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TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGY EXPLORE RESOURCES Explore this curated list of ed-tech tools specifically chosen for meeting special education needs and learn about additional technology resources from our alliance partners. Find tips and tricks for accessibility and ongoing development. Featured Resources. Learning Keeps Going by ISTE Brought to you by our founding partner ISTE, Learning Keeps Going provides educators with a repository of over 600 tech tools and key information about the product, costs, etc. They also offer a help desk function for educators to ask questions of seasoned ISTE educators. Special Education App List by Digital Promise A curated list of applications designed especially for complex learners from Digital Promise and the Learner Variability Project. Tech for Learners Brought to you by SIIA and the White House this site lists online learning products, resources, and services available from the larger education community, including resources for higher education.

VOICES FROM THE FIELD Explore practical examples from the field of how educators are adapting to serve all students in the era of remote learning. Educators share technical descriptions of how they are working to move from face-to-face to at-a-distance learning with reflections and lessons learned about their experiences. These cases are for the field and we will continue to add more - use the forum to tell us what kinds of practical examples you need! ​ Please note: We have gathered stories and examples from schools and educators working hard to continue educating students with disabilities in the rapidly evolving situation around COVID-19. Our aim is to share information and inspire potential ways educators may incorporate these approaches in their individual school settings. While we know everyone is working hard and doing their best, we also have to recognize that, in the interest of getting information out to the field as expeditiously as possible, these approaches are too early to demonstrate outcomes and/or an evidence base prior to sharing. We are learning together. Leading by example. Special Educators Serve as a Source of Stability in Uncertain Times This case study describes a special educators journey through online learning outlining how her journey was made successful with the help of parents, and school leaders. She describes specific steps she took to keep the student at the center of their learning in the virtual environment. Learn More Planning Alternative Futures With Hope: Connecting Students to Their Goals and Dreams at a Distance Checking in with students is extra important during distance learning and the pandemic. This case study describes how educators can turn the act of checking in with students into a deeper and more tangible empathy-building opportunity. This practical guidance can help ensure that we meet the social and emotional needs of students while also making progress on learning goals and responding to the needs of the entire family. Learn More Changing and Learning Together In this case study, a principal describes critical strategies to surface and learn about the experiences of staff, students, and families during distance learning. Learnings about strengths and challenges of the online approach during closure are discussed, along with plans for transition back to face-to-face, hybrid, or further online learning. Learn More Supporting Communities During the Pandemic This case study highlights how a community organization stepped in to improve families’ access to community resources. It details specific resources that were made available to families and children and how the community organization worked with school districts to make sure students’ basic needs were being met. Learn More Co-Teaching Virtually: A Model to Support All Learners Two eighth-grade teachers discuss the success they have found in co-teaching in a distance learning setting during the pandemic. They highlight collaboration strategies to create an accessible and mutually supportive teaching model for math instruction that engages all learners. Learn More Flexible Mindsets to Change: Navigating the Challenges of Shifting Contexts for Learning Three staff members of a charter management organization discuss how they implemented and continue to update a plan to provide a comprehensive learning environment for all students. They discuss the importance of a flexible mindset, their efforts to create a sense of culture for students and staff, and how they approach challenges with translating special education services to a virtual environment. Learn More The Opportunity for Stronger Connection to Your School Community A high school special education teacher who teaches in a self-contained classroom discusses positive changes to his practice and classroom community during distance learning. He describes practical tips for strengthening communication in classrooms where the first language of many parents is not English, while also improving overall relationships with your classroom community. Learn More Meeting Students Where They Are: Strategies for Adapting Services for Students with Disabilities A paraprofessional at a rural high school discusses how she has adapted her services to a virtual learning environment. She shares specific strategies she has used with her three students, who have social and emotional disorders, significant physical disabilities and dyslexia, respectively. She discusses how she has tailored her services not only to accommodate her students’ disabilities, but to their individual levels of motivation and interest as well. Learn More Inclusion in Remote Learning: It Isn’t One-Size-Fits-All A principal and executive director of an inclusive charter school describes a case-by-case approach to special education in the virtual environment and reflects on elements of virtual learning that can be carried forward into the brick and mortar setting. Key takeaways about educating English Language Learners remotely are shared. Learn More Providing Services to Students who are Deafblind: Coming together as a field In this case study, an expert in special education and mother of a child who is deafblind describes replicable strategies that can be leveraged with deafblind students in distance learning. The author uses her family’s experience to discuss the struggles deafblind students face when moving to the virtual learning world, as well as the potential of the distance learning experience for students who are deafblind. Learn More Supporting Students with Significant Needs in Distance Learning A school leader at a full-time special education day school discusses critical strategies for distance learning with students who have significant needs. Transitioning technology, communicating with parents, establishing routines, prioritizing engagement, and implementing many ways for students to show what they know as learning demands are increased are addressed with illustrative examples. Learn More Social Emotional Growth through Academic Content for All Students This case study describes the experiences of a fifth-grade special education teacher in New York City as she works to support her students’ basic and social-emotional needs—as well as their need for academic process during distance learning. She reflects on her experience and specific strategies, and she describes her classroom’s transformative experience during a unit on poetry. Learn More Practice based models. Using Pets to Meet Occupational Therapy Goals in the Virtual Setting This case study explores the calming and motivating presence of pets during virtual learning, particularly within the context of school-based occupational therapy. In it, an occupational therapist talks about the benefits of leveraging students’ surroundings in their virtual environments to keep students engaged. Learn More Occupational Therapy in the Park: A Creative, Socially Distant Solution for a Child With a Learning Disability and ADHD An occupational therapist describes her solution for a student who was responding negatively to virtual lessons: They met up for a socially distant lesson in a local park. She describes the strategies she put in place and how she used the surroundings to make a meaningful and engaging lesson. She also highlights the ways that face-to-face practices don’t always need to be in an office or a school to be successful. Learn More Uplifting Student Voices: Using Accessible Templates and Tools for Virtual Presentations This case study describes a middle school special education teacher’s creative solutions for pushing students to create and virtually present using Google Slides in a self-contained classroom. Students present projects they develop and are proud of during the time of distance learning. The use of paced Google Slides templates, word banks, sentence starters, select-to-speak tools, and videoconferencing replicate the types of accommodations and supports students would (and need to) have in the classroom. Learn More A Study in Augmentative Communication in Distance Learning This case study describes a speech and language pathologist’s experience supporting a middle school student with complex communication needs and behavioral challenges. Strategies for mapping student needs to clinician strategies are discussed, with an emphasis on how to leverage student agency in the teletherapy process. The use of augmentative communication in distance learning is explored. Learn More The Push-In Model in a Virtual Classroom This case study describes a speech-language pathologist’s transition from face-to-face push-in sessions to an online push-in format in virtual classrooms. Technology resources and new strategies are trialed with a middle school–age student working on writing and comprehension at a school for students with language-based learning differences. Screen sharing, breakout rooms, chat feature, whiteboard features, and Google programs are discussed. Learn More Chemistry at Home: Accessible Experiments and Science Literacy This case study describes an inclusive highschool chemistry classroom, and use of Google Forms, Newsela and video tutorials to support all students learning from home. Practitioners describe an accessible weekly approach to distance science learning that emphasizes hands-on experimentation, the use of common house-hold materials, student explanation, and the development of science literacy. Learn More Transforming the Parent-Teacher Relationship in Remote Learning Brittany Moser, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) coach at Neighborhood Charter Schools, shares a resource aimed at partnering families and schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this case study, Brittany shares how her resource, “Tips and Tricks for Remote Learning,” became a foundational launchpad for supporting families in educating their children remotely. Learn More Growth Mindset and Mindfulness at a Distance This inclusive class is designed to help students manage the emotions of daily life and school. During distance learning, we can help our students find helpful strategies to center themselves when they’re feeling big emotions. We can also use this time to continue to build community and relationships so that students feel it’s safe to come to us when they need their teacher’s support. Learn More Remote Parent Coaching This case study describes a virtual Speech and Language Pathology session focused on language and social pragmatics. Clinicians describe working with a kindergarten student with autism and challenges with language. The use of Zoom, online animated story books, and digital manipulatives are described. Learn More A Virtual Session: Language & Social Pragmatics This case study describes a virtual Speech and Language Pathology session focused on language and social pragmatics. Clinicians describe working with a kindergarten student with autism and challenges with language. The use of Zoom, online animated story books, and digital manipulatives are described. Learn More Multisensory Reading Instruction This case study describes an example of multisensory reading instruction implemented through a distance learning approach. The practitioner describes working with a first grade student with a diagnosis of dyslexia and significant reading difficulty. The use of video conferencing to support strategies like modeling, family coaching/support and game-based learning are described. Learn More Middle School Math: Graphing Virtually This case study describes a virtual math support session focused on learning to graph from an equation in slope-intercept form and anxiety mitigation. The practitioner describes working with a seventh grade student with a diagnosis of dyscalculia. The use of Zoom, a magnetic whiteboard in lieu of a life-sized coordinate plane, google docs as a shared virtual notebook, and video tutorials to support learning and teaching are described. Learn More

National Network of Experts Annie Acosta The Arc About Me> Expert in Intellectual Disabilities Bob Cunningham Understood About Me> Bob Cunningham is a nationally known education leader whose career has focused on students who learn and think differently. He serves as Executive Director, Learning Development and is a founding expert on learning and attention issues for Understood. Previously, Bob was executive director for both the Robert Louis Stevenson School and the Purnell School, and head of school for the Gateway School. He earned degrees from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Teachers College, Columbia University. Barry Barbarasch National Assoc. of School Psychologists About Me> Barry Barbarasch, Ed.D., has been a school psychologist for over 35 years. He is currently Adjunct Professor in the school psychology Masters/Certification program at Rowan University and in the School Psychology doctoral program, at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. Barry is Past President of the New Jersey Association of School Psychologists and is currently chairperson of the NJASP Government and Professional Relations Committee. A'Seret Dokubo Special Education Leader Fellowship About Me> A’Seret Dokubo-Gravier serves as the Specialized Development Cohort Program Director for SELF. In this capacity, A’Seret is responsible for managing programming for eight specialized development cohorts. Prior to joining SELF, A’Seret was a 2011 Teach For America corps member in a New Orleans PK-8 school. She has a Masters in Education Leadership from Louisiana State University and is pursuing a Doctorate of Education at Johns Hopkins University. Rebecca Eisenberg Language During Mealtime About Me> Rebecca Eisenberg, MS, CCC-SLP, is a speech-language pathologist, certified autism specialist, author, instructor, and parent of two children. She began her website, Language During Mealtime and podcast to create a resource for parents to help make mealtime an enriched learning experience. She is the author of several published games for children with special needs, a story time workbook and four children’s books. Sheldon H. Horowitz, Ed.D. National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) About Me> Dr. Sheldon H. Horowitz is the Senior Advisor of Strategic Innovation, Research & Insights at the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD). He provides leadership and oversight of key programs and serves as an in-house expert on learning and attention issues to the NCLD Team. His prior work included directing evaluation and treatment programs in outpatient psychiatry and in developmental and behavioral pediatrics. Lindsay Kruse EALA Content Lead About Me> Lindsay Kruse is an authentic, strategic builder of people, programs and communities of impact focused on creating a more equitable world. Most recently, she served as the Vice President for the Educators team at Understood.org (formerly the National Center for Learning Disabilities). Prior to her leadership at Understood, she served as the Managing Director of the Leverage Leadership Institute for the Relay Graduate School of Education and helped launch the National Principals Academy Fellowship for Relay. Susan Marschner Relay Graduate School of Education About Me> I began my work in education in Philadelphia in 2003. I've now taught, led, coached, and supported teachers in three countries and many states! I love to support teachers in thinking about how to serve exceptional learners and meet their social-emotional needs. Kim Musheno Autism Society of America About Me> Vice President of Public Policy at the Autism Society Michelle Norman Partners in PROMISE About Me> Michelle Norman, 2019 AFI Navy Spouse of the Year, is a Navy spouse of 25 years and mother of a 16-year-old daughter with cerebral palsy and multiple other disabilities. Seeing that so many children will benefit from her dedicated efforts, the Virginia Beach resident has become a passionate advocate for other military families with kids with special needs. Dr. Gabrielle Rappolt-Schlichtman EALA Voices from the Field Lead ​ About Me> Executive Director and Chief Scientist at EdTogether and an Adjunct Lecturer at the Harvard GSE. Over the course of her career, she has built a strong program of work that bridges research and practice to broaden the participation of vulnerable youth in education. Her work is anchored by a commitment to bringing evidence-based solutions from the learning sciences to practical implementation at scale. She is a co-editor of A Research Reader in Universal Design for Learning (Harvard Education Press, 2012). Dr. Schlichtmann is herself a person with dyslexia Sivan Tuchman CRPE About Me> Sivan Tuchman is a research analyst at the CRPE, where she studies how educators and families experience the implementation of innovative policies and programs in K–12 schools and the systems that support them. She also focuses on expanding the use of quantitative measures to study special education. Sivan completed her PhD in education policy at the University of Arkansas where she focused her research on policies affecting students with disabilities and school choice. About Me> Educator. Expert in Family Collaboration, IEP Processes (General), Intellectual Disability, Transition Services, and parent’s rights. Shawn Ullman The Arc