with Disabilities - The Time is Now for an Inclusive Agenda Mar 2015
  • Exercise is for Everybody. How do you get enough? Mar 2015

From the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008….The term UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING means a scientifically valid framework for guiding educational practice that:

1. provides flexibility in the ways information is presented, in the ways students respond or demonstrate knowledge and skills, and in the ways students are engaged; and
2. reduces barriers in instruction, provides appropriate accommodations, supports, and challenges, and maintains high achievement expectations for all students, including students with disabilities and students who are limited English proficient.

• Videos on Universal Design for Learning

Wellesley Centers for Women at Wellesley College 106 Central St. Wellesley, MA 02481 (781) 283-2547 NIOST is involved in development, training, research and publications related to high quality programs, opportunities, and activities for all children during non school hours.

• NIOST Making the Case: A Fact Sheet on Children and Youth in Out of School Time (PDF)
• Back to the Future: Engaging Older Youth (PDF)

PTA's mission is to make every child’s potential a reality by engaging and empowering families and communities to advocate for all children.

• 6 Keys to Engaging Families in ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) (PDF)
• Family-School Partnerships Implementation Guide: The Power of Partnerships (12 page booklet in English and Spanish) The benefits of Family-School-Community Partnerships are many: higher teacher morale, more parent involvement, and greater student success are only a few. That is why PTA developed the National Standards for Family-School Partnerships Implementation Guide, a tool for empowering people to work together with an end goal of building family-school partnerships and student success.

Brought to you by an award-winning team of disabled journalists – Emma Tracey and Damon Rose – with help from guest contributors who all have personal connections to disability. Ouch goes behind the headlines of disability news, and also lifts the lid on the little details about being disabled that are not widely talked about.

The TA Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports has been established by the Office of Special Education Programs, US Department of Education to give schools capacity-building information and technical assistance for identifying, adapting, and sustaining effective school-wide disciplinary practices. This TA Center provides guidance and tools in developing positive relationships with families of school age children. Below is the link to the area on the website that provides rationale for parent involvement, research, best practices and tips for teachers (School, Family and Community Partnerships) and a link to another area of the site that includes a list of parent training resources and specifically a "Family Engagement Checklist."

• School, Family & Community Partnerships
• Family Engagement Checklist

Research shows that the time students have outside of the regular school day is critical to academic achievement. Before and after school programs offer a range of opportunities for recreational and academically enriching activities that are developmentally appropriate. The intent of this document is to guide programs as they expand activities to promote the skill development of school-age children. Research-based strategies are offered throughout the guide, and they can be used to support all school-age children in California as they participate in a range of activities—including those that support the development of academic skills, character, and other cognitive and social–emotional capabilities. It includes a section on serving children with special needs.

Signed Stories has lots of great books to see in sign language and subtitles. Hearing family and friends can listen to the stories too. You can all watch together! Signed Stories has a very simple goal – to help improve the literacy of deaf children nationwide by allowing them to share in the joy of storytelling. It’s also designed to provide useful advice and guidance for the parents, cargivers and teachers of deaf children; and for the deaf parents of hearing children. Everyone – deaf or hearing – can use Signed Stories. Please keep coming back to see new books as they arrive, and please tell your friends and work colleagues about this free website.

• Apps for Schools
• Apps for the Family

The California Department of Education (CDE) is committed to helping educators learn more about SEL and how to make this a part of every child’s school experience. To support this work, CDE has joined the Collaborating States Initiative a group of eight states that share information, best practices, and promising tools and ideas in the interest of building strong Social Emotional Learning in schools across their states. The Collaborating States Initiative is hosted by the Collaborative for Academic Social and Emotional Learning. With the support of a group of expert advisors, CDE will develop a plan for the best ways to implement good SEL in California schools. Updates from that work will be posted to this page.

• California’s Social and Emotional Guiding Principles (PDF)

Families of children with disabilities and special needs very seldom travel. The unknown challenges and fears are just too overwhelming. Meghan Harris founder of Special Globe.com and parent of a child with a neurodevelopmental disorder is trying to rectify that: It is our intent here at SpecialGlobe to gather any and all information about special needs travel under one roof where you can take your time to review and make decisions about what's right for your family.

SNIP helps San Francisco out-of-school time programs serving children ages 6-13 create environments that are welcoming and inclusive for ALL children, both with and without disabilities. SNIP does not diagnose children; rather we seek to support programs to ensure that all children are able to participate successfully. We accomplish this through on-site program observation and coaching, individual and group consultation, staff training and interagency collaboration. They have developed high-quality resources that would be beneficial to any after school or out-of-school time program.

• “Inclusion Tool Kit” (PDF)
• Tip Sheets and Resources

StopBullying.gov provides information from various government agencies on what bullying is, what cyberbullying is, who is at risk, and how you can prevent and respond to bullying. When adults respond quickly and consistently to bullying behavior they send the message that it is not acceptable. Research shows this can stop bullying behavior over time. Parents, school staff, and other adults in the community can help kids prevent bullying by talking about it, building a safe school environment, and creating a community-wide bullying prevention strategy.

• Kindness Works! Poster (PDF) Sept 2018
• Bullying and Youth with Disabilities and Special Health Needs Sept 2018 This article provides suggests strategies to address student’s special needs at school that can also help to prevent bullying and have positive outcomes for all students, especially tactics that use a team approach, foster peer relationships, and help students develop empathy.

Stories read by members of the Screen Actors Guild

SWIFT Center helps whole education systems build capacity to provide academic and behavioral instruction and support for all students, including those with the most extensive needs. SWIFT technical assistance uses six research-based practices to differentiate support as each community travels its unique path to being a highly effective education system in which all students achieve and fully participate in their school communities. SWIFT Field Guide consists of five domains, each with two features. Explore the guide to learn more about SWIFT practices. If you are a new visitor, you may find the How to Use SWIFT Field Guide page helpful. Videos (found on the home page):

• All Means All (2:03 minutes)
• Together: A SWiFT film on Integrated Education Framework (23:49 minutes)
• Whatever It Takes: A SWiFT film on Inlusive Academic Instruction (21:53 minutes)

This website is designed to provide information, strategies, and resources to transition navigators—teachers, counselors, family members, and community providers—to guide youth on the move.

youth.gov (formerly FindYouthInfo.gov) was created by the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs (IWGYP), which is composed of representatives from 19 federal agencies that support programs and services focusing on youth. The IWGYP promotes the goal of positive, healthy outcomes for youth. This federal website provides interactive tools and other resources to help youth-serving organizations and community partnerships plan, implement, and participate in effective programs for youth.

Even if a student with intellectual disabilities isn’t yet prepared for the rigors of a full degree program, that doesn’t mean there aren’t countless other paths offered at college campuses to help them transition into independent adulthood. This website features an interactive map of the US where students throughout the country can find a range of supportive and innovative degrees and program resources to help them succeed at the postsecondary level. Learners can use the tool below to find tailored programs in their state.

Addressing each need of students with visual impairments and improving overall accessibility is vital to their academic success. This guide explains how colleges are creating more welcoming and inclusive learning environments, with a sharp focus on assistive technology, campus resources that provide assistive services and tools, information about scholarships for students with visual impairments, and online resources they can access to facilitate academic and career success.

With the advances of adaptive technologies and trend toward progressive legislation, prospective college students with disabilities now have countless resources available to make their transition to postsecondary education less stressful. Below, find specific information and resources on a variety of different disabilities, learn how to make the transition into the workforce easier, and find out what your legal rights on campus are.

Prospective college students with disabilities will find that many campuses are equipped with offices and services that address accessibility, accommodation, and assistive technology for a diverse range of needs. Student services offices and disability coordinators at many colleges work to make campuses inclusive environments through specialized advocacy, support, and academic services.

The purpose of this guide is to focus on financial aid opportunities and discuss how to take advantage of them.

This guide outlines some of the civil rights and liberties that students with disabilities are entitled to, and describes how universities approach students with disabilities. On top of that, we outline a few strategies for finding a school that is a good fit.