Special Education Today newsletter 5(36)
What happened in SET Land the week that began 2 March 2026?
Howdy, colleagues, friends, neighbors, and anyone else who is reading this post for Special Education Today. You are reading the regular weekly newsletter for SET (as if you did not know it—haha) and it will have familiar contents. Those who have read previous issues will expect to find a photo, some updates about the endeavor I call “SET,” a list of posts for the past week, and some observations about special education. They will find that their expectations are met.
As my mother used to say when she was charged with reading maps while navigating during automobile trips, “Ahead. Ahead.”
Photo
Spring is coming to central Virginia, dang near like clockwork! Although we can anticipate some chilly days and maybe even some frozen precipitation before the vernal equinox officially shepherds it into the neighborhood. One wam day recently, I went outside the windows of the SET office and got a photo of some harbingers of spring.
In a newsletter in January 2026, I posted a photo of a daffodil bud. I think that that blossom stalk didn’t make it through the snow-ice storm of January; I didn’t get to it and uncover it, as I had hoped. Sigh. This photo shows a different batch of daffs.
Status
Substack lists this as the 1613th post of SET. If you are a subscriber, Dear Reader, you are one of slightly > 1100 (and > 1500 followers). The readership keeps growing, but some folks subscribe and then unsubscribe within a couple of weeks. The curve is “going up,” but it has not turned “viral.”
Australia, the UK, Canada, Morocco, and India are the leaders among countries with multiple subscribers; together, this nations have almost 100 subscribers. Unsurprisingly, the US has the largest number of subscribers (almost 900), but SET has 0 (yep, not one) subscriber from the US states of Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, or South Dakota.
Many of you, Dear Readers, also follow other ‘stacks. The education-focused stacks that you also read include Filling the Pail, Minding the Gap, and The Bell Ringer. Because some individual SET subscriber might follow all three of those, it is difficult to say just how many of you also subscribe to any one of them, but the stats I have show that somewhere between 10% and 15% of SET readers read one or more of them. I read (and recommend) all three of them. I read other stacks in the education sphere, and I bet many of you do, too. Please don’t be shy about pointing to those you find informative.
This past week no new paying subscribers joined our little band of merry supporters. Those who didn’t ante up missed the chance to hang with the likes of Ed P., Clay K., Joel M., Dan H., Christine T., Mike N., Mike G., Anita A., Angelique W., Linda L., Larry M., Ed M., Hill W., Michele M., Kristin S., M.-A. L., Pam S., Kathy M., and many other early adopters—including a couple of pals who dropped their paid subscriptions when they passed on to better activities: Ronnie Detrich and Jim Kauffman. And, a special thanks to Anita A., Kathy M., and Mike G. who are super supporters.
Although I find it rewarding have subscribers who actually pay the few $$, €€, ££, ₱₱, or other currency for a paid subscription, it is even more encouraging to know that people with the competence, dedication, and care about our kids are supporting the SET effort. Readers who can solve the firstname-lastnameinitial code I use in referring to SETters will recognize that these supports are among the most respected contributors to our discipline. That those subscribers’ pay for subscriptions provides an enormous vote of confidence.
While I’m recognizing contributors, let me flash SET’s electrons to readers who dropped comments on posts this past week. Thanks, Tom Z., Tim H., and Michael G. for their contributions. Thanks to everyone who dropped likes on posts, too.
Okay…anyway, please tell your friends, tell your colleagues, tell your kids’ parents, tell your neighbors, tell your relatives (including in-laws), tell your administrators about Special Education Today
Spedlets
Here are the links for the posts from the past week. The first one is, as usual, a reference to last week’s newsletter. There are links to stories accessible to everyone and to those dear paying subscribers. In brackets after each item you can find the initials for authors to the bulleted items.
The list for this week is not separated by “free” and “paid.” All the posts were on the free-to-everyone list. Some of them will be available for free for the duration of the project. Others will go behind the pay wall 10 days after they were published.
Special Education Today newsletter 5(35): Does anyone want to know what transpired in special education last week? [JWL]
Free DI seminar coming in March 2026: What abut the scientific groundings of DI, even beyond the evidence of effectiveness? [JWL]
Advocacy organizations promote public lobbying to protect US ED: CEC encouraged US citizens to call legislators to keep special education programs housed in the Department of Education. [JWL]
Spread the word day for 2026: 4 March: Shouldn’t we support efforts to abandon hurtful language? [JWL, JER, MJR]
US readers: Call your elected representatives today: CEC encouraged US citizens to call legislators to keep special education programs housed in the Department of Education. [JWL]
Remodeling US special education research: What is in the report for suggesting reforms of the Institute for Education Sciences? [JWL]
Group forms to guide autism research: Will an independent group provide better advice than the US government group? [JWL]
Friday catch-up notes—2026-03-06: What tidbits should we have wr post this week? [JWL]
Inclusion is the right policy...or maybe it’s not: What are people saying about the UK Labour plans for special education? [JWL]
Women leaders whom we should hail: Who are some developing leaders in special education as of 2026? [JWL]
So, there you have it. Those are the posts for the previous seven days. If you missed any of these, you can follow the links. Of course, one can always go to the home page to find these and earlier posts (some of which require a paid subscription).
Commentary
I’ve got nothing.
I’m too tired, thoughtless, and old.
I’m giving my tent a fold
And slipping away.
But, please don’t forget to take care of yourself, take care of your family members and colleagues, get enough sleep, and (of course) teach students well.
JohnL,
John Wills Lloyd, Ph.D.
Charlottesville
Your SET guy
SET should not be confused with a product with the same name that is published by the Council for Exceptional Children. SET predated CEC’s publication by decades. Despite my appreciation for CEC, this product is not designed to promote that organization nor, importantly, to represent the views of CEC.