Special Education Today newsletter 3(30)

Who would want to read more drivel in an SET newsletter?

OK, it’s Monday morning here in the eastern region of North America, so it’s time to release the latest newsletter of Special Education Today.¹ Regular readers will find little personal stuff, a table of contents covering the posts from the previous week, a few notes about the status of SET, and a brief commentary about topics that have occupied my recent thinking (such as it is).

We had the delightful opportunity to be guests of Paige Pullen and Dan Hallahan Sunday. In addition to being a damn fine teacher of the teaching of reading, Paige is also a super chief; she served us some homemade crackers and humus followed by a tasty dish of shrimp with white rice (that soaked up juices from the shrimp cooked in clam juice) and habañeros, a simple salad, fresh bread (and pot de crème for desert). Quite yummy.

John Lloyd (aka “The Geriatric”), Paige Pullen, and Pat Lloyd, January 2024. Photo by D. P. Hallahan with my camera. Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA

Dan Hallahan and some derelict (l-r) in January 2024. Photo by Pat Lloyd, Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA)

Ain’t it great that pals can still get together and hang out, even at my advanced age? If you’re in the neighborhood, let us know!

Table of contents

It was not a slow week for SET. Alert readers probably saw all 11 posts during the week. In case you missed any, here is a list with links.

1. Special Education Today newsletter 3(29): Is anyone ready for yet another installment of the SET newsletter?

2. Olds: Can't and wont's: What was published 15 January 2005?

3. Some sources I consult: What's on my bookshelf?

4. Measles, vaccination, public health, and our kids

5. Shanahan: There are no brain-based methods of teaching reading!: Did the renowned psychologist just explain that the emperor is...uhm...naked?

6. Mayor promoted accessible playgrounds, sensitive policing: Wasn't it nice to hear such issues mentioned on a national news program?

7. Frank H. Wood, 1929-2023

8. Boosting teacher pay: Will Virginia—and other—teachers actually see a 10% increase in the next couple of years?

9. Snippets—Potpourri of stories for a week: Does anyone care to know about these stories?

10. PD on solving behavior issues: Is anyone interested in on-line consultation for free?

11. Reginald L. Jones 1931-2005: A fine scholar and leader left a legacy worthy of recognition

Readers can keep up with the latest posts by going to the home page for SET. Even if I don’t send a post to subscribers by e-mail, I post them all on the Web site. Oh! And I encourage readers to get the Substack app for their portable devices so that all their Substack subscriptions can be readily available.

Status notes

SET still seems to be stuck in the mid-600s for total subscriptions. Although there are a few new subscribers (welcome Reynold C., Tanya I., Suzanne M, Joe B?. and Markus H.)

Meanwhile, welcome to Halle R. and Olivia B. I hope y’all find lots of worthwhile content and tell friends and colleagues about everything you like about SET. Maybe if folks who use Facebook, Twitter, and such would simply pass the word about SET along through those mechanisms, we’d get this community to grow and engender more conversation and active dissemination?

Meanwhile, here’s another shout-out note: Thanks to you folks who are paid subscribers. You’re the foundation for SET and I appreciate it!

Comments

So many topics on which I wish to comment:

I got a head full of ideas
That are drivin’ me insane

—Bob Dylan, 1965, “Maggie’s Farm” from “Bringing It All Back Home”

• What is happening with pre-referral interventions? Are RTI-MTSS approaches becoming a responsibility of special education? Should they be?

• Should special educators make recommendations about what antibiotics physicians should prescribe on the basis of, say, curriculum-based measurements? Should special educators follow recommendations from other professionals about whether a student qualifies for special education?

• Are there evidence bases for deciding what policies, curricula, methods, procedures, and practices educators should employ? How can we educators learn about them and employ the results of those data sources?

• Will somebody please just show me the funding for special education? From whence does it come? Where does it go?

And, yes, I could go on and on about these and other matters. But, I shan’t in this issue. Check back in the coming week.

Still, please remember to take care of each other, stay safe, and teach your children well.

JohnL

John Wills Lloyd, Ph.D., UVA Professor Emeritus,

Founder & Editor, https://www.SpecialEducationToday.com/

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p.s., Once you’ve subscribed to SET, please consider donating some time (or even $$!) to efforts to promote peace, equity, justice, and effective special education. There are plenty of worthy non-profits; I’m sure you can find them.

1. Y’all should already know that SET is not affiliated with the Council for Exceptional Children, even though that organization began publishing a newsletter by the same name many years after the paper version of this newsletter began appearing in 1984 (see “SET & spedtalk”).