Your Voices Make a Difference in Funding Special Education Research
Our first step in this fight was to join with more than 2,000 education, health, and housing organizations to lobby Congress to raise the caps for non-defense spending. Our efforts were successful and resulted in the Bipartisan Budget Bill of 2015.
Our second step has been to tweet, write letters, and visit members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. Special education researchers who are long-time recipients of federal funding for research visited members of Congress who serve on appropriations committees. Education deans from the Universities of Maryland, Florida, and Michigan State joined me in writing a letter to Education Week on the urgent need to fund IES.
At the time of this writing, we are waiting to find out whether appropriations for Labor-HHS-Education have been completed, and whether we will have avoided the draconian cuts. Regardless of the outcome of appropriations, we will continue to advocate on behalf of funding for NCSER.
Thank you for sharing your stories! We will use them in our long-term approach to increase funding for NCSER. Here are 2 stories recently submitted by our members:
(1) Increasing Access to the General Education Curriculum for Students with Autism in Middle School
Last year, I had the pleasure to work with a middle school special education teacher on a research project sponsored by the Office of Special Education Programs utilizing iPads and the iAnnotate application to increase student reading comprehension. This teacher and I used the thinking before, while, and after reading (TWA) strategy, a self-regulated strategy developed by Dr. Linda Mason, who has received funding from NCSER for her special education research. Using the iPads allowed students to provide audio summaries and records of themselves reading out loud. This was an example of special education research having a clear and direct impact on the academic success of middle school students with autism.
(2) Reaching Goals with an IES-Funded Curriculum
Researchers at the University of Florida developed and piloted the I Control curriculum, a project funded by a three-year grant from the U. S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences. I Control is an intensive intervention designed to foster the executive function skills and self-regulation abilities of middle school students who receive special education services for emotional and behavioral disabilities. One 8th grader was working to be integrated into high school general education classes without special education services. This student used what he learned from I Control to (a) set and work toward the goal of integration, (b) recognize barriers to his success, and (c) find resources to support his progress. His special education teacher asked him to share his news with the rest of the class. Grinning from ear to ear, the student revealed that all of his teachers had agreed to his full integration into high school without special education services for the following school year. When asked how he achieved this goal, he said, “I just followed what I learned in I Control.”
We all know that special education research makes a difference and deserves to be funded! Please continue to share your stories—each and every voice makes a difference.
Add your story today: https://sites.google.com/a/uncg.edu/cec-dr-research-stories/
With best wishes for a safe and productive 2016! -Betsy Talbott
News and links:
- Education Week letter-to-the-editor from CEC-DR and LEARN co-chairs on behalf of IES and NCSER funding: http://www.edweek.org/ew/index.html
- White House celebrations of the 40th anniversary of IDEA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jayefjgcSms
- Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2015/11/esea_reauthorizati…
- Follow CEC-DR on Facebook: Division for Research CEC DR
- Follow CEC-DR on Twitter: CEC-Division Research