Improve Education in California!

February 2014 – There is a new Statewide Special Education Task Force you should know about. The Task Force was formed to examine California’s complex systems for serving students with disabilities and forward recommendations designed to reform the system and improve student outcomes to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, the California Department of Education, the Legislature and the State Board of Education for consideration. The Task Force is looking for your feedback on five key questions.

Five Overarching Questions to Guide the Work:
1. What should be the state’s vision/mission for students with disabilities? Once articulated, how do we communicate and implement the state’s vision/mission on a broad scale? What systems of
teacher training, school funding, and accountability are needed to ensure that all students receive a high-quality education that is appropriate to their needs and effective in supporting their learning?
2. With implementation of Common Core, how do we ensure access to and success in the CCSS and in other core academic subjects for students with disabilities, beginning with their earliest years in
the educational system? In addition, how do we ensure all students are appropriately included in our new assessment system?
3. What types of changes in teacher preparation and credentialing are necessary to ensure all teachers are prepared to meet the array of learning needs of their students in the least restrictive
environment?
4. How should special education services be funded and organized? Specifically, with the new Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), how do we/should we account for students who carry more than
one label/weight in the LCFF who are also students with disabilities? What strategies would best support effective service delivery options?
5. What are current policy barriers to implementation of MTSS, RTI, RTII and other inclusive and effective school practices? How can these barriers be overcome?
Google Statewide Special  Education Task Force and see how to get involved.