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Norena Hale speaks at a lectern.

Special Education’s Difficult History

Norena Hale, the former state director of special education, researched and wrote an ICI-sponsored book about the history of special education teachers in Minnesota from the 1840s to 2023.

It is a story of laws ensuring an appropriate education for young people with disabilities, teacher training, low salaries, and dire labor shortages.

Read more about special education’s difficult history.

Project ECHO® professionals meet regularly in person and virtually. Here, staff participate in a hybrid meeting.

Expanding Access for Rural, Highly Mobile, and Military-Connected Families

The University of Minnesota’s TeleOutreach Hub is creating a provider ecosystem to help military families and those living in geographically dispersed areas with developmental, emotional, or behavioral health concerns.

“We do a lot more than training. This model and these efforts have been building a provider community. We build off of previous learnings or stay with a topic over time… asking more in-depth questions and having valuable conversations. And it fosters the relationship between the University and our communities.”

Read more about the TeleOutreach Hub.

ICI Policy Forum logo.

Policy Forum: The Unrestrained Use of Physical Restraints in Schools

Students have died in physical restraints, but no federal laws or standards guide their use in schools, and state regulation is uneven. Yet physical restraints are still used in schools—and more often to restrain students with disabilities and Black students.

A panel of advocates and researchers recently discussed this issue at an online public forum based on findings from an ICI research brief.

Read more about physical restraints in schools.