From the Hartford Courant:

Differentiated instruction allows teachers to tailor lessons to students with different abilities in the same classroom, and has been on the rise in Connecticut since a 2002 federal court ruling ordered more inclusion of kids with disabilities in regular classrooms.

Educators say the method is very demanding and difficult, and requires solid training, planning time and expert classroom management techniques.

Advocates say differentiated instruction helps students progress because their individual needs are met, said Diane Ravitch, a former assistant secretary of education. But critics say, according to Ravitch, that it can be an overwhelming burden for some teachers and that some parents complain their children with higher abilities are neglected or aren’t challenged enough.

From National Public Radio:

A DVD developed by British researchers is successfully using trucks and trains to help children with autism decode human emotions.

Simon Baron-Cohen and a team of researchers from the Autism Research Center at the University of Cambridge have come up with a series of educational videos featuring animated vehicles called The Transporters, each with the face of a highly expressive actor.

A study found that children who watched the DVD for at least 15 minutes a day for a month became much more adept at recognizing facial expressions and the emotions behind them.

The original Transporters DVD was so successful in the U.K. that Baron-Cohen and his team released a new version this month using American voices. A quarter of the profits from American sales will go to autism charities.

With video. (Photo from NPR)

From the Boston Globe:

Volunteers with disabilities in Burlington, Massachusetts, visit all of the town’s second-grade classrooms each year to let kids know what it’s like to live “differently” with their disabilities.

“We want to help kids not to be afraid of people with disabilities,” said the group’s chairman.

David Murphy, who has diabetes, explained how he lost part of his left leg after it failed to heal from a bad bruise, as the second-graders passed around an extra prosthetic leg he had brought with him.

“Were you sad when you didn’t have your leg?” Nisha Chhayani, from Nelson’s class, asked Murphy.

“Well, I was at first, a little bit,” he said. “Then, I wasn’t anymore.”

From the Washington Post:

Several schools in suburban Washington’s Montgomery County have programs for children with Asperger’s syndrome. They focus on teaching students to recognize and cope with their symptoms, as well as including them into general education classes to the greatest extent appropriate.

The Montgomery County program is one of only a handful at public schools across the country. Before her son entered it, one mother said, “I couldn’t see my child as anything. I couldn’t imagine him having a normal life. And now, my child has a personality. He’s funny. I can see him as an engineer. I can see him as an architect. I can see his life.”

‘Response To Intervention’ proves controversial

From the Associated Press:

School districts across the country are trying to intervene early when they see children having difficulty learning, providing extra tutoring and other early intervention services. They’re hoping to avoid expensive special education classes later on by giving kids the chance to catch up.

Not everyone is so pleased about the early help, known as “response to intervention” or RTI.

Some parents worry that children with learning disabilities will have to wait too long to get the intensive help they need. Academics and administrators fear the trend is taking off too quickly, without enough research to back up its surge.

“RTI is a runaway train – it’s an explosion right now in the entire field of education,” said Wayne Sailor, a professor of special education at the University of Kansas.

‘Universal design’ boosts inclusion and achievement with use of computers, software

The Boston Globe documents a movement in education that integrates computer technology and software into mainstream curriculum, allowing students with disabilities to work alongside their peers in general education classes. The practice, called universal design …

… allows children with special needs to feel included in a school’s social life, provides for a more equitable education, and better prepares them for life outside school, supporters say.

“You’ve made it almost seamlessly accessible,” said Jennifer Edge-Savage, director of implementation services for Kurzweil Educational Systems, a Bedford company that develops reading technology for those with learning difficulties or visual impairments. “When you’re surrounded by technology in a classroom, that one student with a laptop doesn’t look so out of place anymore.”

… Technology has been used for special education for decades, but the advent of the federal No Child Left Behind Act and the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act have spurred more intense efforts to mesh technology with mainstream curriculum. The education act requires educators to consider technology for students with special needs so they can be accommodated in the general classroom.

Would accommodate different learners together

From Education Week:

A coalition of 28 educational organizations has come together in support of “universal design for learning” (UDL), a concept which calls for flexible curriculum materials that can accommodate different learning styles in the same classroom.

Among the supporting organizations are the National Education Association, the National School Boards Association, the Council for Exceptional Children, and a host of groups that support children with specific disabilities. Other supporters of the concept include Sens. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) and Mary Landrieu (D-La.).

According to the tenets of UDL, lessons should be designed with accessibility in mind, instead of retrofitting existing materials in an attempt to accommodate students with learning differences. While the early days of UDL focused on helping students with disabilities, supporters say it has benefits for any student, including those who are learning English, gifted students, or students who simply learn better through methods other than a teacher’s lecture.

Registration required.