Announcements

Notice of Procedural Safeguards Now Available in an Audio Format

An audio recording of Procedural Safeguards is now available. Please share the link below with parents/guardians/families, individuals with visual impairments, or those who may find it useful. Feel free to post to your LEA’s website. This recording will be available soon through the SPEDTex website.

Link to the online audio file.

Upcoming Dates

February 1 - March 3: Application window for Innovative Services to Students with Autism Grant Award
March 2 at 11:00am CST: To celebrate Read Across America Day, your whole class is invited to join Learning Ally for an author spotlight event with Carmen Agra Deedy. Register HERE for this free online event.
March 8 at 11:00am CST: Accessing Resources Using the School Mental Health Database webinar hosted by TEA and Project AWARE Texas. Register HERE.
March 9 from 2:00 - 3:00pm CST: TEA Special Education Webinar.
July 17 - 18: Registration open now for the Aligned! 2023 from Child Find to IEP Implementation free virtual conference.

In This Issue

New Transition Resource

Learning Ally Audiobook Solution

Did you know...

that March is Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month in the United States? The National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities highlights the many ways in which people with and without disabilities come together to form strong, diverse communities. This month is all about raising awareness about the inclusion of people with developmental disabilities in all facets of community life.

Department News

New Transition Resource - Next Steps to Independence: Skills and Strategies

The Next Steps to Independence checklist provides a framework to develop skills for independence in adulthood for individuals with disabilities. Families might use this tool to reflect on their child’s achievements, consider any areas of concern, or collaborate with educators. Educators might use this tool to identify critical skills to address, adaptations to consider, or as an informal transition assessment for self-determination skills. Within each age group, you will see lists of activities and suggestions for teaching these critical skills and connecting with community partners.

View Checklist Now

Learning Ally Audiobook Solution

TEA provides funding for all Texas K-12 public schools and open-enrollment charters to support their struggling readers with the Learning Ally Audiobook Solution. Featuring an expansive library of human-read audiobooks, including popular fiction, literature, and high-quality instructional materials in a wide range of subjects and grade levels, the Learning Ally Audiobook Solution is designed to bridge the gap between a student's ability to decode text and their capacity to understand the content. Visit Learning Ally to get started for free today.

National News

New Publication on Visual Impairments in Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities

A number of differences exist between students with significant cognitive disabilities who have cortical visual impairment (CVI) and those who have other types of visual impairment. Learn more in NCDB/ATLAS Brief #2, co-produced by the National Center on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB) and Accessible Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Systems ( ATLAS). Information in the brief is drawn from a more extensive report, “Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities and Dual Sensory Loss.”

Early Math Learning and Self-Regulation App

NumberShire ™ is a FREE internet-based educational game with an intensive focus on critical whole number concepts and skills for students in K—2. NumberShire Integrated Tutor System, an OSEP-funded grant, includes an adapted version of the intervention; a renovated data dashboard depicting student performance; a platform linked to implementation; instructional resources that support teachers to make math instruction more explicit in the classroom; and a game-based, self-regulation activity called Math Toss to support the development of behavioral self-regulation skills.

Shout out to Region 19 for conducting 3 monthly Writing Appropriate Measurable Postsecondary Goals trainings and 11 trainings in LEAs for a total of 405 teachers, diagnosticians, and speech-language pathologists trained so far. Five more monthly trainings are scheduled for the rest of the school year. Way to go Region 19!

Job Listings

Join the SPEDTex mailing list or visit the site to locate resources you need.

Monthly Highlight: The For Families page of the SPEDTex website continues to gain popularity based on SPEDTex data analytics. In addition, The Parent’s Guide to the ARD Process on the SPEDTex website is among the leading resources that visitors to the website seek.

Special Education Strategic Integration Specialist (Education Specialist IV)

Satellite Monitoring, Review, and Support Director (Director III)

Review and Support Education Specialist (Education Specialist IV)

Special Education Compliance and Dispute Resolution Manager (Manager IV)

The Texas Education Agency will improve outcomes for all public school students in the state by providing leadership, guidance, and support to school systems.