Special Education Action is a 501(c)3 nonprofit publisher covering special education.
Its mission is to ensure parents, educators, and students have the information and tools necessary to fully understand, address, and safeguard the unique needs of all students who require special education.
Recent Articles
Writing Goals: The Problem with “Measured Quarterly”
Quarterly measurements invite skewed and misleading data. Imagine the following goal is being proposed for your student: “Given content-area vocabulary (English, History, Science, Math), STUDENT will earn 85% accuracy on 3 out of 4 vocabulary assessments per quarter.” In the case of vocabulary, students are provided content-area vocabulary on a daily basis. Depending on the type of assessment (more on this below), the student could be assessed on vocabulary once-to-a-few times a week during each grading quarter. Which assessments count toward the goal? The first four consecutively administered assessments? The last four consecutively administered assessments? Four randomly chosen assessments administered throughout the grading quarter? Four cherry-picked assessments administered throughout the grading quarter?
VDOE FOIA Response: VDOE 2022 Monitoring of FCPS
June 22, 2023, the following FOIA request was submitted to Virginia Department of Education: “Please provide me VDOE’s Summary Report of the Review of the Provision of Special Education in FCPS.” June 30, 2023, VDOE responded by providing the report below. In a separate FOIA response, VDOE provided the data collection spreadsheets associated with the report.
FCPS FOIA Response: How FCPS Ascertains the Prevailing rate for IEE Assessments and Written Guidelines for Independent Education Evaluations
In 2019, a Fairfax County Public Schools parent submitted a FOIA request for “Information on how FCPS ascertained the prevailing rate for IEE assessments within the Washington DC metro area as written on your Guidelines for Independent Education Evaluations.”
U.S. Department of Education Emergency Guidance, Plans, and Training
Documents, videos, and other assets created by the U.S. Department of Education’s various agencies, collected in an effort to ensure they’re available for future learning—and to ensure we don’t forget best practices created and mistakes already made.
Fairfax County Public Schools Emergency Guidance, Plans, and Training
Documents, videos, and other assets created by Fairfax County Public Schools, collected in an effort to ensure they’re available for future learning—and to ensure we don’t forget best practices created and mistakes already made.
Virginia Department of Education Emergency Guidance, Plans, and Training
This page will feature documents, videos, and other assets created by—and/or related to—Virginia Department of Education, in an effort to ensure they’re available for future learning—and to ensure we don’t forget best practices created and mistakes already made.