Dear e-mail Members,

Here I provide the 13th issue of the first volume of the newsletter for Special Education Today. I know...I know...just what you need...another e-mail message.

This issue has mixed contents. I have an updated status report for the site and the newsletter, a table of contents for the past week, and a bit of commentary at the end.

Status update

Broken record version: The number of free e-mail registrants for the list is holding steady. We lost a couple, but we gained a few more this past week!

As in the past, about half of the e-mail subscribers opened the newsletters (last week = 47%). As I understand it, that's a good rate; Mailchimp reported an average of 21.33% (range, depending on industry, from ~15% to ~29%). Also, those of you who open these messages seem to be pretty engaged with the e-mail messages.

Of course, I wish that 50% opens would increase and that it would be > 50% of a huge number of people. That is, 50% of thousands of e-mail members would be wonderful. Current subscribers are probably the best means I have for increasing that denominator, so please click those "share" buttons and pass along links to teachers, parents, administrators, psychologists, and others concerned with students who have disabilities.

There is an indication that word about SET is getting spread more generally. SubStack tracks new visitors (I think "new" means a browser that doesn't have a SubStack cookie for SET) every day. We bounce along at 5-10 new visitors a day.

A few readers seem to be checking the Web site regularly. Soon after I post a new article during the week, before it appears in the newsletter, I sometimes learn that two or three people have read it. Thanks to those readers who check in regularly!

SET pals who interacted with the magazine recently:

• Michael K.,

• Tina C.,

• Jane B., and

• Jennifer G.

  Who did I miss?

Thanks, too, for tweets, retweets, and likes on Twitter:

• Tina C.

• Michael K.

• Emily B.

• Lysandra C.

• Jason T.

• Bryan C.

I posted the first opportunity to use SET as a discussion board. SubStack calls these kinds of posts "Threads." Visitors have only opened it a few times and no one took the bait. Sigh. Maybe that'll change after it appears in the ToC. Anyway, there’s no one to thank for interacting there.

Speaking of the ToC

I dropped seven new posts on the Website this week. These were the week's posts, from oldest to newest. You can read them by following these links or by going to the main site and working through them systematically from the Web version of this message or the links on the main page at https://www.specialeducationtoday.com.

• Teaching about sex for students with disabilities

• Happy Labor Day—Remembering an effective pioneer who helped many US citizens, including me

• Thread: Becoming a special educator

• Accessible playgrounds are an important part of education—Can places like "Bennett's Village" become widely available?

• Friday photos 3—C. Michael Nelson

• Recent resources from The Hechinger Report—Alternative-catch-up strategies and disparities in sex education

• Editorial: Fountas & Pinnell argue for reducing polarization in reading instruction—Is it time for detente among adocates of different approaches to early literacy?

• Families concerned about young adults' living facility choices—Is a state facility the appropriate placement for autistic young people?

Commentary

I'm a little short on comments this week. My exercise regimen is coming back. I’ve not been working on the burying grounds project. That’s about what I know.

I'll just close with the usual admonitions: Seatbelts—remember them. Please encourage your family, friends, and neighbors to get vacinated. Keep safe social distances and use masks. And, please, remember to teach your children well.

JohnL
SET Editor guy
Charlottesville

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SET should not be confused with a product with a similar name that is published by the Council for Exceptional Children. SET predated CEC’s publication by decades.