Here are a couple of guides for accessible gifts:

• December 17th - TEKS Alignment Documents (virtual)
• January 21st - IEPs and Instruction (virtual)
• February 11th - Supporting Communication (virtual)
• March 4th - Empowering Educators: Elevating Instruction for Students with Complex Needs (in-person)
• March 18th - Stations and Rotations (virtual)
• March 26th - Thinking Inside the Boxes (in-person)
• April 15th - Designing and Supporting Instruction (virtual)
• May 8th - Lightbox Activities (virtual)

• December 13th - Aligning to the TEKS for Active Learning (virtual)
• January 15th - Are You Blind? Book Study (in-person)
• February 21st - Active Learning Supervisors Roundtable (hybrid session)
• March 21st - Communication Strategies for Active Learning (virtual)
• June 2nd - Active Learning Supervisors Roundtable (hybrid session)
• June 13th - Roles for Adults in Active Learning (virtual)

• December 6th - Beginning With The End in Mind: Harness Technology for Students with Visual Impairments (in-person)
• January 14th - 5 W's of AT (virtual)
• February 14th - Seriously Wild about Assistive Technology (in-person)
• March 3rd - Empowering Educators: Elevating Instruction Through Technology (in-person)
• April 25th - Seriously Wild about Assistive Technology (in-person)
• May 19th - AT Show & Tell: Teacher Play Day (in-person)

• December 5th - Infants & CVI (virtual)
• December 6th - Beginning with the End in Mind (in-person)
• December 7th - In the Driver's Seat (in-person)
• January 9th - Infants & the ECC (virtual)
• January 21th - VI Supervisors Roundtable (in-person)
• January 22nd - VI & O&M Regional Meeting (in-person)
• February 3rd - Transition Fair for Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing (in-person)
• February 13th - Lightboxes for the New Millennium (virtual)
• February 18th - Braille Challenge (in-person)
• April 10th - VI/O&M Lunch and Learn: Ordering from APH (virtual)
• April 23rd - Babies Day Out (in-person)
• April 25th - YMCA Camp ECC Day
• May 7th - Educational Personnel for Students with Deaf-Blindness

• Rubric of Effective Practices
• Supporting Communication
• Classroom Organization, Schedules, & Positive Behavior Supports
• Teamwork and Transitions
• Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and Instruction
• Designing and Supporting Instruction
• A Step Toward IEP Quality and Rigor for Students with Complex Access Needs

1. Teachers in the Region 10 ESC service area should email Catie (cathryn.king@region10.org) by December 20th.
2. Complete either "A Step Towards IEP Quality and Rigor" or the Rubric of Effective Practices series of courses by March 1st.
3. Complete at least one coaching cycle related to the content from the selected course by April 1st.
4. Attend the Institute in San Antonio, Texas June 3-5.
5. After Institute participants will be reimbursed for their hotel and travel cost and receive a package of instructional materials.

The purpose of this communication is to provide notification that the Texas Education Agency (TEA) is requesting a waiver of the federal cap on the number of students who can be assessed with the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR®) Alternate 2. Prior to submitting the waiver request to the United States Department of Education (USDE), the draft waiver, 2024–2025 Texas One Percent Cap Waiver Request, is available for public comment and posted on the STAAR Alternate 2 Resources webpage.

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), section 1111(b)(2)(D)(i)(I) prohibits a state from testing more than one percent of its students statewide with an alternate assessment aligned with alternate academic achievement standards (i.e., STAAR Alternate 2). The USDE allows states who anticipate exceeding the one percent cap to submit a waiver request. Texas is requesting a waiver from the USDE to exceed the one percent threshold for the 2024–2025 school year.

TEA is accepting public comments regarding the need to request a waiver to exceed the one percent statewide threshold. Please provide comments via email to assessmentwaiver@tea.texas.gov. The public comment period begins Monday, November 25, 2024, and ends Friday, December 13, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. (CT).

Please forward this notification to all interested persons. If you have questions about the information in this communication, submit your inquiries to TEA using the Student Assessment Help Desk.

Email: cathryn.king@region10.org
Website: region10.org/programs/low-incidence-disabilities-lid
Location: 904 Abrams Road, Richardson, TX, USA
Phone: 972-348-1590