Sevier County SpEd PAC
Sevier County Parents' Survey in MS Word	Sevier County Parents' Survey in PDF
State/County Sites	Meeting Announcements
Special Education Sites	Meeting Minutes
Advocacy Sites	SpEd PAC Mission
Links to Educational Activities	SpEd PAC Membership Online
SpEd PAC Lending Library Holdings by Author	SpEd PAC Library Holdings by Title
Child Find Notification If you or someone you know has a child who may qualify for special education services, please contact Dr. Sandy Enloe by e-mail or at (865) 453-1036.
Parents' Right to Know The "No Child Left Behind" Act of 2001 requires that schools notify parents that they have a right to request and receive timely information on the professional qualifications of the teachers and paraprofessionals working with their children.

Services in Sevier County and Tennessee

1. April 2008 Sevier County SpEd Newsletter: Upcoming dates, Special Olympics results, planning for the years after school, etc.
2. January 2008 Sevier County SpEd Newsletter: Parents' survey due, motivating learners, call for educational surrogate parent volunteers, etc.
3. October 2007 Sevier County SpEd Newsletter: Parental involvement, children need sleep, Special Olympics schedules, etc.
4. April 2007 Sevier County SpEd Newsletter: EasyIEP, summer camps, etc.
5. January 2007 Sevier County SpEd Newsletter: Planning for Adulthood for the Most Severely Disabled Students, Pointers for IEP Meetings, Top 5 Reasons ADHD Children Misbehave, etc.
6. October 2006 Sevier County SpEd Newsletter: Guidance, Self-Discipline, Educating Jailed Students, and the Special Olympics Schedule for 06-07
7. The full EasyIEP article for parents, from the edited version in the April 2007 SpEd Newsletter
8. Parent Survey to rate the evaluation and education planning process for your child
9. Call to Join the Sevier County Special Education Parent Advisory Committee, a 1-page PDF form to become a member of the SpEd PAC. Here's the same form en Español.
10. State DMRS Consumer Services, family handbook, waiting list for services, conservatorship information, etc.
11. State TennCare Services, eligibility and services information
12. FERPA in Sevier County, guardians' (or 18+ year-old students') rights concerning education records
13. Roles/Responsibilities for Service Delivery Options in Sevier County Neighborhood Schools
14. Continuum of Special Education Services Provided by Every Sevier County Neighborhood School
15. How Will I Know If My Child Is Making Progress?, a 2-page summary of progress reports to look for or ask about
16. General Information about Special Education and Related Services in Sevier County
17. Special Education Exit Form, for a student reaching 18 years old and choosing to terminate Special Education services
18. Independent Educational Evaluations local guidelines for educational evaluations done outside the school system
19. List of Independent Educational Evaluators in and around Sevier County, by specialty
20. Tennessee Family Pathfinder, an Internet community for disability resources
21. State's Human Services, Technology Access Program information and funding options
22. Tennessee School Boards Association, TBSA's website
23. 4-H of Tennessee, information, materials, and activities
24. Medication Procedures for students in Sevier County Schools
25. Medications Students May be Taking, meds commonly prescribed for behaviors students exhibit
26. Standardized Dress and Grooming for Students in kindergarten to 5th grade and 6th grade to 12th grade, a 1-page summary, based on Tennessee Code Annotated 49-6-4215
27. School Transportation Information, including parents' responsibilities
28. School Closings Listing from WBIR
29. Winter Weather Precautions for Tennessee, from area Emergency Management offices
30. Tennessee Special Education Programs and Services, the 70-page PDF file of SpEd rules for the state
31. Tennessee's Department of Children's Services, residential placements, adoptions, foster care, and more
32. Tennessee Family Support Guidelines, the May 2001 PDF file (102 pages worth reading) from the Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities
33. Student/Parents' Comprehensive Vocational Assessment Questionnaire/Inventory. Vocational planning is required as part of the IEP review process from 14 years old on.
34. Parents' Survey for Transition Planning in MS Word or HTML. Transition planning is required as part of the IEP review process from 14 years old on.
35. Student's Survey for Transition Planning in MS Word or HTML
36. Sevier County Association for the Mentally Handicapped (SCAMH) meets the first Tuesday of each month, 7 pm, March through November at the Douglas Cooperative building (1101 Wagner Drive, Sevierville).
    Every December, they host a bagging party to ready holiday goodies for county adults with disabilities.
    SCAMH is also planning to transport athletes to the swimming and basketball Special Olympics. Adult aged high school players whose schools do not participate can also travel with this group to the Special Olympics. For more information, contact Marianne Wightman at kg4dsn@icx.net or (865) 453-4200.
37. Calendar of Training Offered After School Hours in Sevier County During SY 07-08, all paraeducators, teachers, administrators, and parents welcome. Presenters or dates may change; watch for individual announcements prior to each inservice. The same file in PDF format.
38. Discover ET, a variety of resources and activities in East Tennessee
39. Home/Community Activities Inventory for Primary and Elementary Students, a product of Tennessee's LRE for LIFE Project. It helps parents give input prior to IEP development.
40. Home/Community Activities Inventory for Middle, Intermediate, and High School Students, a product of Tennessee's LRE for LIFE Project. This file also comes with a final page on which the student and parent can let the teacher know which goals they think are most important for the coming year.
41. Extended School Year Policy, Sevier County Schools guidance on what ESY is and which students are eligible
42. What Extended School Year Is and is not
43. Extended School Year Questions and Answers
44. Year-round Schooling, more on the topic above from Kidsource

Special Education Sites

1. Office of Special Education Programs, materials for IDEA and IEP guides
2. Tennessee's Special Education homepage. Or call toll free at 1-888-212-3162.
3. Tennessee SpEd Links from the Autism-PDD Network
4. Parent Pals.Com, nice set of links; even the ads are special education related
5. CEC and ERIC's combined clearinghouse
6. Federal Resource Center for Special Education, links to publications worth knowing about
7. US Department of Education's Federal Resources for Education Excellence, searchable by subject
8. US Department of Education's Online ordering for Education publications, also searchable
9. Suggestions for Records Keeping for special education guardians
10. Rights of Children with Disabilities and Parent Responsibilities, a Tennessee focus, commonly given to parents/guardian during multidisciplinary team meetings
11. Step by Step Guide for Parents, a more thorough treatment than the link directly above
12. Rights Brochure, the state's document mentioned immediately above, in a 4-page version
13. Family Center on Technology and Disability, an easy-to-follow and thorough assistive technology site
14. Parenting Project tries to get tomorrow's parents ready; has great links for parents, students, and teachers
15. Schwab Learning, comprehensive site on parenting children who have learning problems
16. Parenting.Org, sponsored by Girls and Boys Town, the site has nice short articles on the various stages of childhood
17. The Future of Children.org, policy and programs concerning children
18. Child Policy International, Columbia University's clearinghouse on child, youth, and family policy
19. Links for Parents, the University of Virginia's short list
20. Yahoo's IEP, 504, IDEA, Transition, etc. links, a very thorough group of sites on many SpEd topics
21. Sound Advice to Parents on handling the IEP meeting
22. Derechos de los padres y los niños en relación con la educación especial, IDEA, Part B en Español, courtesy of the California Department of Education. This PDF file takes 7-10 minutes to download using a 56K modem.
23. Report from the President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education, includes 9 findings and 3 major recommendations (focus on results, emphasize early intervention over reacting to deficits, and consider special education as part of general education)
24. Disability Legislation, a quick summary of IDEA, Section 504, and ADA
25. Legislation and Litigation, a good summary of major education laws and cases
26. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, covers the provisions of IDEA
27. IDEA Practices, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act practices, especially for school administrators. Be sure to check IDEA Central for the latest monthly IDEA newsletter.
28. IDEA 2004 for Parents, CESA 7's summary of the parent involvement parts of IDEIA 2004
29. OSERS' IDEA '97 Site, U.S. Department of Education on the latest reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
30. Family Education Right to Privacy Amendment, Buckley's amendment explained
31. U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce, highlights the House of Representatives' committee that works education issues
32. The FERPA, a good summary of the Buckley Amendment
33. Why Students Are Tested and what their scores mean
34. Interpreting Test Scores, what raw, percentile, grade-equivalent, etc. scores mean
35. Family Influence, how family involvement impacts students' school work
36. Exceptional Parent Magazine online version of the popular magazine for parents of children with disabilities

Advocacy Sites

1. Pennsylvania's Parent Education Network, a great set of links, and most aren't state-specific, even a link to request free publications
2. Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth, regional and statewide advocacy
3. Parent Advocacy Coalition for Education Rights, Minnesota's PACER site
4. Families and Advocates Partnership for Education, not the FAPE those in special education think of, but a nifty site just the same
5. Special Needs Advocate for Parents Newsletter, great articles and the back issue topics are searchable
6. Monthly Newsletters Archive from the National Parent Information Network; it's a treasure chest of information
7. Virtual Children's Hospital has good medical and health information
8. Children's Medicine Cabinet, good, clear information from Keep Kids Healthy.com
9. KidsGrowth, health and advocacy from pediatricians; the "filing cabinet of resources" has some nifty stuff
10. Family Village, laid out as a virtual community for the disabled; maybe spread a bit thin in trying to cover all areas, but it's worth the try and makes it a good site to start from
11. Internet Education Exchange, for parents and teachers
12. CESA 7's Parents Link, Wisconsin's Cooperative Educational Service Agency #7, with a lot of good Special Education links
13. IDEA Q&A, thorough one, from Alabama's Department of Education
14. Implementing IDEA, outline of considerations
15. Wright's Law IEP Information, Wright's Law is geared to parent advocacy in Special Education
16. Wrightslaw Newsletter, this one has a lot of IEP information
17. Special Needs Alliance, a site for the parents of special needs children, and their lawyers
18.  Nolo Law, family and special education law "in plain English"
19. IEP Advice from a Canadian autism site
20. Letter Templates from "Our Children Left Behind"
21. Templates for Parents' Letters to the school; good starters for what to say and how to say it
22. May Institute South, regional home- and school-based consulting services, and a lot of other help
23. Record Keeping, advice on saving and filing your child's records
24. Links for Grandparents Raising Their Grandchildren, resources recommended by AARP
25. Statistics on U. S. Children from the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics
26. No Child Left Behind, breaking news on the U.S.'s Education initiative
27. Explaining the "No Child Left Behind" Act, Wrightlaw's view of President Bush's Education Plan
28. Citizens' Alliance to Uphold Special Education, the CAUSE is to "build bridges between families and schools" with information, news, and advocacy
29. Parent Advisory Committee from Concord, Massachusetts; many good links and ideas
30. The National Center for Learning Disabilities' Capital Wizard simplifies access to U.S. Senators, Representatives, and issues
31. Missing Kids.com, the site of the National Center for Missing or Exploited Children
32. Pathways to School Improvement from the Northcentral Regional Education Lab
33. Parents Helping, how parents can help their children do well at school
34. Parents Helping, more on how parents can help their children do well at school
35. Good Parent-Teacher Communication, from an inservice by Sevier County's Special Education Director
36. Positive Teacher/Parent Meetings, a summary by Sevier County's Special Education Director
37. Positive Teacher/Parent Meetings, more on what parents should ask teachers
38. Positive Teacher/Parent Meetings, how to approach your child's teacher
39. List of Disability Newsgroups, a thorough collection of online mailing lists
40. Nth Degree, advocacy and attitude; worth a look
41. Special Olympics, homepage of the International Special Olympics