Highlights of the Week

On the ongoing theme of teaching pupil transporters about their special needs riders, Bright Hub has an interesting rundown on Muscular Dystrophy. The site offers some tips for educators in working on IEPs for students with the conditions, but the lessons could well apply to pupil transporters.

"Teachers need to work closely with therapists to ensure they understand the progress of the condition, and how it impacts on classroom activities, and particularly on safety for the student."

Meanwhile, one California school district is focusing on keeping students in the loop when it comes to their classmates with special needs with a class designed to teach them about their peers.

"I realize that I never thought about that people have so many challenges in their lives." 10-year-old Francesca Ferraro.

A Virginia paper examines the rising use of taxis in school transportation, something we looked at last summer. The service is expensive, but needed given the lack of services available for homeless and special needs students, administrators say.

"These are students who already have a tumultuous life ... So the point of providing taxicabs is to make sure they have as much consistency as possible in terms of where they go to school every day." Amy Carlini, spokeswoman for Alexandria City Public Schools