Fit programs to students, not students to programs. Meaningfully involved families are assets, not liabilities. The practitioner's role is pivotal. Organizational culture and structure count. Standards need to be relative, not universal.
Multidisciplinary instruction is extraordinarily difficult, but well worth the effort.
Improving regular education reduces special education expenditures. D.C. The Institute's Managing Director, Bill Sofko, lead a single afternoon session on the issues surrounding costs in special education and why correlating those costs to benefits is so important for people with learning disabilities. In each session there was a productive interchange between Mr. Sofko and the audience. As per the request of several audience members, we have made the slides from Mr. Sofko's presentation available for download. You will need Abode's Acrobat Reader program, which is available at no change, to view the slides.