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From: nccrest@cudenver.edu
Date: 02/27/04

Volume 1, Number 7 (December 2003NCCRESt News, Volume 1, Number 7
(December 2003)NCCRESt News, Volume 1, Number
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NCCRESt News, the electronic newsletter of the
National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems
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Volume 2, Number 2 February 2004
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In this issue:

==> NCCRESt Update: NCCRESt to sponsor ELL research conference in November
==> Events: Harvard's Critical Issues in Urban Special Education (Aug.
2-6)
==> Web Site of the Month: Helps identify achievement gaps and trends
==> New Resources: LEP listserv; reading instruction and literacy in
at-risk children; addressing the needs of culturally and linguistically
diverse students with disabilities
==> NCCRESt Support Desk
 
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NCCRESt UPDATE
 
==> Project to sponsor research conference on English language learners
(ELL)

NCCRESt will present "Struggling to Learn: Emergent Research on Linguistic
Differences and Learning Disabilities" in Tempe, Arizona, in November
2004. Co-sponsored by the Council for Exceptional Children and the
National Association for Bilingual Education, the conference will present
original, emergent scholarship on the differences between second language
acquisition and learning disabilities. The impetus for the conference is
the unprecedented growth of the English language learner population, the
emergence of empirical evidence about the number of inappropriate
referrals of ELLs to special education, the challenges associated with
distinguishing between the characteristics of "normal" second language
acquisition and learning disabilities, and the alarming dearth of research
on these and related issues.
 
The conference will cover several key areas: differentiating between
second language acquisition and learning disabilities; synthesis of the
research on ELL; population issues; referral issues; assessment issues;
instructional issues; and future directions for researchers,
practitioners, and policymakers.

Dates, presenters, and additional details about the conference will be
announced in future issues of NCCRESt News. Please direct any questions to
Project Coordinator Shelley Zion at Shelley.Zion@cudenver.edu.
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EVENTS

==> 2004 Harvard Institute on Critical Issues in Urban Special Education
"Improving Student Results and Accountability in Times of Scarce
Resources"
August 2-6, 2004 * Cambridge, MA

This summer's Harvard Institute will explore the feasibility and
effectiveness of "universal design" as a guiding framework for examining
and restructuring schools. It will clarify the current educational
context, explore possibilities for universally designed policies and
approaches, and help participants develop plans for their schools and
districts. The evidence on universal design will be examined along with
the impact of the No Child Left Behind legislation and the challenges of a
reauthorized IDEA as they relate to improving student results and
accountability.

David Riley, Director of Networking and Dissemination for NCCRESt, is the
Institute's Co-Chair. Other faculty members include:

* Richard Figueroa, Professor of Education at the University of California
at Davis

* Beth Harry, Professor of Special Education at the University of Miami,
Florida

* Thomas Hehir, Lecturer in Education at the Harvard Graduate School of
Education and Director of the School Leadership Program

* David Rose, Lecturer in Education at the Harvard Graduate School of
Education and co-founder of CAST (the Center for Applied Special
Technology)

* George Sugai, Professor, Educational and Community Support, University
of Oregon and Co-Director of the National Center on Positive Behavioral
Interventions and Supports

* John Verre, Institute Co-Chair and Director of Compass Consulting

For more information or to register, visit http://www.gse.harvard.edu/ppe.
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WEB SITE OF THE MONTH

==> Helps identify achievement gaps and trends

The American Association of Higher Education established Education Trust
to encourage colleges and universities to support K-12 reform efforts. Ed
Trust focuses on the institutions most often left behind in plans to
improve education--those serving concentrations of low-income, Latino,
African American, or Native American students.

Education Trust's Web site--http://www2.edtrust.org/edtrust--features:

* "Ed Watch Online," a user-friendly source of national and state data on
achievement patterns and education opportunities by race and class
kindergarten through college

* "Getting Away With It: What Happens When No One's Minding the Store," a
report which details new state data about highly qualified teachers and
graduation rates

* Presentations from the 14th Annual Education Trust National Conference,
"Zap the Gap: Learning from the Frontier," which showcase the successes of
high-performing schools, districts, and states from across the country

* "Don't Turn Back the Clock," a letter to Congress, the White House, and
all of the Democratic Presidential candidates in which over 100 African
American and Latino superintendents voice their support for the
accountability provisions in Title I
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NEW RESOURCES

==> Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Advocacy: Federally Conducted and
Assisted Programs

Individuals with limited English proficiency often are delayed equitable
access to and participation in the public policies, programs, services,
and benefits to which they are legally entitled. The National LEP Advocacy
Task Force has created a new listserv to address the importance of
qualified interpretation and translation services in federally conducted
and assisted programs. List participants work to build awareness of the
need and methods to ensure LEP persons have meaningful access to important
federal and federally assisted programs, and to ensure implementation of
language access requirements under Title VI, the Title VI regulations,
Executive Order 13166, and all applicable laws in a consistent and
effective manner across agencies.

To join, send an email to lepopen-subscribe@topica.com. For more
information, visit http://www.leptaskforce.org, or contact Kathy
Poulos-Minott at lep@maine.rr.com.

==> Reading Instruction and Literacy in English Language Learners and
Other At-Risk Children

This brief Q&A with Assistant Professor Nonie Lesaux, Harvard University,
highlights some important issues related to reading instruction and at
risk children:

* the characteristics of strong reading programs for English Language
Learners

* the relationship between the demographics of children who are at risk
for learning difficulties

* the effectiveness of teaching English as a Second Language students
before comprehension of the English language

The interview appears in the Harvard Graduate School of Education's online
newsletter: http://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/features/lesaux12012003.html.

==> Addressing the Needs of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students
With Disabilities in Postsecondary Education

Many culturally and linguistically diverse persons with disabilities face
a double burden of discrimination. This new issue brief from the National
Center on Secondary Education and Transition outlines the major challenges
that tend to be faced by culturally and linguistically diverse persons
with disabilities in postsecondary education and how to address these
challenges. The brief specifically addresses the areas of social
inclusion, self-advocacy, role models and mentors, and cultural competence
of schools.

Available at http://www.ncset.org/publications/viewdesc.asp?id=1411.
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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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