$4.37 Million in Grants Awarded for Training Highly Qualified Personnel in Special Education

The U.S. Department of Education today announced the award of $4.37 million in grants to universities in 14 states to help train doctoral, post-doctoral and other graduate students to work with children with disabilities. Under the Preparation of Leadership Program, the grants will help children with disabilities by training doctoral and post-doctoral students in early intervention, special education or related services. Some money will also be used to prepare master's degree students for...

U.S.D.E. Reports Shows Impressive Gains in Reading Proficiency for Students with Disabilities

U.S. Department of Education Reports New Reading First Data From States Shows Impressive Gains in Reading Proficiency for Students with Disabilities

U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today announced new data from the states showing impressive gains for Reading First students. The achievement data submitted by state education agencies (SEAs) and compiled and analyzed by the Education Department's contractor, American Institutes for Research, showed...

Tune-Deaf People May Hear a Sour Note Unconsciously

Findings Could Help Scientists Study Consciousness

People with tune deafness aren’t able to tell when a musician accidentally strikes the wrong note in a song, but their brains know the difference. Researchers from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), part of the National Institutes of Health, have found that people with tune deafness, an auditory processing disorder in which a person with normal hearing has trouble distinguishing notes in a...

U.S. Department of Education Offers Effective Early Childhood Language and Literacy Practices

The U.S. Department of Education's "Doing What Works" Web site recently added a feature that will empower educators and administrators with research-based strategies to help boost their early childhood language and literacy practices. This new feature brings online the recommendations outlined in five research reports previously released by the Department's Institute of Education Sciences (IES) on early childhood education.

The "Doing What Works" site, <link...

U.S. Secretary of Education Announces Public Meetings to Discuss New Regulations for No Child Left Behind

U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings recently announced in the Federal Register a series of upcoming public meetings being held around the country to discuss the proposed changes to regulations for No Child Left Behind. The meetings will seek comments from the public on the proposed regulations at the following dates, times and locations:

• Wednesday, May 14, 2008
  Hilton Boston Back Bay Hotel
  40 Dalton Street
  Boston, Mass. 02115
  Time: 9 a.m....

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NIH REVEALS FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE PREMATURE INFANT SURVIVAL, DISABILITY

Based on observations of more than 4,000 infants, researchers in a National Institute of Health (NIH) newborn research network have identified several factors that influence an extremely low birth weight infant's chances for survival and disability. The findings offer new information to physicians and families considering the most appropriate treatment options for this category of infants.

Every day, physicians and new parents must struggle with the type of care to provide to extremely low...

Gene for Brain Networks Tied to Autism

A gene that helps the brain make connections may underlie a significant number of autism cases, researchers in the United States reported on Tuesday.  Disruptions in the gene, called contactin 4, stop the gene from working properly and appear to stop the brain from making proper networks, the researchers reported in the Journal of Medical Genetics.  These disruptions, in which the child has either three copies of the gene or just one copy when two copies is normal, could account for...