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From: nccrest@cudenver.edu
Date: 12/31/03

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NCCRESt News, the electronic newsletter of the
National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems

Volume 1, Number 7 December 2003
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In this issue:
==> NCCRESt Update: Regional technical assistance meeting (Dec. 8-9);
NCCRESt presents at Project LASER's annual conference (Dec. 3-6)
==> Events: ASCD (March 20-22); AERA (April 12-16); and CEC (April 14-18)
==> News Brief: New No Child Left Behind published provision gives schools
increased flexibility
==> New Resources: Using study circles to "end the blame game," "Including
Every Child," "Differentiated Instruction in Action," and "Outreach and
People with Disabilities from Diverse Cultures"
==> NCCRESt Support Desk
 
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NCCRESt UPDATE
 
==> Report on the Southeast Regional Technical Assistance meeting

NCCRESt continued its regional series of technical assistance meetings
with a program for the Southeast states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida,
Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Texas, and the
Virgin Islands. The December 8-9 meeting was held in Dallas, Texas, and
included teams of data analysts, special educators, superintendents from
urban districts, teachers, parent representatives, and others.
Representatives from the Southeast Regional Resource Center helped
facilitate group discussions. All of the teams worked diligently during
the two-day meeting and left with technical assistance plans in hand.

Materials from this meeting can be found on NCCRESt's Web site:
http://www.nccrest.org/events.html

==> NCCRESt presents at Project LASER's annual conference

Dr. Alfredo Artiles represented NCCRESt at Linking Academic Scholars to
Educational Resources (LASER) annual conference December 3-6 with a
presentation "Between Convictions and Uncertainties: Culture's Cohesion &
Special Education Scholarship." LASER is funded by the Office of Special
Education Programs "to enhance the capacity of faculty and graduate
students in minority institutions to engage in research that impacts
children from minority and/or low-income backgrounds." Dr. Brenda
Townsend, a member of NCCRESt's advisory board, directs Project LASER. Dr.
Artiles discussed the notion of culture that has informed special
education scholarship as reflected in the latest National Research
Council's report "Minority Students in Special and Gifted Education."
Keynote speakers included Cheryl Brown of "Brown vs. Board of Education"
(1954) and Carlotta LaNier of Little Rock Nine.

For more information about LASER, please visit
http://www.coedu.usf.edu/laser/
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EVENTS

==> Association for the Supervision and Development of the Curriculum
"Faces of Education: Courageous Actions, Powerful Stories"
March 20-22, 2004 * New Orleans, LA

"Faces of Education" features more than 600 sessions, which will focus on
what it takes to create better schools, how to improve programs for
teaching and learning, how to build stronger learning communities, which
practices ensure that all students are learning, what to question about
traditional practices, and much more. A special series of presentations
will focus on closing the achievement gap, engaging and motivating
students to excel, and reading. For example, Kay Toliver, star teacher
from the Peabody Award-winning documentary "Good Morning Miss Toliver"
will demonstrates effective strategies that she used at PS 72 in East
Harlem, New York, to engage students' interest. Tom Vander Ark will
explore the underlying causes of current graduation rates among Hispanic
and African American students. Irene Smalls will speak about an
educational and entertaining approach to integrating storytelling,
literacy, and differentiated learning.
 
For more information, visit
http://www.ascd.org/cms/index.cfm?TheViewID=446

==> American Educational Research Association
"Enhancing the Visibility and Credibility of Educational Research"
April 12-16, 2004 * San Diego, CA

The theme of the 2004 Annual Meeting in San Diego is "Enhancing the
Visibility and Credibility of Educational Research." AERA believes it is
important to consider what counts as evidence in high-quality educational
research, how educational research informs and is informed by practice,
and the nature of the social, political, and historical contexts in which
educational research is conducted and used. The conference has three
sub-themes:

* "Brown v. Board of Education"--50 Years Later. The 50th anniversary of
"Brown v. Board of Education" provides an opportunity to consider how
educational research has informed policy in an important domain that
affects educational opportunities for all members of society. What do we
know from research about the issues that animated the Brown decision? How
have research-based claims entered the discourse and decision making
relevant to equity and access? How can research continue to contribute to
addressing issues of educational quality and inclusiveness?

* Teacher Learning and Development. In a time of increasing diversity in
our society, the press for accountability and shifting educational goals
and priorities has placed new demands on teachers. At the same time, the
role of institutions of higher education in the preparation and continuing
education of teachers is being questioned. Thus, it is important to
understand the process of teacher change and to identify effective ways of
fostering teacher learning

* Justifying Evidence-Based Claims. AERA encourages presenters to design
sessions that consider what counts as evidence in high-quality educational
research. Important issues include trustworthiness, verifiability,
replicability, and generalizability of claims in various research
traditions as well as the social, political, and historical contexts in
which research is conducted and used.

For more information, visit http://www.aera.net/meeting/index.htm

==> Council for Exceptional Children's Annual Convention & Expo
April 14-18, 2004 * New Orleans, LA

Register for CEC's annual convention to find out how No Child Left Behind
and the new IDEA will affect you and get guidance on meeting the needs of
diverse learners. Pre-conference workshops and division showcase sessions
will focus on a variety of topics related to the education of culturally
and linguistically diverse students, such as

* proven strategies for beginning reading instruction
* culturally responsive pedagogy
* peer-assisted learning strategies for English Language Learners with
learning disabilities
* exploring Native American gifted identity through photo elicitation

For more information or to register, visit
http://www.cec.sped.org/neworleans/reg_instruct.html.
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NEWS BRIEF

==> New No Child Left Behind published provision gives schools increased
flexibility while ensuring all children count, including those with
disabilities

U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige announced a new provision of the No
Child Left Behind education reform law that are intended to will give
local school districts greater flexibility in meeting the act's
requirements for students with disabilities. Under final rules, states,
districts and schools will have the flexibility to count the "proficient"
scores of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities who
take assessments based on alternate achievement standards. Without this
flexibility, those scores would have to be measured against grade-level
standards and considered "not proficient" when states measure adequate
yearly progress. In other words, those students will be assessed by their
achievement of standards deemed appropriate for their intellectual
development, thus allowing states to more accurately gauge their progress.

The complete provision as well as a fact sheet and Web cast are available
at http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2003/12/12092003.html.
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NEW RESOURCES

==> Using study circles to "end the blame game"

"An End to the Blame Game," an article from the National Association of
Secondary School Principals' "Principal Leadership," discusses how study
circles can help communities create the schools they need. Study circles
bring together educators, students, and average citizens from different
backgrounds to talk in small groups about what matters to them in
education, what challenges face the educational system, and what the
community can do to address those challenges in productive ways. Study
circles are part of a larger program that has easy-to-use, fair-minded
discussion materials and trained facilitators who reflect the community's
diversity. Each circle comprises a diverse group of eight to 12 people who
meet for four two-hour sessions. A facilitator leads the sessions and
helps manage the discussion but does not teach the group about the issue
or take sides. To help group members respect one another and get results,
the circle sets its own ground rules. Starting with their personal
stories, members of the circle consider an issue from many points of view.
Next, group members talk about how they want things to be. Finally, they
make plans for action and change. The purpose of the program is to move a
community to action when the study circles conclude.

To read the read article, go to
http://www.principals.org/publications/pl/pl_blame_game_1203.cfm.

==> "Including Every Child"

During the 2000-2001 school year, teachers at the Patrick O'Hearn School
in Boston worked with the Project for School Innovation (PSI) to explore
and document their effective inclusion practices. In the how-to book,
Including Every Child, educators can find detailed steps, tips, and ideas
for replicating five key practices that have been key to the success of
the inclusion program at the O'Hearn: 1) making inclusion a way of
thinking, 2) collaboration and teamwork, 3) assessment tools, 4) consult
meetings, and 5) curriculum modifications. The same teachers who worked
with PSI to write Including Every Child are also available to lead
workshops and trainings for other schools interested in replicating their
success. To order your copy of Including Every Child or to inquiry about
trainings, visit http://www.btft.org, then click, "How-To Books."

==> "Differentiated Instruction in Action" (2 CD-ROMs)

Drawing from a recent Association for the Supervision and Development of
the Curriculum conference on differentiated instruction, these two
interactive CDs include presentations from leading authorities, plus
selected handouts and readings from their presentations. The CDs includes
12 presentations, such as "Hallmarks of Quality Differentiation" by Carol
Ann Tomlinson, "Differentiated Instruction and Students with Special
Needs" by Marcia Imbeau, and "Instructional Strategies: Cubing, RAFTs, and
Learning Contracts" by Kay Brimijoin.

For more information, visit
http://shop.ascd.org/ProductDisplay.cfm?ProductID=504031.

==> "Outreach and People with Disabilities from Diverse Cultures: A Review
of the Literature"

People with disabilities who are also from diverse cultures are
significantly hampered in realizing outcomes of full participation in all
aspects of society due to a host of barriers to the benefits of civil and
human rights. A small but growing body of research on this issue indicates
that barriers include the lack of culturally appropriate outreach,
language and communication barriers, attitudinal barriers, and the
shortage of individuals from diverse cultures in the disability services
professions. For over a decade, the National Council on Disability (NCD)
has worked to make national disability policies, laws, programs, and
services more responsive to people with disabilities from the broad array
of cultures that enrich our country. As a part of its Cultural Diversity
Initiative (CDI), NCD sought to answer fundamental questions about
outreach: What is it? What are current outreach definitions, themes,
models, and challenges? What is the state of disability/diversity outreach
at the national level by the federal government?

For more information, visit
http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/advisory/cultural/cdi_litreview.html.
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NCCRESt SUPPORT DESK

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Archives of NCCRESt News are available at
http://www.edc.org/hypermail/nccrest/
For more information about NCCRESt, please contact:
Shelley Zion, Project Coordinator
National Center for Culturally Responsive
Educational Systems (NCCRESt)
1380 Lawrence Street, Suite 625
Denver, CO 80204
Phone: 303-556-3990
Fax: 303-556-6141
Email: shelley.zion@cudenver.edu
Web: www.nccrest.org
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NCCRESt is a technical assistance center funded by
the Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education.
Project Officer: Grace Zamora Duràn. Award No. H326E020003.
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