The National Association of Special Education Teachers (NASET) empowers special education teachers, advocates, and professionals with practical training, trusted resources, and meaningful connections - supporting those who make a difference in the lives of students with diverse learning needs.
Happy Friday! Here’s to a spooky and fun Halloween weekend! 🎃 Here's the news you may have missed this week
The best story of the week is a practical one: a district cut its IEP prep time in half with AI tools, a glimpse of where the paperwork burden may finally be headed. It lands alongside a series of special education teacher diaries, educators in their own words on the moments that keep them in the classroom and the ones that push them out, essential reading for anyone thinking about why the shortage persists.
Policy delivered a heavier load. Special education attorneys laid out concerns that the new federal scholarship tax credit could erode legal protections for students in private placements, a former state supreme court justice described how courts fail disabled kids, and an investigation found one state’s promise of faster special education hearings delivered the opposite. New York moved toward universal dyslexia screening before kindergarten, an Arizona ballot measure could squeeze special education budgets, and federal agents injured a high school student with disabilities during a detention, a story drawing national attention. On the brighter side, new federal grants are expanding special education teacher pipelines in Montana and Arkansas.
In research, scientists mapped how specific gene variants shape the traits of autism, a step toward more individualized support, and new work on how immune cells drive blindness could eventually change treatment for vision loss.
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Hello from the NASET Break Room - our quick pulse check on the state of special education based on trending posts and questions we saw online this week.
Last Week:
When do students on your caseload tend to be most dysregulated during the school day?
It varies too much by student to say 🤷♀️ (40%)
Have you ever received or made a referral you later realized was the wrong specialist - speech vs. reading vs. special ed?
Our team has a clear protocol that prevents this ✅ (47%)
Have you ever had a colleague question whether a student’s accommodation gave them an unfair advantage?
Not directly but I’ve sensed the attitude 👀 (28%)
No, my school culture supports accommodation ✅ (25%)
Do parent consent delays ever hold up services a student is clearly waiting on?
Constantly, it’s one of our biggest bottlenecks ⏳
Sometimes, usually just a few days’ lag 📨
Rarely, our families respond fast 🚀
Never thought about it, I’ll pay attention now 🤷
Did you know case managers may not need administrator sign-off to request an FBA?
I didn’t know, this is useful to hear📚
I knew, and I’d still push my district to confirm it in writing ✍️
My district makes this clear already🏢
Not my role, someone else handles evaluation requests 🤷
When AI-fed misinformation shows up in a parent email (like a fake ‘interim 504’), what do you do first?
Request a call, nothing in writing until we talk 📞
Respond in writing with the actual law/policy cited 📄
Loop in admin or a case manager before responding 🧑💼
Honestly, I don’t have a go-to move yet 😩
“Carry the One” or “Regroup”? 🤔
“Top number” or “numerator”? “Reduce” or “simplify”? Small word choices shape how students understand math. Dr. Sarah Powell of The University of Texas at Austin, breaks down the five practices that help students who struggle in math, from precise vocabulary to word-problem schemas, in our new self-paced course.
We’re excited to add 🍩 Massachusetts and 🏔️ Montana to our state approvals
📍 Learn More
🧳 Join us on Tuesday November 17th at 7pm ET for What Protections Travel With You: Your Rights as an Educator in a Public, Private, or Religious School with Dr. Suzanne E. Eckes, J.D., Ph.D. Susan S. Engeleiter Professor of Education Law, Policy, and Practice at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Past President of the Education Law Association. She will walk through how the ministerial exception actually operates, which employees it reaches, and how it limits disability and other employment anti-discrimination protections in private religious schools - including the significant limits on teacher speech outside a public district. Recording and certificates available 24 hours after the webinar. 👩💻 Register Today | Always Free for NASET Members
Is there a topic or guest speaker you’d like us to feature? Reply to let us know!
Support Special Education Research
Your Classroom Affects Your Health, Too
Special educators manage lighting, noise, and space for their students. But who's studying how those environments affect you?
Schools are among the most female-dominated workplaces in America, yet occupational health research has largely overlooked them. The Educator Health Survey, a national study of K–12 educators by AREA Research and Perkins&Will focused on women's health, asks about lighting, air quality, temperature, acoustics, restroom access, break space, and health across your career.
It takes 15–20 minutes, and any question can be skipped. The first 350 participants receive $20. No names or emails are collected. Findings publish Fall 2027. 👩🏫 Take the survey
Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT) users, this is for you! Includes an opportunity for a $10 TPT gift card - Take the survey
🏫 High School Educators, we want to hear from you - Sign up here
📚From the NASET Vault
🎉 NASET Family Navigator
👉 Read The October Special Education e-Journal
⬇️ NASET Support Squad Downloads of the Week Using Error Analysis to Improve Student Learning and Supporting Students with Processing Delays During Classroom Instruction Scroll down to instantly download ⬇️
IN THE CLASSROOM
POLICY & COURTS
WORKFORCE
RESEARCH
Elevate Your Impact.
Drexel’s ABAI-Verified online programs give you a data-driven approach to understanding behavior and teaching new skills, especially for individuals with autism. You’ll gain hands-on experience and access to specialized concentrations that align with your goals. Prepare for advanced practice and new career opportunities.
Shout Out to Last Week’s Winners Who Correctly Answered, “Sacramento City USD v. Rachel H.”
This Week's Question:
What is the temporary spike in a behavior when reinforcement is first withheld?
Correctly answer 3 or more trivia questions each month to be eligible for a gift card! We had 26 winners in September!
What’s one resource you REALLY need, but can’t find? Reply to let us know!
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Discover Drexel’s online Applied Behavior Analysis programs – master’s and certificates. Tailored for busy professionals, including educators and social workers – these programs empower you to help others succeed, while forging new career trails of your own, using well-established, evidence-based ABA principles, practices, and tools.
“Change is the end result of all true learning.”