Teaching, Assessing Students With Disabilities
Saturday, July 1, 2006

In striving to help all students achieve to high standards, the U.S. Department of Education recently released a new tool kit to assist school leaders in fully implementing the accountability provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act for students with disabilities as well as those of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act .

The Tool Kit on Teaching and Assessing Students With Disabilities provides up-to-date guidance on assessing the achievement and progress of special education students. It also includes a series of technical assistance products that offer practical, research-based approaches to the challenges schools are facing in instruction, assessment, accommodations and behavioral interventions. This colorful publication-replete with charts, tables and illustrations-includes:

• Testimonials by educators who have successfully used alternate assessments;
• Sound practices for systematically monitoring student progress;
• Tips for parents on developing children's reading skills;
• Tangible symbols for communicating with severely disabled individuals;
• A schoolwide model for promoting positive behavior; and
• A manual on appropriate accommodations for instructing and assessing students with disabilities in regular classes.

The Tool Kit on Teaching and Assessing Students With Disabilities is a joint effort of the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. Free copies may be downloaded at www.osepideasthatwork.org and ordered on CD-ROM by calling 1-877-4ED-PUBS with identification number EHE0110C, while supplies last.

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