January 2025

Resources for Special Education Professionals

This newsletter is designed to inform special education professionals about the different resources available to them to support their work with students and families.

This edition of AJE's newsletter for Special Education Professionals highlights some of the recent updates and changes from OSSE.

We hope you find our information helpful. If you do, please forward it to colleagues!

• You can find all of our past newsletters for Parents and Professionals here - https://www.aje-dc.org/publications/.
• You can sign up to receive these newsletters here.



The IDEA Accessibility Project

Every Special Education Professional knows about the importance of providing the procedural safeguards to families, but not everyone knows that parents often struggle to understand them.

AJE has some resources that might help.

The IDEA Accessibility Project seeks to make the safeguards more understandable to families. The Project includes a series of videos in English and Spanish that break down the safeguards into bite-sized chunks.

We encourage you to share the videos with families!

News from OSSE

Mandated Behavioral Health Training Modules 

Users have reported technical difficulties accessing and completing Department of Behavioral Health (DBH) mandated trainings. DBH is working with their contractor Kognito to problem solve and resolve these issues. Given the technical challenges, DBH will wait until Jan. 31 to obtain the module completion compliance data to report for the current two-year compliance period. District law mandates that all public and public charter school teachers, principals, and staff employed by childcare providers complete a behavioral health training once every two years (DC Law 14-56; DC Official Code § 7-1131.17(b)(1)). For additional information or assistance, you may send an email to Dr. Charneta C. Scott at Charneta.Scott@dc.gov. 

Revised Model Policies: School Safety Omnibus Amendment Act 

The School Safety Omnibus Amendment Act of 2018 requires District schools to adopt policies and procedures to prevent and address sexual abuse and acts of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and dating violence. Under this law, District schools must have two policies that, (1) prevent and address student sexual abuse by school staff (DC Code § 38–951.02) and (2) prevent and address student-on-student acts of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and dating violence (DC Code § 38–952.02). In 2019, OSSE released two model policies for District schools and LEAs addressing the requirements under this law. OSSE recently reviewed and revised these model policies. These revisions primarily update citations to ensure alignment with the US Department of Education’s revised Title IX regulations.

LEAs may adopt the OSSE model policies as written or use them as a starting point when developing their own policies. Schools and LEAs that used the 2019 OSSE model policies are strongly encouraged to review the 2024 versions and ensure their policies are up to date. A description of the revisions and the two model policies are available on the OSSE website.

As a reminder, this law also requires schools and LEAs to perform due diligence regarding potential, current and former staff (DC Code § 38–951.03), prohibits assisting certain employment of a perpetrator of child sexual abuse offenses (DC Code § 32–1131.02) and requires schools to provide age- and developmentally appropriate academic instruction on consent, setting and respecting boundaries and developing and maintaining healthy relationships (DC Code § 38–824.02(b-2)). Schools and LEAs are strongly encouraged to routinely review this law and Title IX and consult their legal counsel to ensure all parts are met.

The revised 2024 model policies, as well as additional materials to support other parts of this law, are available on the OSSE website. Please direct any questions regarding the model policies to osse.schoolhealth@dc.gov.

Register for Special Education Newsletter

OSSE’s Office of Special Education has introduced the Special Education Newsletter to support LEAs with ongoing training and technical assistance. This newsletter provides information pertinent to all LEA Special Education Points of Contact (LEA SPED POCs) in carrying out their roles, including updates and reminders on special education requirements, data responsibilities, and monitoring activities.

To subscribe to receive the Special Education Newsletter, register here.

Homeless Education Program: McKinney-Vento Monthly Webinar Sessions 

OSSE’s Homeless Education Program has invited subject matter experts to present on a variety of topics that impact students and families experiencing homelessness. These 1-hour monthly webinars are available to LEA and school employees, homeless liaisons, and community partners. Presentations are scheduled each month from November 2024 through May 2025. The registration links for the January and February 2025 webinars are below.

Date: Wednesday, Feb. 12

Time: 10-11 a.m.

Presenters: OSSE’s Post-Secondary and Career Education/DC TAG

Register: forms.office.com/g/NX6BFPvJYQ

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. For any additional questions or technical assistance, please contact Tasheen Stallings at Tasheen.Stallings@dc.gov. 

Stay Updated with OSSE's LEA Look Forward & Special Education Newsletter!

The LEA Look Forward is a weekly publication from the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) designed for Local Education Agencies (LEAs) in Washington, DC. It's an excellent way for school leaders to stay informed about the latest resources, updates, and initiatives shared by OSSE.

Sign up and view the latest issue here: LEA Look Forward.

To subscribe to receive OSSE's new Special Education Newsletter, register here.

Save-The-Date

- Lessons from the Field Webinar Series -

Engaging Families to Support Student Achievement

Wednesday, January 15, 2025 | 3:00 - 4:30 PM ET

On behalf of the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Office of Safe and Supportive Schools, the National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments (NCSSLE) invites you to join our next webinar, Engaging Families to Support Student Achievement. 

Engaging families in public schools can help create welcoming environments that support student development. It can also promote effective and honest communication and collaborative efforts between school staff and families to address the needs of students. 

Family engagement can be challenging, so how can schools effectively partner with families? What can schools do to improve the ways they connect with families? These are the questions we will address in this webinar. We will begin with a brief presentation on the impact of family engagement in public schools with a specific focus on building relational trust. Then we will have a discussion with our parent and caregiver panelists to hear about their experiences engaging with schools to support their children. They will discuss what helped facilitate that strong engagement and talk about how schools can implement best practices to increase family engagement. You will hear actionable takeaways you can use to enhance family engagement in your schools and districts.

Speakers and Panelists

Moderator: Cindy Carraway-Wilson, Training Specialist, NCSSLE, ME

• Silvia Agosto, Parent, Advocate, Educator
• Tiffany R. Clark, Parent Leader & Facilitator, Parents Who Lead, FL
• Anne Henderson, Senior Consultant and Vice-Chair of the Board, National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement, DC
• Elizabeth Maxwell, Parent; Advocate for Children and Families, Greater Rochester Parent Leadership Training Institute, NY
• Thao, Parent; Graduate, National Leadership Training Institute, CA

Registration

To register click here, and to access Resources, slides, speaker bios, the webinar recording (available the day after the event) and more will be posted on the event webpage.  

More Resources from the Department of Education

AJE regularly publishes news from our federal partners on our blog. Some recent highlights from our blog include -

OCR Issues Fact Sheet to Support 504-Students in Post-Secondary Settings

The U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a new resource regarding Section 504 (Section 504) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 titled: Individualized Assessments for Students with Disabilities in Postsecondary Education. The resource explains Section 504’s requirement that postsecondary schools individually assess a student’s need for academic adjustments (often referred to as accommodations) and clarifies that for students with disabilities, postsecondary schools must always treat each student with a disability as an individual. The resource addresses what postsecondary community members have often referred to as “the interactive process,” including several aspects of individualized consideration, and offers examples that illustrate schools’ obligations.

New Guidance about Assistive Technology

The Center on Inclusive Technology & Education Systems shared a new assistive technology (AT) guidance FAQ. The FAQ clarifies details about the background information and implementation of the guidance.

New Guidance about Functional Behavioral Assessments (FBAs) in the Classroom

Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) and the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) recently shared guidance on the use of functional behavioral assessments (FBAs) in the classroom - including for students without disabilities!

AJE Resources for You, and for Families You Can Share

Has a family you work with indicated that they do not want to vaccinate their child/children? You can SHARE THIS LINK with them so they know how to access the DC Health process for documenting a vaccine exemption.

Families who need to renew or reapply for Medicaid can learn about the process here, where they can access the application and what a video about the process.

Families who are looking for a place to receive vaccines should visit https://dchealth.dc.gov/immunization.

If you or a family are confused about DC's new vaccination policies this blog post is a great resource and includes the helpful chart below.

It is important to remember that students can only be excluded from school for noncompliance in Pre-K, Kindergarten, 7th grade and 11th grade.

InclusiveDC Workshop Series

SchoolTalk’s InclusiveDC is offering a variety of workshop series that we bring into your classroom. Workshops support the successful transition of D.C. high school students with disabilities by helping them build self-awareness, self-expression, self-advocacy skills, and technical career skills. 

Each series consists of up to 4-5 workshops* (1 hour each) around one of the following topics: 

• Self-expression
• Career Exploration
• Self-Advocacy
• Student-Driven Planning
• Creative Careers

Learn More...

This is a Pre-Employment Transition Service (Pre-ETS), funded in-part by the D.C. Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA). SchoolTalk schedules class-based series on a first-come, first-served basis, dependent on all participating youth completing required RSA documentation prior to the start of the first workshop.



For additional information, questions, or to set up an information session, email Jess Gonzalez, SchoolTalk’s InclusiveDC Director, at jess.gonzalez@schooltalkdc.org. 

*SchoolTalk offers a free workshop series of 4-5 sessions per school year for teachers and schools. Additional workshops can be arranged for a fee. Educators Apply Today!

More Upcoming Sessions

Tuesday, January 14

• PD: Restorative Justice in the Classroom for All Learners (9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.)

Monday and Tuesday, January 27-28

• Spring City-Wide Workshop: Restorative Approaches to Student Behavior (RASB) (9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.)

Dispute Resolution Resources

CADRE, the National Center on Dispute Resolution in Special Education, supports State Education Agencies (SEAs), Lead Agencies (LAs), and federally funded Parent Centers in 1) building local level capacity to prevent and resolve disputes, and 2) developing more effective and equitable dispute resolution (DR) systems. Watch a short video about the Technical Assistance CADRE provides.

Some recent resources from CADRE we thought might be of interest to DC educators were -

The Impact of the Apology on Communication and Negotiation

presented by Nina Meierding

This webinar explores the many types of apologies (including full, partial, rapport, ritual, and transactional) as well as the effect of timing, delivery, emotionality and sincerity. The presenter focused on how different cultures view forgiveness and saving face and the impact of these beliefs on both giving and receiving apologies.

The Transformative Power of Engaging Parents as Partners

presented by the Poway Unified School District

This webinar details how Poway Unified School District completely transformed their relationships with families, re-established trust, and even more importantly, improved students’ learning experiences.

Local Dispute Resolution Resources

Did you know that DC offers IEP facilitation and mediation options? Families and schools can learn more below:

• ODR Special Education Facilitated Resolution Meeting and Facilitated IEP Meeting

•  ODR Special Education Mediation

• Alternative Dispute Resolution Services 

If you would like more information directly from the US Department of Education, you can subscribe to their biweekly newsletter by emailing Adam.Honeysett@ed.gov.

You can sign up to receive updates from the Office of Special Education Programs as well!

Learn more about OSEP's programs to support grantees and stakeholders at these links -

Resource Centers: Learn about the types of centers funded by ED and OSEP that are relevant to the IDEA. This is a great place to find highly specific content, tailored for special education students.

OSEP IDEAs That Work: Find federal resources for stakeholders and grantees.

AJE's blog is filled with resources and events for families like the one below. We also have resources about Counseling Services for Grief and Trauma, policy engagement opportunities, and fun family events like Mornings at the Museum, an accessibility program offered by the Smithsonian.

DC Volunteer Lawyers Project offers FREE confidential legal assistance for protection orders, divorce, custody, and immigration cases for families. Clinics are held weekly at multiple locations across DC.

Don't forget!

AJE's online Calendar of Events always has upcoming trainings and events for families!