Dental spending reached $136 billion in 2018 — 3.7% of all health spending — and what the ADA Health Policy Institute is calling a “historic high” in the new HPI Industry Report released Feb. 4.

I spend most days of my life working with various students who are at different parts in the sped referral process. I attend Child Study Meetings where we decide if we are going to evaluate a student. I observe and screen children and talk with parents and teachers to help the committee make a good decision about whether we should do a special education evaluation.   I evaluate those students (this includes Psychological testing, observations, talking with student/teacher/parent, doing rating scales, etc.). I attend eligibility meetings where we determine if the student is eligible for for special education services. All of this is second nature to me and sometimes I need to stop and remember when a parent comes in, that this is NEW.

When I talk to parents, I find that many parents do not fully understand the special education referral process, even when they nod and act like they do. We as school staff need to do a better job of helping the parents understand the process. Parents also need to speak up and ask questions when there is not understanding.

This is a guide for parents to understand the process of special education testing, the testing components, and some of the test data. It is important to note that schools systems and states will vary to some degree. If you have any questions about the process in your school system, ask your school psychologist, teacher, or principal. Parents have every right to ask questions and usually school personnel are happy to help make this process less anxiety-provoking for you. It is important for parents to understand their rights during the special education process.


Special Education Process

After data shows that interventions have been attempted and if a student is suspected of having a disability, a referral is made to evaluate him or her for special education testing. Once the parents sign the Permission for Testing Forms, timelines begin and the schools have 65 business days to complete the assessments and hold the eligibility meeting. Some states may have a different timeline.

During these 65 days, several testing components will be completed with you and your child. The evaluators will write reports and a copy will be given to parents at the eligibility meeting. However, schools are required to have a copy available for parents to pick up two days before the eligibility meeting. It is advised, that parents take advantage of this and read reports before the meeting to help get familiar with the information and to formulate questions. The reports hold a lot of information that can be overwhelming if you are not familiar with this type of testing. Read Understanding Test Scores to understand the types of tests used and what the scores mean.

Additionally, the meeting is likely to bring forth strong emotions as your child’s difficulties are discussed openly. It can be overwhelming for parents, especially when not prepared. When parents do not read the reports prior to the eligibility meeting, they are the only people at the table who come to the meeting not knowing what to expect.


What if My Child is Found ELIGIBLE for Special Education Services?

Once a child is eligible for special education services, the schools have 30 days to develop an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) for the student. This will consist of accommodations, goals, and describe the services offered. Parents are part of a committee to help create this document. Once it is signed, schools are legally required to follow it. It is reviewed once a year, unless parents or teachers feel that changes are necessary. Every three years, the committee will determine if the student should be reevaluated. This is called a triennial evaluation. Sometimes another full evaluation will be conducted, other times a review of records and updated teacher information is used.


What if My Child is Found INELIGIBLE for Special Education Services?

If your child was found ineligible for special education services and you agree with the eligibility findings, then your child will not receive special education. He or she was evaluated because of a problem that still needs to be addressed within regular education. Ask for a separate meeting with your teacher or a team to determine what accommodations or strategies can be used to help.

If you believe that your child requires special education services and has a disability, but was found ineligible for services, make an appointment to meet with the special education director. If an agreement cannot be reached, you may be able to have an Independent Evaluation at the expense of the school. The results of that testing will be brought back to an eligibility meeting. A child MUST have 2 things before they can receive special education services: They must have a disability and there must be a documented educational impact that the student requires special education services to be successful.

Americans across a large portion of the Northeast are in the midst of an unusually late-season blast of Arctic air courtesy of the polar vortex.

*my legit questions

 The best way to have a good death is to live a good life

-- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com

America is awash in secrets and conspiracies. Moviegoers are agog over the 2,000-year-old conspiracy theory in "The Da Vinci Code," which suggests that Jesus may not have died celibate. In a conspiracy exactly one order of magnitude smaller, Brad Meltzer's new novel, "The Book of Fate," tells about...

If you happen to stop by a Victoria's Secret store this Wednesday evening, on the eve of Valentine's Day, you will learn something fascinating about human nature that will tell you a lot about people and relationships.

Last year, as the financial meltdown was getting underway, a scientist named Yaneer Bar-Yam developed a computer model of the economy. Instead of the individuals, companies and brokers that populate the real economy, the model used virtual actors. The computer world allowed Bar-Yam to do what...

Refugees encounter a range of challenges after resettlement—from adjusting to a new culture and language, to finding a job. Many resettlement countries invest in predeparture orientation to help refugees develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to face these challenges. This report explores the many forms these programs take, highlighting important design questions and key elements that effective programs share.

In chapter 13, Macafarlane and David Quentin follow the Ridgeway, a track over the chalk downs of Neolithic origin, using cross-country skis. They ski past two great Neolithic sacred sites, Silbury Hill (a giant mound) and Avebury, a giant stone circle that rivals Stonehenge. Macfarlane describes some vivid scenery - black horses against the white snow, a white horse that looks grey against its snowy white background. At the end of the trip, he and David Quentin meet a huge black cat with gold eyes that they are convinced is a panther as they are heading back to the Ridgeway. Since they are in a van and not on skis, they survive to tell the story.

What I found fascinating about the snow chapter is that although Macfarlane is walking over an extremely ancient landscape and he sees animals - hares, horses, buzzards- that have existed in that area for centuries. He also sees hawthorns, ancient bushes that have been used for hedges for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Their red berries not only nourish birds but are supposed to guard witchcraft and evil. Macfarlane does not fully concentrate on this timeless landscape, but instead muses on the career of British painter Eric Ravilious.

Ravilious, who died in WWII, spent much time walking the Downs, which he depicted in his watercolors and woodcuts. He was fascinated by paths, which appear in many of his paintings. I had never heard of him, and searched online to find images of his art. I find his woodcuts to be charming depictions of country scenes- snow, birds on wires - but his paintings to be disquieting due to his choice of color and depiction of light. Macfarlane describes the Down light as a flat light like the light of the polar regions (p.297). Ravilious, who was fascinated by the poles and the extreme north, loved the light and tried to show it in his art. I find the flattening effect to be a little eerie.

My first exposure to Lucy Maria Boston's Green Knowe series came when my older brother took a an introduction to children's literature class during his first year in college. He was required to read The Children of Green Knowe. I found the copy that he had checked out of our village library, loved it, and worked my way through the other books in the series:

Recently while listening to WNYC, I heard a segment about the lack of diversity in children's literature. While the US's population is becoming more diverse, it is apparently not reflected in children's books. Lucy Maria Boston was a head of the curve since four of the Green Knowe books could be regarded as multicultural since they contain not only Asian and African main characters but also a physically disabled character and deal with the issues of slavery and exile due to war.

Ping, a young refugee from Burma, is the main human character in A Stranger at Greene Knowe and a supporting character in The River at Green Knowe and An Enemy at Green Knowe. Ping has spent most of his life in a hostel for displaced children and goes to stay at Green Knowe during his summer holiday. He is eventually asked by Mrs. Oldknow to live with her and Tolly at Green Knowe. His experiences as a homeless child trapped in the grey world of the London home cause him to appreciate not only the natural world around the house but also to empathize with the escaped gorilla, Hanno. Boston wanted to dedicate Stranger to a gorilla keeper that she knew but was forbidden to do so by the zoo since it portrayed captivity for animals as cruel and harmful to the animal. When Green Knowe is under siege from evil in Enemy, Ping calls back Hanno with a traditional prayer to help save the house.

Jacob, in Treasure at Green Knowe, is bought as a child in a slave auction by Captain Oldknowe as a companion for the Captain's blind daughter, Susan. Susan's mother is uninterested in Susan since she views her as an unmarriageable burden. Susan's blindness puts her outside of the normal constraints for an upper-class girl so she can spend her time climbing trees with Jacob and learning how to write with him and their tutor Jonathan. Susan's brother Sefton views Jacob as less than human, buying him clothes patterned on those of an organ-grinder's monkey. Both Jacob and Susan rely on each other to navigate the rules of a society that views them as worthless because of their respective race and disability. They work together to educate themselves and lead successful adult lives despite their differences in race, sex, and station.

Despite the fifty or so years since they were written, the books still hold up due to the quality of the writing, the strong characterizations, and the universal themes. They are well-worth being placed on any reading list, multicultural or not. Good children's books should be read whether or not they are written by US authors.

100 ml extra virgin olive oil 1 brown onion, finely sliced 1 garlic clove, finely sliced 500 g basmati or jasmine rice 125 ml (4 fl oz/1/2 cup) dry white wine 1 fresh bay leaf 400 ml (14 fl oz) warm water Sea salt

Roger Dooley's book Brainfluence has just been released in an Italian translation.

The post Brainfluence Now Has An Italian Translation appeared first on Neuromarketing.

Understand how customer brains work - these are the most important cognitive biases for e-commerce marketers.

The post 12 Cognitive Biases E-commerce Marketers Need to Know appeared first on Neuromarketing.

Where did the new coronavirus originate, how did it spread so fast -- and what's next? Sharing insights from the outbreak, global health expert and TED Fellow Alanna Shaikh traces the spread of COVID-19, discusses why travel restrictions aren't effective and highlights the medical changes needed worldwide to prepare for the next pandemic. "We need to make sure that every country in the world has the capacity to identify new diseases and treat them," she says. (Recorded March 5, 2020. Update: the CDC is now calling for everyone to wear face coverings in public.)

To tackle a problem as large as climate change, we need both science and Indigenous wisdom, says environmental activist Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim. In this engaging talk, she shares how her nomadic community in Chad is working closely with scientists to restore endangered ecosystems -- and offers lessons on how to create more resilient communities.

Pardons, commutations and bankruptcy laws are all tools of forgiveness within the US legal system. Are we using them frequently enough, and with fairness? Law professor Martha Minow outlines how these merciful measures can reinforce racial and economic inequality -- and makes the case for creating a system of restorative justice that focuses on accountability and reconciliation rather than punishment.

A good night's sleep has perhaps never been more important. Sharing wisdom and debunking myths, sleep scientist Matt Walker discusses the impact of sleep on mind and body -- from unleashing your creative powers to boosting your memory and immune health -- and details practices you can start (and stop) doing tonight to get some rest. (This virtual conversation is part of the TED Connects series, hosted by head of TED Chris Anderson and current affairs curator Whitney Pennington Rodgers. Recorded April 1, 2020)

What goes on behind all the closed doors in politics? Most teachers never get a chance to find out, writes teacher-turned-politician John Waldron.

Super-short stories written by teachers about their triumphs and frustrations, and the hilarious or absurd moments from their lives.

Maryland's announcement Wednesday that school buildings won't reopen this academic year marked a a sobering milestone in the disruption to American education caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Board members didn't act on a resolution to revoke Alabama's version of the Common Core State Standards.

Super-short stories written by teachers about their triumphs and frustrations, and the hilarious or absurd moments from their lives.

The U.S. Supreme Court will arguments in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, a case that's been closely watched by both friends and opponent of private school vouchers and tax-credit scholarship programs.

Maryland's announcement Wednesday that school buildings won't reopen this academic year marked a a sobering milestone in the disruption to American education caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

In desperately trying to be a superhero for my students, I underestimated the gravity of the coronavirus crisis, writes Hawaii teacher Lory Walker Peroff.

Download the Pac-12 Now app to watch an epic, triple-overtime 2003 battle between USC and California this Saturday at 1:30 p.m. PT/ 2:30 p.m. MT. The game will be available to all fans.

The Knowledge Sharing for the Development of Learning Resources tutorial provides a professional step forward, a learning experience that leads to recognition that your leadership is well founded as well as ensuring that participants in the development of learning resources recognize they are contributing to an exceptional achievement.

Ability -- United States.

Food.

Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900 -- Family.

Autism spectrum disorders in children.

Snowden, Edward J., 1983-

While the court said the state is moving in the right direction, it also said it doesn't feel comfortable closing a funding lawsuit and wants to make sure the state keeps up with the costs of inflation.

Berlin : A. Hirschwald, 1886.

London : printed for A. Strahan, T. Cadell and W. Davies, 1803.

Manchester : printed by S. Russell, 1806.

London : Smith, Elder, 1887.

London : Waterlow Bros. & Layton, 1885.

An Alaskan high school exchange program works to promote understanding between the state's urban centers and its remote Native Villages and communities.