Special and General Education Students Can Coexist and Benefit From Each Other in a Safe Learning Environment

“Ms. Green, did you know that I have autism?” Andrew asked as I discussed our new lesson, “Communicating with Persons with Disabilities.” I was stunned,…

5 Steps to Help Students With Special Needs Make a Smooth Transition to In-Person Learning

With the end of the pandemic in sight and some communities already reopening, it is time to understand what it will take for special education…

Teachers Are Working So Hard This Year, But Students With Disabilities Need More

I am a special education teacher with 17 years of experience in the classroom and a parent of two children with dyslexia. Recently, I learned…

Awareness Weeks Are Fine but People With Disabilities Need a Lot More Than That

My son with autism is turning 19 in a couple weeks. In June, he’ll graduate from high school. I took a month-long break from writing…

It’s Time To Break the Discipline Cycle and Invest in Student Supports

While we continue to struggle to figure out how to educate students 12 months into the global pandemic, we cannot afford to lose sight of…

As a Mom of a Son With Multiple Disabilities, I Have the Receipts on Remote Instruction

Here at brightbeam, our North Star is “How Are The Children?” As parents look back over the last nine months of COVID-related school disruptions and…

I’m Glad To Be Back in the Classroom. My Students Need Me.

November 12th was our first day of school in-person since March of last year. On my drive to school, I was excited and grateful—thinking about…

We Need a Cooperative Approach to Improve Education for Students With Disabilities

Ten years ago last month, a team of advocacy organizations filed the New Orleans special education lawsuit (P.B. v. White) in federal court. The class-action…

I Thought Vouchers Were Wrong, But Now I Realize They Helped My Son

Recently I wrote that a residency hearing with two children, Kayla and Tasha, represented to me our deeply-embedded structural inequities in education that decades of initiatives,…

Karega Rausch Says Charter Schools Get Better Outcomes for Kids When They Listen to Communities

With all the ruckus around charter schools, it’s easy to forget they can’t be painted with a broad brush. Each state has its own charter…