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Special Education

One of the many challenges facing school districts today is ensuring that students with physical, cognitive, sensory, and social/emotional disabilities succeed in school. EDC works to develop and support a set of inclusive practices—at the classroom, school, district, and national levels—that help improve education for all students, including students with disabilities. We specialize in designing and implementing innovative curricula and technology applications that make rigorous academic content accessible to all students.

E-Learning for Educators (Ready to Teach)

E-Learning for Educators, funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Ready to Teach program, seeks to establish successful, sustainable, statewide online professional development programs that address teacher quality and student achievement goals. Through its EdTech Leaders® Online program, EDC supports this initiative by establishing a cadre of online professional development instructors and course developers within each state.

Foundation Skill Interventions for Struggling Readers with Learning Disabilities

The purpose of this study is to gather data about struggling readers with learning disabilities from mid-sized urban school districts in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. The project answers the following questions: (1) What diagnostic assessments are administered to students with identified learning disabilities who are struggling readers (e.g., fall below the Basic level on standardized tests) to determine their strengths and needs with respect to foundation skills (e.g., phonemic awareness, knowledge of high frequency sight words, and decoding ability)?

HEDS-UP

CCT serves as the external evaluator for the Higher Education Disability Support-Universal Design Principles (HEDS-UP). Bank Street College of Education leads HEDS-UP, a three-year project to design and implement a model program to enhance the quality of undergraduate and graduate teacher preparation programs for students with a range of learning disabilities.

Linking Mathematics Teachers and Special Educators

Thousands of teachers across the nation teach a wide range of learners, and with No Child Left Behind and IDEA legislation, they are increasingly accountable for the performance of all their students, including those with disabilities.

National Inclusive Schools Week

EDC’s David Riley discusses efforts to provide all children with a quality education, including minorities, students of low socio-economic status, students just learning English, and students with disabilities.

Making Mathematics Accessible

Chanté genuinely loves teaching seventh grade math. But she feels overwhelmed by the wide range of students in her class—a third of whom have disabilities. And she worries that by making accommodations for them she may be watering down the mathematics.

Inclusive Practices

One of the ironies—and challenges—of effective education is that in order to engage individual learners you have to look at the whole environment.

Focus on Equity

Poor and minority students are disproportionately placed in special education programs, driving up district costs and holding back many children from a quality education.

Focus on Student Health

The Making Health Academic project develops and disseminates coordinated school health and strong prevention strategies to administrators, educators, and policymakers around the country.

Focus on Leadership

In school districts around the country, special educators are remaking themselves.