Mark Your Calendars for Our Next Webinar! 
On March 11, 2008 from 2:00-3:30 PM EST, Dr. Laura M. Sáenz will present "Using CBM to Progress Monitor English Language Learners."  Dr. Laura M. Sáenz is an Assistant Professor of Special Education at The University of Texas Pan American and Center Trainer for the National Center on Student  Progress Monitoring.  The purpose of this session is to help participants understand the potential benefits of using Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) for progress monitoring English language learners. Special emphasis will be given to using CBM to progress monitor English language learners within the context of a Responsiveness to Intervention (RTI) model. Two assumptions of the RTI model -- adequate opportunity to learn, and rate of learning as they apply to English language learners -- will be explored.

Updated Tools Chart Now Available! 
The 2007 review of progress monitoring tools is complete, and we have posted the updated tools chart on our web site! Each year, we invite software companies to submit both new and updated student progress monitoring tools for review. Our Technical Review Committee then conducts rigorous scientific reviews of each tool to determine whether it meets each of our seven standards of technical adequacy. For more information on our review process and the evaluation of specific tools, check out our tools chart.

SPM Leader Presents Center's Guiding Framework
On February 11, at the Office of Special Education Program's annual Project Directors' Technical Assistance and Dissemination Conference, Dr. Maurice McInerney, the National Center on Student Progress Monitoring's (the Center) Managing Director, explained how the Center's Conceptual Technical Assistance and Dissemination Framework guides the Center's organization and its major activities.

Administration Releases 2009 ED Budget Request
On February 4, President Bush requested an additional $337 million dollars for students with disabilities under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), for a total of $11.3 billion in FY 2009. This amount would provide about $1,658 per student for approximately 6.8 million children ages 3 through 21. Funding for Part C, Grants for Infants and Families, and Section 619, the Preschool Grants program, would be maintained at their 2008 levels. For more information on proposed funding for Special Education Services go to: http://www.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/budget09/summary/edlite-section2b.html

CITEd to Offer Webinar on Technology's Role in RTI
On February 28 at 3:00 p.m. ET, the Center for Implementing Technology in Education (CITEd) will be holding a webinar describing how technology can help you manage the RTI process and serve students. Discuss the implications with Dr. Nancy Safer, Co-Principal Investigator of the new National Center for Response to Intervention; and Dr. Tracy Gray, CITEd Director.

News Article Highlights Importance of Progress Monitoring to Instruction
Education Week recently released an article highlighting the increasing interest in and questions regarding the use of Response to Intervention (RTI) in schools.  A district demonstration site in Oregon has been overwhelmed by the number of visitors eager to learn more about successful RTI implementation in schools.  The article also mentions the importance of student progress monitoring and data collection to inform instruction.  For more information on RTI, please visit http://www.rti4success.org/.   To read the Ed Week article, please click here. 

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