The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services’ Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) released a Questions and Answers (Q&A) document in response to inquiries concerning implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B provision of services in the current COVID-19 environment: IDEA Part B Provision of Services.
This information below is being provided to keep you in the loop on the communications coming to us. We continue to wait for additional guidance from the Iowa Department of Education. You can expect to hear more specific guidance from agency leadership regarding our delivery of our services, especially in Early ACCESS, Early Childhood and Special Education Services.
Secretary DeVos Releases New Resources for Educators, Local Leaders on K-12 Flexibilities, Student Privacy, and Educating Students with Disabilities During Coronavirus Outbreak
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos issued new resources that will assist education leaders in protecting student privacy and ensuring students with disabilities continue to receive services required under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in the event of school closures due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Read more here.
Iowa Department of Public Health Releases K-12 Information for Educators
The Iowa Department of Public Health also released important information for K-12 educators.
This comes directly from the Office of Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education.
The U.S. Departments of Education and Justice today released joint guidance reminding states, school districts, and schools of their obligations under federal law to ensure that English learner students have equal access to a high-quality education and the opportunity to achieve their full academic potential.
In addition to the guidance, the Departments also released additional tools and resources to help schools in serving English learner students and parents with limited English proficiency:
- A fact sheet in English and in other languages about schools’ obligations under federal law to ensure that English learner students can participate meaningfully and equally in school.
- A fact sheet in English and in other languages about schools’ obligations under federal law to communicate information to limited English proficient parents in a language they can understand.
- A toolkit to help school districts identify English learner students, prepared by the Education Department’s Office of English Language Acquisition. This is the first chapter in a series of chapters to help state education agencies and school districts meet their obligations to English learner students.
This is the first time that a single piece of guidance has addressed the array of federal laws that govern schools’ obligations to English learners. The guidance recognizes the recent milestone 40th anniversaries of Lau v. Nichols and the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 (EEOA), as well as the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. The EEOA, similar to Lau, requires public schools to take appropriate action to help English learner students overcome language barriers and ensure their ability to participate equally in school.
The guidance explains schools’ obligations to:
- identify English learner students in a timely, valid and reliable manner;
- offer all English learner students an educationally sound language assistance program;
- provide qualified staff and sufficient resources for instructing English learner students;
- ensure English learner students have equitable access to school programs and activities
- avoid unnecessary segregation of English learner students from other students;
- monitor students’ progress in learning English and doing grade-level classwork;
- remedy any academic deficits English learner students incurred while in a language assistance program;
- move students out of language assistance programs when they are proficient in English and monitor those students to ensure they were not prematurely removed;
- evaluate the effectiveness of English learner programs; and
- provide limited English proficient parents with information about school programs, services, and activities in a language they understand.
Applications for Teaching Ambassador Fellowship and Principal Ambassador Fellowship at the U.S. Department of Education have been released!
Recognizing that teachers and principals are the most trusted sources of information about education policy for policymakers, the Teaching and Principal Ambassador Fellowships serve to connect ED's programs, policies, and resources directly to the field.
Since 2008, the Department has employed 87 outstanding teachers on a full- or part-time basis through the Teaching Ambassador Fellowship program. Last year, ED piloted a Principal Ambassador Fellowship that brought in three talented principals.
The Washington Fellowship is a full-time appointment, based at the Department’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. The Classroom Fellowship enables teachers and principals to participate on a part-time basis, while allowing them to fulfill their regular school responsibilities.
Learn more about the Teaching and Principal Ambassador Fellowships. The application window for the coming school year closes on January 20, 2015 at 11:59 p.m., ET.
From the U.S. Department of Education’s Heartland Communications and Outreach Team
We have received inquiries regarding the educational services available for the children from Central America who have recently crossed the U.S. - Mexico border.
The U.S. Department of Education is in close communication with the other agencies, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, leading the federal response to the humanitarian situation on the border and have created the fact sheet available at www.ed.gov/unaccompaniedchildren. The fact sheet provides information to help education leaders better understand the responsibilities of States and local educational agencies (LEAs) in connection with such students, and the existing resources available to help educate all immigrant students. The third page also contains frequently asked questions.
The internal team Secretary Duncan has tasked with tracking the inquiries being received from the field will continue to monitor this situation as it evolves and the new school year approaches.
