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National Center for Learning Disabilities and Schwab Learning Release a Parent's Guide to "No Child Left Behind" Guide Designed to Improve Academic Achievement for the Three Million School-Age Children with Learning Disabilities
September 9, 2004
NEW YORK
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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New York, NY"Two national organizations, the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) and Schwab Learning, have collaborated to develop a handbook designed to provide simple, accessible information for parents on the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Making the "No Child Left Behind Act" Work for Children Who Struggle to Learn: A Parent's Guide, is available now at: www.LD.org/NCLB and www.SchwabLearning.org/NCLB .
"The need for parents of children with learning disabilities to understand how NCLB and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) work together has never been more urgent," says Jodell Seagrave, managing director of Schwab Learning, a nonprofit program of the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation, which co-produced the guide with NCLD. "This guide has the potential to have a huge impact on the learning environments of children with disabilities." NCLB requires that schools have a plan to help low-achieving children meet challenging academic standards. This requirement includes meeting the needs of the almost three million school-age children with learning disabilities currently receiving special education services. The 22-page guide addresses the special issues, challenges and opportunities facing parents whose children are struggling to learn, and provides parents with information about specific actions they can take to improve educational services for their children. "Having personally experienced the public schools' inability to meet the needs of a child with learning disabilities, I am hopeful that the guide will empower parents to use these new provisions to benefit their child," says Alison Greene, parent of a son with learning disabilities.
The guide describes several key parts of NCLB that can be used by parents to improve educational services for their children. Highlights include:
The law's emphasis on accountability
An explanation of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), and how this affects children with learning disabilities
What parents can do if a school does not make AYP
"We know that parents of students with learning disabilities need this information to ensure their child has every opportunity available through NCLB," says NCLD Executive Director James H. Wendorf. "Parents are essential in ensuring that teachers are prepared to help children with learning disabilities; that children with LD receive effective instruction and accommodations when needed; and that the public has a better understanding of the realities and challenges those with learning disabilities face every day."
As many parents have seen firsthand, public schools frequently fail to meet the needs of children with learning disabilities. Studies show that:
More than 80 percent of students identified as learning disabled have a primary deficit in the area of reading. Yet, among secondary students with LD, two-thirds are reading 3 or more grade levels behind. Twenty percent are reading 5 or more grade levels behind. [Source: The Achievements of Youth with Disabilities During Secondary School. Reports from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2)2003]
Students with learning disabilities are retained much more often than the general population - more than one-third are retained at grade level at least once, usually in elementary school. [Source: Going to School: Instructional contexts, programs, and participation of secondary school students with disabilities. A report from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2)2003]
Nearly 30 percent of students with learning disabilities drop out of school (compared to 11percent of the general student population). Two-thirds of high school graduates with learning disabilities were rated entirely unqualified to enter a four-year college, compared to 37% of non-disabled graduates. [Source: 24th Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 2002; Students With Disabilities in Postsecondary Education: A Profile of Preparation, Participation, and Outcomes, NCES 1999.]
Most students with LD spend the majority of their instructional time in general education classes yet only 60 percent of students with disabilities in general education academic classes have teachers who receive any information about the needs of those students and only about half have teachers who receive any input or consultation from a special educator or other staff about how to meet those needs. [Source: Going to School: Instructional contexts, programs, and participation of secondary school students with disabilities. A report from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2)2003]
To download a copy of Making the "No Child Left Behind Act" Work for Children Who Struggle to Learn: A Parent's Guide, go to: www.LD.org/NCLB or www.SchwabLearning.org/NCLB .
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The mission of NCLD is to increase opportunities for all individuals with learning disabilities (LD) to achieve their potential, and to provide solutions to help them participate fully in society. NCLD accomplishes its mission through increasing public awareness and understanding of learning disabilities, conducting educational programs and services that promote research-based knowledge, and providing national leadership in shaping public policy. To learn more about NCLD's work, please visit us at www.LD.org, www.KeepKidsLearning.org, and www.GetReadytoRead.org .
Schwab Learning is a nonprofit program of the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation dedicated to helping kids with learning and attention problems be successful in school and life. Schwab Learning develops and delivers resources that provide parents of kids with learning difficulties, and kids themselves, with practical information, empathic support, and trustworthy guidance. Schwab Learning services are delivered through two websites, one designed specifically for parents at www.SchwabLearning.org and another created expressly for kids ages 8-12 at www.SparkTop.org, as well as through outreach and community services.
Funding for Making the "No Child Left Behind Act" Work for Children Who Struggle to Learn: A Parent's Guide was also provided by the Oak Foundation. |
