The New NASDSE Journey Begins!
- john.eisenberg@nasdse.org
- Jan 31, 2019
- 4 min read
Updated: Feb 1, 2019
Hello colleagues and welcome to my first ever NASDSE Executive Director Blog post! I am planning to share many of the new and exciting things that the NASDSE Staff and Board of Directors have begun working on since the retirement of our friend and colleague, Dr. Bill East.
As many of you know, Dr. Bill East officially retired on January 4, 2019 and our staff gave him a proper NASDSE farewell lunch. While we were sad to him retire, we are excited about the new opportunities and directions that will guide our future path to becoming one of the best special education membership organizations in the country.
Coming Soon
I am excited to announce that the NASDSE Board of Directors has chosen the vendor MemberLeap to work with our organization to build a state-of-the-art website as well a comprehensive member portal. Including in our plans will be the following:
A modern website that will highlight our organization's key functions, events, services, and products. Extensive use of pictures, videos, and social media platforms will be utilized.
Member Only Portal that will include:
Pay dues online – credit card and invoice
Communication updates and automated emails to all members
Track and update all members
Dedicated secure areas for posting content and documents on topics such as Autism, Dyslexia, RDA, General Supervision, etc.
Dedicated areas for affinity groups
Dedicated areas for NASDE Staff
Dedicated areas for NASDSE Board of Directors
Dedicated areas for each state
Ability to issue surveys, polls and member questions
Registration for all events
Conference management tools
Online store for products and services
Mobile app for members
3. MemberLeap can be found at: https://www.memberleap.com/
To see some examples of websites they have developed click here: https://www.memberleap.com/sample_websites.php
Timeline: We are striving for an early April 2019 release so stay tuned
Strategic Planning for the Future of NASDSE:
At the NASDSE Board of Directors Meeting on January 28, 2019 I introduced the Board to our consulting partner Human Dynamics Consulting (HDC) who will lead an 18 month initiative to engage our membership and stakeholders to create a comprehensive strategic plan to guide NASDSE's future work. HDC will be starting their work immediately and will be contacting many of you to participate in a series of questionnaires, focus groups and interviews. They will be using a four phase approach to their work:
At the 2019 National Conference in Louisville, KY, HDC will present some of their key findings at the business meeting. Please be on the look out for their communications so your voice and ideas can be heard to help shape NASDSE's future!
http://www.visiononcourse.com/
Update on the Office Move:
On March 28, the official NASDSE Office currently located at 225 Reinkers Lane in Alexandria Virginia will be closed and staff will begin our transition to full telecommute status. I have been working closely with the Board of Directors to ensure that we begin the development of new policies, practices and procedures that will guide our staff's work in full a telecommute environment. This critical decision to end our lease will help save our organization almost $20,000 a month rent and provide greater flexibility to the staff. Many if not most of the national associations in the Washington D.C. area have begun a similar move.
In order to maintain a small but vital physical presence in the D.C. area, we have signed a short-term 6 month lease with Carr Workplaces for a small 198 sq. foot office that will house all our critical business and HR documents as well as meeting space for the Board of Directors, the Executive Director, and staff on an as needed basis. This will allow us to have a manned phone line as well as place to received mail as well. The Board of Directors will review the lease in 6 months and determine if this option is still needed for the future. Signing with Carr Worksplaces also gives us access to any of their national conference rooms around the United States which will help increase our presence in many your states or regions.
New NASDSE Initiatives
NASDSE has begun a new partnership with The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) to assist our member states who have not received a State Personnel Developmeant Grant (SPDG). This initiative includes developing a community of practice and NASDE staff mentorship to assist in the developmemy and review of SPDG grant applications.
NASDSE has also begun a new partnership with the University of Kansas to be at the forefront of research and policy development for online/virtual education of students with disabilities. This includes some of the following reasarch questions:
Policy Questions addressed in this brief include the following:
1. How is the general (regular) education environment defined for the virtual schools?
2. Is a formal case conference committee (CCC) meeting (IEP meeting in most other states)required prior to enrollment in the virtual school?
3. Is a re-evaluation required upon transfer to (or from) a virtual school? If not, should it be?
4. Does the SEA /LEA provide procedures on how special education services are delivered
in the virtual school in a way that ensures the least restrictive environment?
5. Is a move to virtual school from a non-virtual school, or vice versa, considered a change
of placement?
6. Is the virtual school responsible for providing a continuum of alternative placements?
7. How is the location (usually the student's home) in which the student learns viewed in
terms of restrictiveness?
Conference Update
Joint NASDSE/CASE Conference in Louisville Kentucky
Our joint planning team is hard at work developing the conference agenda. General sessions will include:
A. Retention/recruitment of teachers
B. ESSA and IDEA
C. Leadership and driving change - Taking care of yourself and staff
D. Specially designed instruction
E. OSERS Updates and key messages
F. State and local panel on coordination and collaboration to improve outcomes
State Night will be held at the Kentucky Derby Museum: https://www.derbymuseum.org/
Applications for presentations will be coming soon!
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