National Center for Learning Disabilities

Programs: Parent empowermentwe continued our relentless focus on providing high quality information to parents of students with learning and attention issues. We expanded and enhanced our flagship ld. Org website, which laid the groundwork for an even more extensive digital resource for parents, understood. Org, a collaboration with 14 other non-profit partners. 90% of the ld. Org content became the foundational core of the new resource. During fy2014 :" we relaunched ld. Org, which resulted in a 400% increase in traffic-500,000 parents per month, 140,000 subscribers. " together with the poses family foundation's parent project, we conducted a national survey engaging more than 2,200 parents whose children have learning and attention issues, two-thirds of whom had been formally identified and were receiving services and supports. " we published the 2014 state of learning disabilities report (3rd edition) and disseminated it widely. This resource is the most current and comprehensive compendium of critical knowledge about ld available, offering prevalence data as well as detail about characteristics, public perceptions, academic performance, school outcomes, postsecondary transition, employment and more. New to this edition is a section that addresses "emerging issues" for which there are still limited or insufficient data. This report is a go-to resource for teacher preparation programs, policy makers and educators and is often cited in the media.

school transformation:during the past year, ncld developed high-quality informational resources and professional development materials and services to ensure that students with learning and attention issues have the opportunity to thrive in a rapidly changing education environment. Our focus has been on helping school districts to implement response to intervention (rti) and multi-tiered system of supports (mtss) frameworks, which have been demonstrated to be the most effective way to ensure that all students can succeed. The new emphasis in schools on common core state standards (ccss) is reflected in our new education resources. Our approach is unique for helping educators to function effectively at the intersection of special education, mtss, and common core: " new resources: rti talks, online newsletters, videos, articles, blog posts. " rti action network website: 640,612 visitors, a 55% increase over the prior year. " roundtable on sld identification: a convening of the nation's foremost experts on this issue led to the development of an rti-based sld identification toolkit to guide the field. Over 1000 people attended a webinar on the toolkit and more than 1000 people have accessed the archived version. Additionally, alabama school psychologists are taking the toolkit state-wide. The barnstable public schools in massachusetts, our schools that work partner, is also using the toolkit district-wide. " leadership in action: we mentored 40 principals and their school teams in 4 states (montana, kentucky, wyoming and colorado) in collaboration with the national association of elementary school principals, state departments of education and state principal associations. This led to an increased focus on student data to monitor progress, to plan classroom instruction and on using research-based interventions. " strategic consulting: we worked with wichita, (ks) and the states of virginia and south dakota to achieve whole system reform by fully adopting a mtss model. " schools that work: we began a multi-year schools that work project with barnstable (ma) public school district to implement mtss in comprehensive, systematic manner throughout the district. The program includes a full year of targeted professional development, strategic planning and mentoring focused on fully implementing mtss pre-k-12 in both academics and behavior.

young adults:in fy2014, we completed a ground-breaking research study on the perceptions and experiences of young adults with learning and attention issues as they transition from high school to post-secondary settings. Past research efforts have captured information about academic achievement, demographics and life outcomes for young adults, but none have studied the perceptions of young adults and what experiences and social-emotional factors drive them toward successful outcomes after high school. We conducted 1-on-1 in-depth interviews with 30 young adults in colorado and new jersey and used their insights to identify key areas of strength and struggle for further exploration. We then created an in-depth online survey (to be conducted in the fall of 2014) to capture first-hand information about the perceptions of young adults, reflecting upon their earlier school experiences and their ability to navigate post-secondary challenges in school, in the community and in the workplace.

public policy and advocacy:over the last year, we continued our work to ensure that federal policies include and serve students with learning and attention issues and to engage parents as more effective spokespeople on policy issues by communicating with them more frequently and with more targeted messaging. In fy2014, ncldlegislation and regulations:" engaged business, civil rights, education reform and disability coalition partners like education trust, us chamber of commerce and national council for la raza to act as key advisors to congress on the core principals of the reauthorization of the elementary and secondary education act (esea). " secured language in the reauthorization bills for the workforce investment act (s. 1356 and h. R. 803) that was passed into law in july of 2014. The law will ensure that young adults who have been in special education have better services after high school and as they transition to the workforce. " led the disability community to influence the administration to ensure that states' use of alternate assessments is prohibited in the esea reauthorization bills. " led a successful campaign to secure $2. 5 million over 5 years to create and fund a national technical assistance center that will serve as a clearinghouse for information at universities and community colleges. " supported a stronger education sciences and reform act (esra) to restore important investment in education research. " helped convince the us department of education to end the "2% rule" which allowed states to set lower standards and create easier assessments for some students with disabilities. " organized parents and associations in the state of new york to speak out against a state plan to exclude large numbers of students with disabilities from annual state testing. This effort resulted in the state of new york withdrawing its request for this exclusion from its esea waiver application to the us department of education. " organized parents and associations, and provided testimony, in the state of louisiana to ensure that graduation requirements and standards were not lowered for students with learning disabilities. This resulted in negotiating new elements of the law which provided key protections for students with learning disabilities. Knowledge-building:" drafted first of their kind recommendations on how appropriately to include students with learning and attention issues into competency-based systems and into the third grade reading laws around the nation and created recommendations for practice and policy regarding students with learning and attention issues. " conducted a survey of over 3000 parents to determine if they were seeing budget cuts in their schools to special education services and used this information to advocate to restore and increase funding for idea. Grassroots advocacy:" grew our subscriber list for action alerts from 10,000 to 60,000. " briefed parent advocates around the nation to ensure they were fully briefed on esea reauthorization and could speak directly with staff of members of congress on issues they care about. " helped thousands of parents to contact their members of congress directly through our action alerts allowed.