Last week, the New York State Education Department announced that it has developed a “blueprint” for local school districts to develop effective special education programs for students with disabilities. SED stated that the blueprint is intended to “ensure that students with disabilities have the opportunities to benefit from high quality instruction, to reach the same standards as all students, and to leave school prepared to successfully transition to post-school learning, living, and employment.”

SED developed seven core principles for the blueprint, and encouraged local school districts to review these principles and assure that its procedures are consistent with them. The seven core principles are:

1. Students engage in self-advocacy and are involved in determining their own educational goals and plan.
2. Parents and other family members are engaged as meaningful partners in the special education process and the education of the child.
3. Teachers design, provide, and assess the effectiveness of specially designed instruction to provide students with disabilities with access to participate and progress in the general education curriculum.
4. Teachers provide research-based instructional teaching and learning strategies and supports for students with disabilities.
5. Schools provide multi-tiered systems of behavioral and academic support.
6. Schools provide high quality inclusive programs and activities.
7. Schools provide appropriate instruction for students with disabilities in career development and opportunities to participate in work-based learning.

A copy of the “blueprint,” with further explanation of these core principles, may be found here.