Your final discussion board will involve evaluating the progress we’ve made toward the goals set by the President’s Commission on Excellence in Special Education after NCLB was passed in 2002. As you’ve learned, NCLB has been revised and replaced by ESSA, Every Student Succeeds Act, which was passed by Congress in December of 2015. In this final discussion board, I’d like you to participate in a conversation regarding how we’ve addressed the 3 major recommendations on pages 8 and 9 of the report over the past 15 years.
1. Review the recommendations on pages 8 and 9 of the report.
2. View each of the VoiceThread presentations by your peers summarizing the original findings of the Commission on federal regulations and monitoring; assessment and identification; special education finance; accountability, flexibility and parental empowerment; post-secondary results for students with disabilities and effective transition services; teacher and administrator preparation, training and retention; and special education research and dissemination of information from Block 2 which are posted on Canvas.
3. Using information you’ve learned throughout this semester, evaluate the progress we’ve made toward those goals. How have we changed our focus from process in favor of results? Provide examples of how we have fared in embracing a model of prevention rather than a model of failure? What progress, if any, have we made in considering children with disabilities as general education children first?
