“I have yet to see a segregated classroom that is better than the general education setting.”

“I have spent hundreds of hours in segregated classrooms,” she said. “I have yet to see a segregated classroom that is better than the general education setting.”

I couldn't agree with this more! Click the link below for the full article. 

http://stateimpact.npr.org/florida/2011/12/20/why-everyone-learns-more-when-students-with-disabilities-are-included/

"Natural Inclusion Supported with Peers" FIN ~ PEER SUPPORT MANUAL

FIN ~ Florida Inclusion Network has wonderful programs & services that could be implemented in our schools to help provide natural supports via Peer Supports & Inclusion naturally by providing our schools with a PEER SUPPORT Program. 


It's about our District wanting to make a positive change that has to do with how our society thinks about people that are 'different' ~ ALL Students would benefit from a program like this, especially the student that needs positive redirection & maybe a scribe or a note-taker....or a friend even. The student that needs another person some of the time to stay on task and or with mobility help or technology assistance and it's documented on their IEP they need adult and/or peer assistance. Some students needing a 1:1 Aide or Para Professional and the funding not going through for some students for them to have an Aide, PEER SUPPORT Programs should be a priority to continue to help ALL our students be successful. 


Friendships, Peer support and reaching out to help others should be a natural thing happening in our schools & society. FIN has programs that can be set up and implemented in our schools fairly quickly. 


It's about creating a PEER SUPPORT Program that will provide a way for FELLOW STUDENTS WORKING TOGETHER & BECOMING FRIENDS BY HELPING EACH OTHER. This should be happening naturally....but it's not. 


Students both without and with a disability benefit from programs like these.


PEER SUPPORT MANUAL AT-A-GLANCE
http://www.floridainclusionnetwork.com/Uploads/1/docs/PeerSupportManualAtAGlance.pdf



Building Inclusive Schools
http://www.floridainclusionnetwork.com/Uploads/1/docs/Building%20Inclusive%20SchoolsSessionDesc.-Flyer.pdf


FIN ~ Florida Inclusion Network PRODUCTS
http://www.floridainclusionnetwork.com/Research_Centers/CRSRL/Florida_Inclusion_Network/Products/General_Products.asp 

Here are a few great web links for your research on FLORIDA ESE & IDEA FUNDS ~ Have fun researching! 


FLDOE ESE ~ Direct Links & Resources
http://www.fldoe.org/ese/


FLDOE ESE ~ IDEA PART B 
http://www.fldoe.org/ese/pdf/idea-partb-09.pdf


FIN ~ BUILDING INCLUSIVE SCHOOLS 
FIN Building Inclusive Schools ~ E-learning Module

Never be afraid to do what's right......

"Never, never be afraid to do what's right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society's punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way."
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

NCLB: End It, Don't Mend It - Bridging Differences - Education Week

NCLB: End It, Don't Mend It - Bridging Differences - Education Week  
The fundamental role of the federal government should be to advance equality of educational opportunity. That's a tall order. Congress should revive the commitments made in 1965, when the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was passed: To use federal resources on behalf of the neediest students; to protect the civil rights of students; to conduct research about education; to report on the condition and progress of American education.
Click here for full story....NCLB: End It, Don't Mend It ~ Bridging Differences - Education Week

Compass Learning Odyssey ACADEMIC help online. Have a student ID# from Broward County? Academic help on the computer at school & home.

Compass Learning Odyssey ACADEMIC help online.  Have a Broward County Student ID#?

Academic help on the computer a school & home. Check it out! Ask your school to assign homework & assignments via Odyssey.

http://compasslearningodyssey.broward.k12.fl.us/childu/index.html
CLICK ABOVE LINK  



FAVORITE & SAVE ~ 
BROWARD ESE ADVISORY.COM www.browardeseadvisory.com 
Look on the LEFT side LINKS in FEATURED LINKS for Compass Learning Odyssey for a QUICK LINK to this site and many other HOMEWORK & ACADEMIC HELP at HOME & SCHOOL. Use your student ID# in both windows to LOG-IN.
COMPASS LEARNING ODYSSEY 
http://compasslearningodyssey.broward.k12.fl.us/childu/index.html 
BROWARD ESE ADVISORY.COM  www.browardeseadvisory.com
~ Left & Right Side LINKS ~

The GreatSchools Blog

The GreatSchools Blog


This is a really great BLOG to read and follow. 
Enjoy!

Our school may not have the "program" YOUR Child needs.....

A parent with a young Child goes to enroll her very sweet little girl.....in her neighborhood school today....at SHUTTLE Elementary in Tamarac, Florida. (Not really the name of the school....) The office person that was there to help with registering new students was a nice lady I'm sure and just doing her job. My friend was asked about her 2 Children that she was registering today. She tells the nice lady behind the desk that her daughter has Down syndrome. Oh boy.....THAT was mommies first mistake because once you mention you are REGISTERING YOUR CHILD WITH DOWN SYNDROME, then things are handled differently for sure! The office person told my friend, "Have you had an IEP meeting with anyone from OUR school? OUR school might not have "the program" needed for your daughter.

My friend is a good Advocate for her two Children and moved to a new apartment over the summer just to make sure her Children would be in the boundry of that really NICE school! She also made sure this NICE school had what she knew her two Children needed and one is an ESE PreSchool Program for her little girl! Her little girl attends a Special Needs Developmental PreSchool now, called UCP in Fort Lauderdale.  UCP knows that her little girl would be transitioning onto that particular Elementary school, one that UCP has told this mommie yes that school does have the ESE PreSchool program or PLACE as it has been called in recent years. Seems our School District here wants to call our 3-5 year old Special Ed PreSchool Programs something different every year...just to confuse parents....and some school staff people even! Some of the 3-5 year old ESE PreSchool Programs are 'secretly' NOT for our little ones with Down syndrome it seems...........I said....it seems....let's get the DATA so we know. That would be nice to know for sure!

OK Folks.....What IS this particular PROGRAM all these people are always talking about....for OUR little kiddos with Down syndrome????

There is an ESE PreK Program at Shuttle Elementary in Tamarac (aka as the PLACE Program) and the little girl is absolutely ELIGIBLE to ATTEND that program because of her AGE and her ESE Eligibility! So what gives when they find out there is a student with DOWN SYNDROME wanting to enroll and attend the school that is down the street from the parents house?

This IS an ongoing problem here in Broward County and lots of places around the entire Country! I know for a fact this IS a very common problem with the MIND-SET and 'secret policy maybe' here in Broward Public Schools! This is not the first time a parent has contacted me and asked me for help and what to do. Parents are being told something that just isn't TRUE when it comes to enrolling their Child *with Down syndrome into their neighborhood schools!

What CAN BE DONE about this ongoing DISCRIMINATION that parents are being told......?

SEEKING ADVICE about this all too common problem here in Broward County!

Would be nice to find out where MOST students with Down syndrome are attending school and what sorts of classrooms they are being educated in. Is there a way to find out this information? Someone please help make this "situation" right.....it is just not right! How would YOU feel if you were told oh no your Child can't come to THIS SCHOOL.......we may not be able to "meet your Child's needs here."

Really......just want schools to ACCEPT our Children and TEACH THEM! Is that asking too much?

This annoys me more than a little................................

Have a delightful day!

*Become a FOLLOWER of this Blog and share it with others. Thanks!

Finally a baby DAYTIME SOAP STAR with Down syndrome!

Fantastic story of a new little guy just a few months old got the part as TV Soap Star!! All I have to say...."IT'S ABOUT TIME!"

When will there be an AMERICAN Daytime Soap Star with Down syndrome? Wouldn't THAT be something for all of us to 'watch' how the story line grows and unfolds? Come on GENERAL HOSPITAL!!!!

SOAP STAR! - Local - Ballymoney Moyle Times
CLICK THE ABOVE for complete story ~ Enjoy!

Saving another High School Diploma for someone!!

Going today to help save another high school diploma for someone! I swear....the weeks that lead up to students taking the Florida FCAT exam our IEP "teams" get geared up and start getting my parents all excited about an IEP meeting....and the bottom line reason for these meetings is to ask the couple of questions to the "IEP TEAM" and to get that student off the regular diploma track!...so they don't have to give that student the FCAT! I say....they need to change their ATTITUDE towards certain individuals that have a certain disability and have HIGHER EXPECTATIONS and continue to teach them to the Sunshine State Standards and do a better job of teaching ALL students with disabilities!!

What is with our Public School system today that they are so quick to put students on the SPECIAL DIPLOMA TRACK and have them take the ALTERNATE ASSESSMENT? I don't get it....why would anyone want to attend school for so many years and in the end they don't even get a HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA!? Who ARE these people sitting around our IEP "team" tables making life long academic decisions on behalf of our Children!

If you ask me.....that SPECIAL DIPLOMA is NOT so.......SPECIAL IF IT'S NOT A DIPLOMA AT ALL!! What parent wants to send their Children to school everyday and in the end they are working towards a NON HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA? I don't know many that would say yes to that! Our Children need a HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA!! Teach them to be able to get one!

Anyway....wish me luck in advocating for this very smart little guy that has been doing a wonderful job  academically. I am impressed with how well he has been doing in school. He has always shown us that he CAN DO IT!

Down syndrome Inclusive Educational Strategies

Schools who let one criterion, such as a specific disability, automatically determine the placement are likely to be held in violation of federal law.

~ Supreme Court - Board of Education v. Rowley ~

"Inclusion is a right, not a special privilege for a select few".
~ Federal Court - Oberti v. Board of Education ~

"Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal"
~ Supreme Court - Brown v. Board of Education ~

All children with disabilities are to be educated to
the "maximum extent" with children who do not have disabilities.
~ Federal Law I.D.E.A. Sec. 612.5 (A) ~

Elementary & Secondary Education - What is Inclusion?
http://www.ndss.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=58&Itemid=83&limitstart=3

Elementary & Secondary Education - Tips for Teaching Students with Down syndrome
http://www.ndss.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=58&Itemid=83&limitstart=2