Spring 2011 National Scholarship, disABLEDperson Inc.

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Donna Martinez

Spring 2012 National Scholarship Competition

disABLEDperson, Inc. is excited to announce our Spring 2012 nationally-based scholarship competition for college students with disabilities! This competition begins on December 15, 2011 and ends on February 29, 2012 for the award of $1000.

To participate, follow these simple steps: Go to www.disABLEDperson.com click on the

Spring 2011 National Scholarship Competition for College Students with Disabilities tab on the right of the the page and read all about the details.

Write an essay with no more than 1000 words.
At the bottom of the scholarship page, Click on the “Register Now” link, fill out the form completely and paste your essay into the form.

A few reminders: Please keep in mind that the form must be filled out completely. We cannot accept incomplete or fraudulent forms. Spelling and grammar is imperative. Please submit carefully edited drafts only.

In order to qualify, the student must be enrolled in a 2 or 4 year accredited college or university in the United States of America. They must be a full-time student and U.S. citizen (minimum of 12 credits for undergraduate, 9 credits for graduate). Unfortunately, we are not able to award scholarships to high school students or college students who are not attending classes full-time.

Upon winning, the student will prove disability through their Disability Student Services Department. We define disability as described under the ADA: “A physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities of such an individual.” A record of such an impairment or being regarded as having such an impairment.

Be sure to submit your entry before the February 29, 2012 deadline. The winner will be announced on our website on March 16, 2012. All decisions made by disABLEDperson, Inc. are final.

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Advocacy agencies demand equal access to course materials for all university students

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Donna Martinez

As reported by US News: National Federation of the Blind Demands Equal Access to Course Materials for All Students:  Citing Education Department figures, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that last year there were about 75,000 students at colleges and trade schools across the country who were visually impaired. While few academic leaders would argue against the idea that these individuals deserve equal access to higher education, such students are nonetheless presented with many challenges.

One of the biggest obstacles blind and visually impaired students currently face is the inability to access course materials, according to a 2010 Chronicle article. For instance, a study by the National Science Foundation shows that college websites are “widely inaccessible” to people who have disabilities. Additionally, individual schools across the country have been accused of producing course management software that is not easily accessible to visually impaired students.

To change this growing problem and encourage more visually impaired students to earn college degrees, the NFB recently released the final report of the Advisory Commission on Accessible Instructional Materials in Postsecondary Education for Students with Disabilities, according to a press release.

  Read more

The Advisory Commission on Accessible Instructional Materials in Postsecondary Education for Students with Disabilities was tasked with submitting a report to the Secretary and the authorizing committees detailing the findings and recommendations of the study. The  report published December 6, 2011 may be accessed  here.

download files MS Word (997KB) | PDF (2.89M)

Additionally, this report is available in DAISY and BRF formats at http://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/420478

 

Overview of the Commission

Authorizing Law

  • Public Law 110-315 — The full Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008

download files Text | PDF (1.2MB)

  • Charter of the Commission—Public Law 110-315, Sec. 772 — The section of the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 authorizing the Advisory Commission on Accessible Instructional Materials in Postsecondary Education for Students with Disabilities.
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Culturally responsive positive behavioral interventions and supports

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Donna Martinez

A team of researchers affiliated with the Equity Alliance at ASU, led by Dr. Aydin Bal at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is launching a Culturally Responsive Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (CRPBIS) research effort funded by Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction and located at the UW-Madison.  Collaborators, in addition to Aydin Bal at UW-Madison, include  Elizabeth Kozleski and Alfredo Artiles, Arizona State University, Kathleen King Thorius, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, and George Sugai, University of Connecticut.

The research team will implement the CRPBIS pilot in two Wisconsin school districts, Madison Metropolitan School District and Sun Prairie School District, to address enduring disparities in academic and behavioral outcomes that culturally and linguistically diverse students have experienced. The two-year research project begins in January of 2012.

Learn more about PBIS

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Career clusters: Forecasting demand for high school through college jobs

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Donna Martinez

The best pathway to the middle class is through a postsecondary education, but not everyone goes directly from high school to college. Are those who enter the workforce directly from high school doomed to work minimum wage jobs?  Career Clusters, a study completed by Georgetown University, examines which sectors of the labor market afford individuals the best route to a middle class income. Using forecasts, they identify the most promising clusters for job seekers with a high school diploma or less, middle skills such as a certificate or Associate's degree, and those with Bachelor's degrees or better. The  job opportunities and skill requirements through 2018 are broken down by the 16 career and technical education (CTE) clusters by the Carl D. Perkins Act of 2006.

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Berkeley increases aid to middle-income families for fall-2012

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Donna Martinez

The University of California, Berkeley, announced Wednesday that it would offer far more financial aid to middle-class students starting next fall, with families earning up to $140,000 a year expected to contribute no more than 15 percent of their annual income, in what experts described as the most significant such move by a public institution. The financial-aid plan is hailed by Chancellor Robert Birgeneau as “the first program of this sort at any public university in the United States.”

Middle Class Access Plan, or MCAP, caps the total annual cost of an eligible student’s education — from tuition and fees to expenses including room, board and books — at 15 percent of the family’s total income. Families with incomes from $80,000 to $140,000 and assets typical of that range are eligible for the program, which will provide grants beginning with the fall 2012 semester.

Read more about the UCB announcement here:

http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/12/14/berkeley-mcap-conference/

Financial Aid and Scholarships Office: About Berkeley MCAP
Berkeley MCAP Frequently Asked Questions

Higher education and the middle class
From the Public Policy Institute of California:
PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and Higher Education
The Great Recession and Distribution of Income in California

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Webinar-Expanded Learning Opportunities: A More comprehensive approach to preparing high school students for college and a career

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Donna Martinez

When: December 12, 2011. 1:30-2:30 pm Eastern

The nation’s dropout rates and achievement gaps show that the American education system needs to better prepare students to meet postsecondary and career demands. Nearly three out of ten students fail to graduate from high school within four years, and jobs of the 21st century often require advanced knowledge and skills that. Expanded learning opportunities can help provide the flexibility in the planning and practice of when, where, from whom, and how students learn to prepare them to succeed in the
changing economy. The Alliance for Excellent Education’s webinar highlighting its new issue brief, “Expanded Learning Opportunities: A More Comprehensive Approach to Preparing High School Students for College and a Career,” will explore how expanding the learning opportunities for high school students can help schools improve outcomes for students and address the barriers that hinder students from graduating.
http://media.all4ed.org/registration-dec-12-2011

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NCES Releases High School Career/Technical Education Participation Web Tables

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Donna Martinez

This set of six tables presents information on the participation of public high school graduates of the class of 2009 in career/technical education (CTE). The tables include the percentage of graduates who earned credits in CTE overall, as well as in various occupational areas within CTE, and the average number of credits earned in CTE and in occupational areas. Three tables focus on graduates in 2009, and three tables look at participation trends from 1990 to 2009.

These web tables are a product of the National Center for Education Statistics at the Institute of Education Sciences,
part of the U.S. Department of Education.

To view the new CTE web tables, please visit: http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ctes/tables/index.asp?LEVEL=SECONDARY

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How to tap talented students with disabilities

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Donna Martinez

(Reuters) – With unemployment stubbornly stuck around 9 percent, Molly Kirk knows she’s lucky she to have a job offer in the human resources training program at Google after graduation. Even with her excellent credentials, the Georgetown senior is quick to thank Lime Connect, an organization that partners with the world’s leading corporations to offer summer internships to high-potential students with disabilities.

Read more

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Students with disabilities and readiness for college and careers: 101 documents

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Donna Martinez

http://nsttac.appstate.edu/content/students-w-disabilities-and-collegecareer-readiness-101-documents

As the OSEP funded technical assistance and dissemination center on secondary transition for students with disabilities, NSTTAC is aware that secondary transition is multi-faceted and occurs within the complex systems of high schools, communities, and the education system as a whole. Cognizant of the various mandated and suggested initiatives in our nation’s current education system, NSTTAC’s staff developed documents around four topics relevant to secondary education and students with disabilities.

The documents are intended to serve our primary stakeholders, State Education Agency staff and those they serve in communities and local school districts. These resources were developed as entry level guidance (“101″), intended to synthesize the research, policy, and discussion on topics pertinent to secondary special educators. The topics are each related to secondary students with disabilities accessing and succeeding in the high school curriculum to be prepared for their adult lives. Each are also topics on which other organizations and centers (e.g., IDEA Partnership, National High School Center, National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials, National Center on Response to Intervention) have published resources (which are referenced and linked to in these). The purpose of these products is to put those resources in one place and extend or target these discussions to providers of professional development and services in secondary education for students with disabilities.

Link to the individual documents here:

College and Career Ready Standards and Secondary Transition Planning for Students with Disabilities: 101 (pdf 1.3 (MB);

High School Redesign and Secondary Transition Planning for Students with Disabilities: 101 (pdf, 291 KB);

Tiered Interventions and Secondary Transition Planning for Students with Disabilities: 101 (pdf, 468 KB); and

Universal Design for Learning and Secondary Transition Planning for Students with Disabilities: 101 (pdf, 614 KB).

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Latino student success: A Key driver on the road to goal 2025

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Donna Martinez

Lumina Foundation: America’s Economic Future Increasingly Depends on Graduating More Latinos from College

Disponible en espanol »

INDIANAPOLIS—Latinos are the fastest-growing student population in America and a new effort is now focused on leveraging the critical connection between their educational attainment and the future of our national economy. Today, Lumina Foundation launches a collaborative partnership designed to strengthen ventures in key metropolitan areas that show promise in improving the postsecondary attainment of Latino students.

Under the project, Lumina will provide a total of $7.2 million over a four-year period to 12 partnerships in 10 states with significant and growing Latino populations. The partnerships will leverage community leaders across key policy, education, business and nonprofit sectors to build, implement and sustain successful “place-based efforts” that capitalize on their local talents and ingenuity.

Read more here:

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