Preventing the Use of Restraint and Seclusion with Young Children: The Role of Effective, Positive Practices:  In 2009, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released findings of cases in which the use of seclusion and restraint to control the behavior of children with disabilities and/or challenging behavior were abused to the point that children were physically and psychologically injured. Some children even died while being restrained. The Technical Assistance Center on Social Emotional Intervention for Young Children (TACSEI) has released a new document that reviews concerns about the use of seclusion and restraint and discusses positive strategies to prevent behaviors that could lead to the use of these invasive and potentially-dangerous practices. Preventing the Use of Restraint and Seclusion with Young Children: The Role of Effective, Positive Practices.

No easy fix found for bullying:  Seven years ago, Washington schools were under state mandate to take action against bullying. Seven Seattle middle schools adopted a Norwegian program. Committees formed.  Parents and teachers received tutoring.  Children attended regular meetings.  Teachers reported improvement, and principals were delighted.  Yet a rigorous scientific analysis, after three years, showed the program had no overall effect.  Research suggests that despite good intentions and feverish competition to pinpoint a solution, anti-bullying programs have shown, at best, mixed results, and what has worked in one school has not always worked in another.  Read this article.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Regulations: The Department of Justice's revised Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations, which apply to businesses of all sizes that serve the public, took effect on March 15^th.  The amended regulations contain many new or revamped provisions on general nondiscrimination policies. The new nondiscrimination provisions, except for those addressing hotel reservations, take effect immediately.  Compliance with the hotel reservation provisions is not required until March 15, 2012.  The rules also include the 2010 Standards for Accessible Design (2010 Standards), which provide new and revised technical requirements for building accessibility.  Newly constructed and altered facilities must be built in compliance with the 2010 Standards beginning March 15, 2012.  The Department has developed a guide to assist small businesses to understand their obligations under the revised rules.

ADA Update: A Primer for Small Business is an illustrated guide with easy-to-understand language that provides an overview for complying with the revised regulations.  You can also call the toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 (voice) or 800-514-0383 (TTY) with any questions regarding the revised regulations.  The Disability Law Index contains federal statutes, regulations organized by subject and include court case opinions, and legal articles that help interpret federal disability-related laws.

Department of Justice Settlement Agreement with Private Education Company: The US Department of Justice (DOJ) entered into a settlement agreement with Nobel Learning Communities, Inc. (NLC), a private, for-profit entity that operates a nationwide network of more than 180 preschools, elementary schools and secondary schools. These entities operate in the District of Columbia and in 15 states (AZ, CA, FL, IL, MD, NV, NJ, NC, OH, OR, PA, SC, TX, VA, and WA) under a variety of names, including Chesterbrook Academy, Merryhill School and Evergreen Academy, among others. In a lawsuit filed in 2009, DOJ alleged that NLC discriminated against children with disabilities violating Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act by denying them admission to its schools. The children had disabilities including autism spectrum disorder, Down syndrome, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and global developmental delays. NLC agreed to change its policies so that it no longer screens out children who have disabilities and to pay $215,000 collectively to children involved in the original lawsuit. Read more.

Enhanced Early Childhood Education Pays Long-Term Dividends in Better Health: Research shows that high quality, intensive early education programs for low-income children can result in many educational benefits. However, few studies have looked at the impact of these programs on long-term health and health behaviors. Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health recently reported on findings from a study using data from the Carolina Abecedarian Project (ABC), which shows that individuals who received intensive early education intervention had significantly better health and better health behaviors later in life than those in the control group.  Read story.

Promoting Family-Centered Care for Children with Special Health Care Needs: The latest issue of Views from the Field, published by Grantmakers In Health, shares information on how Family Voices and the Family-to-Family Health Information Centers (F2F HICs), which exist in every state and Washington DC, assist families who have children with special health care needs navigate the health care system. Click here for article.

OSEP's 29th Annual Report to Congress on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act:  The 29th Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), published by U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), is now available online. It is the first annual report to have three volumes. Vol. 1 focuses on the children and students being served under IDEA nationally and provides profiles of individual states' special education environments, vol. 2 contains Part B data tables and data notes, vol. 3 contains data tables and data notes for Part C.

Children in Immigrant Families: Ensuring Opportunity for Every Child in America: Children in immigrant families account for nearly one-fourth (24 percent) of all children as of 2010, and the vast majority (88 percent) are U.S. citizens. Children of immigrants account for nearly the entire growth in the U.S. child population between 1990 and 2008.1 This policy brief draws on key indicators from the Foundation for Child Development Child Well-Being Index (CWI), as well as additional data, to highlight both similarities and differences in the circumstances of children in immigrant and native-born families.  Download full report.

Early Care and Education for Children in Immigrant Families: The latest issue of The Future of Children (Spring 2011) focuses on immigrant children. One article, Early Care and Education for Children in Immigrant Families, by Lynn A. Karoly and Gabriella C. Gonzalez, looks at the potential for early care and education (ECE) programs in promoting healthy development for immigrant children. Although early childhood education (ECE) programs have been shown to have substantial benefits to children as they go through school, immigrant children have lower rates of participation than their native counterparts.

Intrinsic Motivation and Student Engagement: Edward L. Deci and Richard M. Ryan at the University of Rochester are leaders in delineating intrinsic motivation concepts and applying them to concerns about engagement in schools, counseling, and the workplace. This resource briefly introduces their work with abstracts from several recent publications.  Click here for PDF document.