Introduction
Most of us can hardly conceive of life without the internet. Some have argued that no other single invention has been more revolutionary since Gutenberg's printing press in the 1400s. The world can be “at your fingertips” at the click of a mouse—if you can use a mouse... and see the screen... and hear the audio.

I use this Jeopardy!-style game to test, reinforce, and enhance students' understanding of Special Education Law. Playing the game and discussing the answers takes about one hour. I use a free online multiplayer buzzer system that requires students to respond to questions by typing their answers into a text entry field (www.cosmobuzz.net). I give students plenty of time to answer each question and award points for all correct answers. At the end of the game, I award a prize to the winning student (e.g. a Starbucks gift card). I haven't uploaded the answer key here because I don't want students to see the correct answers online; feel free to email me at david.moss@wayne.edu for a copy of the answer key.

Leadership in Inclusive Technology Systems
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Line drawing of a rocket ship
Effective technology leadership promotes the development of a balanced and inclusive technology infrastructure that examines assistive technology (AT), educational technology (EdTech), and information technology (IT) as part of a technology ecosystem.

The Center for Inclusive Technology in Education Systems (CITES) has utilized a design-thinking process, in partnership with local districts, to refine a set of leadership practices that enhance the development of a balanced and inclusive technology infrastructure.

CITES leadership practices include:

Create vision & goals
Develop a strategic plan
Measure progress
Develop learning outcomes
Plan infrastructure

This guide is designed to support your own professional learning around learner variability as well as ideas and resources for sharing with other educators.

Did you know that there is no such thing as an average learner? In fact, each and every learner is different across a whole child spectrum—from the content they know, cognitive abilities, social and emotional factors, and background. Our experiences and our environment shape the way we think and feel about learning and our readiness to process new information. Understanding the research behind learner variability helps us disrupt the inequities of a one-size-fits-all education.

What is learner variability? It is a recognition that each and every student has a unique set of strengths and challenges that impact the way we learn. Learning science research supports the concept of learner variability and provides pathways and strategies for student success in school and beyond. For example, a factor of learning such as working memory, critical to learning new information, can be affected by emotions or sleep. Additionally, it helps us understand how factors can be affected by context. How students learn in person versus virtually or from one subject to the next can be very different. Students may respond positively to different strategies in different situations or work better with different people in different classes. It also helps us understand important social and emotional connections like how a Sense of Belonging can affect students’ readiness and Motivation to engage in learning.

Did you know that learning styles is a myth? Learning styles is a popular idea that many people learned in school. It says that we are either auditory, visual, or kinesthetic learners. But, that is not what research tells us. Research says we learn best when all three options are present and that which modality we rely on may change according to the task. For instance, the way you remember a phone number may be different from the way you learn about a historical event or a math formula. Furthermore, people who think of themselves as only learning one way, (e.g., I am a visual) learner, can close themselves off from other learning experiences.

One in five students in the U.S. are estimated to have learning and attention issues. Specific learning disabilities can include dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia, while attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) centers on an individual's challenge with focus. Learning and attention issues often co-occur. These brain-based differences are not the result of low intelligence, poor vision, or hearing. Although young people will not ‘grow out’ of their learning or attention challenge, the appropriate, evidence-based programs and strategies can support a learner to become successful in school, work, and life.

It is particularly important that these interventions occur early on (ideally prior to third grade) to provide students the support they need at critical periods of learning and development. While learning and attention challenges affect all learners from every income level and across all races, genders, and ethnicities, students who are Indigenous, Black, Brown, living in poverty, or learning English are more often over- or under-identified with specific learning disability diagnoses.

This module is designed for pre-service teachers who are learning about low-incidence disabilities. The following are included: Multicultural and Bilingual Aspects of Special EducationLow-Incidence, Multiple, and Severe DisabilitiesAutism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Learners with Emotional or Behavioral DisordersLearners who are Deaf or Hard of HearingLearners with Blindness or Low VisionLearners with Physical Disabilities and Other Health ImpairmentsGifted

Mada’s Glossary is the first dictionary of its kind, which includes terms related to ICT accessibility and assistive technology (AT) in the Arabic language. The Glossary was developed to serve as a vital resource for capacity building within ICT services, accessibility, and assistive technology in Qatar and beyond. Mada’s Glossary is essential to educate professionals, researchers, and individuals interested in the basic terms used in these fields. It is considered one of the first initiatives to provide such resources in Arabic.

A free online course to assist all educators, including those new to the profession, in improving the accessibility of the materials their students use for learning...

On May 26, 2020 the U.S. Department of Education issues a Notice of Interpretation (NOI) permitting the National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC) to accept files derived from digital instructional materials. These FAQs will be updated as more is learned about the implementation of the NOI.

or some students with disabilities, the text in instructional materials is a barrier to their participation in the general education curriculum. Some students may have visual disabilities that make it difficult for them to see the text. Other students may be unable to hold materials because of a physical disability. Still others may be unable to read or derive meaning from the text because of their disability-related needs. For these reasons, some students with disabilities need instructional materials that are converted into accessible formats in order to learn the same curriculum that is being taught to other students in the class.

In 2004, provisions were added to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to help improve the quality and delivery of accessible formats to students with disabilities who need such materials. Among these provisions, States were required to adopt NIMAS, which stands for the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard. NIMAS is a technical standard used by publishers to prepare “electronic files” that are used to convert instructional materials into accessible formats. The “electronic files” are known as NIMAS source files. The purpose of NIMAS is to help increase the availability and timely delivery of instructional materials in accessible formats for qualifying students in elementary and secondary schools.

NIMAS Q&A
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This Q&A provides states, state educational agencies (SEAs), local educational agencies (LEAs), and other interested parties with information to facilitate implementation of the NIMAS and coordination with the NIMAC.

The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) in the U.S. Department of Education issued a Q&A document in August 2010 to provide states, state educational agencies (SEAs), local educational agencies (LEAs), and other interested parties with information to facilitate implementation of the NIMAS and coordination with the NIMAC. OSERS has updated this document to reflect changes in the NIMAS resulting from the 2020 Notice of Interpretation (NOI) [3] and the Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Act (MTIA). [4] This Q&A document supersedes the previous document and will be updated with new questions and answers as important issues arise or to amend existing questions and answers, as needed.

The Marrakesh Treaty has resulted in changes to the disability categories used to determine eligibility for NIMAS-derived materials. Additionally, the term “accessible formats” replaces “specialized formats.”

The terms “eligible person” and “accessible formats” are now used in relation to the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) provisions of IDEA.

The National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) is a technical standard publishers can use to produce source files (in XML) that may be used to develop multiple accessible formats (such as Braille or audiobooks).

In addition to the technical specification, our NIMAS Exemplars provide NIMAS-conformant filesets you can inspect to learn more about best practices based on the technical specification and the DAISY Structure Guidelines.

MathML is the recommended way to represent mathematical notation in NIMAS. For more information, visit MathML in NIMAS.

Visit Resources for Publishers and Conversion Houses on the NIMAC website for additional resources related to the production of NIMAS files.

Both State education agencies (SEAs) and local education agencies (LEAs) have responsibilities related to the provision of accessible formats from NIMAS files through the NIMAC for qualifying students. The State Director of Special Education leads the following activities on behalf of the SEA and LEAs.

Are some terms new to you? See the definitions section on this page or visit NIMAS & NIMAC. The NIMAS Q&A also provides answers to common questions related to the implementation of the NIMAS and coordination with the NIMAC.

On November 17, 2004, a bipartisan House-Senate conference committee approved a final special education reform bill that reauthorized the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and set in motion important reforms that helped teachers, parents, and schools ensure every student with disabilities receives a quality education. The bipartisan agreement is based on legislation authored by House Education Reform Subcommittee Chairman Mike Castle (R-DE) that passed the House in 2003 with bipartisan support. The measure includes reforms recommended in 2002 by President Bush's special education commission, as well as key elements of the IDEA reauthorization bill passed by the Senate in 2004. On December 3, 2004, the President signed IDEA 2004 and stated:

"All students in America can learn. That's what all of us up here believe. All of us understand we have an obligation to make sure no child is left behind in America. So I'm honored to sign the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004, and once again thank the members for being here."

Family members are the most important people on the educational team and in the life of a child or youth with deaf-blindness.

They are the one consistent presence as children move from early intervention to school, and then transition to adult life. Educational settings change and practitioners come and go, but the family is always there. In this section of the website, you will find resources to help you:

Connect to agencies and organizations
Learn about deaf-blindness and key topics for families
Access family stories
Find events

Welcome to NCDB's Info Center. Here you will find information about deaf-blindness, educational practices for children and youth, and the National Child Count. Our goal is to help users find high-quality resources and avoid information overload.

Information includes links to a wide variety of resources—factsheets, websites, articles, videos—for families, service providers, and anyone else involved in the life of a child with deaf-blindness. We have also kept all of our popular legacy publications from previous OSEP-funded projects (see bottom of page).

If you are having trouble finding what you need, please email support@nationaldb.org.

Practice Guides
One of NCDB's current product development projects is the creation of practice guides that outline essential components of instructional practices commonly used with children who are deaf-blind. They are primarily intended as a tool for state deaf-blind project personnel and practitioners to inform training and coaching needs.

A key purpose is to let technical assistance providers or coaches and practitioners know what a practice involves when implemented correctly. The more clearly the components of an intervention are known and defined, the better it can be successfully implemented (Fixsen et al., 2013). NCDB Practice Guides also serve as quick reminders of the purpose and key elements of a practice. The guides are not intended to provide instruction on how to implement a practice and should be used in combination with technical assistance/coaching and information resources (e.g., factsheets, articles, videos, modules).

Accessibility & Accommodations
Assessments should be designed to ensure that all test takers have the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and skills on what the assessment is measuring. Critical to realizing this is providing accessibility features so that assessments are fair, valid, and reliable.

“Accessibility” is a general term currently used for three levels of supports. Universal features, which might include use of a highlighter for example, are available to all test takers. Designated features, which might include text-to-speech, are available to all students for whom an adult or team of adults has indicated a need for them. Accommodations are provided only to students with disabilities and English learners for content assessments (general and alternate), and only for English learners with disabilities for English language proficiency (ELP) assessments.

Accessibility policies are state-determined, and often vary by content area. Universal features, designated features, and accommodations may be embedded in technology-based assessments or may be provided by a human. The terminology used for the levels, and the specific features included in each level, may differ by state and by assessment.

We believe that all deaf people can THRIVE.GROW.BLOSSOM.
As deaf people leave high school and prepare for college or careers, the National Deaf Center wants them to succeed. Our research shows that deaf people are not completing college degrees, getting jobs, or earning as much as hearing people. We’re here to change that.