Federal Panel Wants Autism Funding Doubled – AcceliBEAT Weekly Round Up
August 4, 2017
Funds dedicated to autism research could see major gains by 2020 if a budget request called for by a federal autism committee is accepted by lawmakers. In other news, in a report out this week, WalletHub ranks state education systems, and surprisingly, finds mixed results when it comes to school spending and quality. See how your state measures up below. Finally, if you’re looking for a last minute end of summer trip idea, check out the The National Teachers Hall of Fame in Emporia, KS. It’s full of interesting artifacts and tributes to some of the nation’s most celebrated educators. All this and more in this week’s AcceliBEAT!
Federal Panel Wants Autism Funding Doubled
A federal autism committee is calling for a twofold increase in funds dedicated to researching the developmental disorder by 2020. The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, a government advisory panel comprised of federal officials and members of the autism community, voted last week to request that public and private dollars for autism research double.
Massachusetts Tops in New Ranking of State Education Systems
In a new nationwide analysis of school systems, WalletHub ranked states and the District of Columbia based on a number of factors, including dropout rate, math and reading scores, median SAT and ACT scores, pupil-teacher ratio, student safety as measured by the number of threatened or injured high school students, and bullying incidence rate.
Nationwide, Teachers Supplement School Supplies With Their Salaries‘
For a lot of families, back-to-school shopping is a stretch, but there are also a lot of teachers out there who are buying classroom supplies using their own money. One Oklahoma teacher got so frustrated, she decided to do something about it. Third-grade teacher Teresa Danks recently went out to a busy highway in Tulsa and she panhandled.
The School District Where Principals Also Teach
The common lament is that principals have extraordinarily demanding and near impossible jobs. Setting class schedules. Evaluating teachers. Drafting school budgets. Overseeing school bus drop-off and pick-up. But Dana McCauley, a principal in the Garrett County school system in western Maryland, does all of that—and more. For the past 15 years, McCauley has been the principal and a teacher at Crellin Elementary School, in the small town of Oakland, where she dedicates at least three hours a day to the classroom.
Designing a Space for All the Senses: Baton Rouge Builder Creates Sensory Room for Young Autistic Boy
For many people with autism, the sights and sounds of the world can be overwhelming. Others, however, need to stimulate their senses — by rocking, for example, or by running a hand across a smooth wall. Specially designed sensory rooms offer autistic people options. They can escape all the noise and lights of the world or lie beneath weighted blankets or swing slowly.
There’s a National Teachers Hall of Fame? Who Knew?
If you’ve ever driven south into Kansas on Interstate 35, past rolling prairies and wheat fields, eventually you’ll run into the town of Emporia, population 25,000 and home to the National Teachers Hall of Fame.
Informal and Formal Child Care Focus of New Harvard Study
Several research papers have dug into the effects of child care and prekindergarten on young children, from the venerable Perry Preschool study that tracked participants into middle age, to newer research on programs such as those in Boston and in Tennessee. But millions of children aren’t enrolled in formal child care or preschool programs; they’re being watched through informal arrangements their parents may have set up with friends or relatives.
Indoor Skydiving Offers Those With Disabilities ‘Major Rush’
When an inoperable tumor on her spine put Jessika Kattah in a wheelchair, the self-described adrenaline junkie knew that she was paralyzed and wouldn’t be able to walk again. But she could still fly. Kattah and other adventure seekers with disabilities have found a home once a month at iFly, the indoor skydiving range in Davie.
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