109 HCON 484 : Commending The New York Institute for U.S. House of Representatives 2006-12-07 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

III 109th CONGRESS 2d Session H. CON. RES. 484 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES December 7, 2006 Received CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Commending The New York Institute for Special Education for providing excellent education for students with blindness and visual disabilities for 175 years, and for broadening its mission to provide the same quality education to students with emotional and learning disabilities.

Whereas The New York Institute for Special Education, originally founded in 1831 as The New York Institution for the Education of the Blind, has for 175 years continually educated students with disabilities, and is chartered by the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York, accredited by the National Commission for the Accreditation of Special Education Services, and is located on Pelham Parkway, in the Bronx; Whereas on March 15, 1832, the first class in the United States for blind children began at The New York Institution for the Education of the Blind; Whereas in 1986, The New York Institute for the Education of the Blind broadened its mission to also provide education to students with emotional and learning disabilities and preschoolers with development delays, and concurrently changed the name to the New York Institute for Special Education; Whereas in 2000, The New York Institute for Special Education again broadened its mission by establishing the Cornerstone Literacy Initiative, providing staff development and school reform leadership to high poverty school districts throughout the United States; Whereas The New York Institute for Special Education has prepared students to attain and exceed the academic standards as set forth by the Department of Education of the State of New York; Whereas in addition to providing a quality education to New York students, The New York Institute for Special Education is equally committed to improving special education on a national level and serves as a student teaching and internship site for eleven universities nationally; Whereas since its inception in 1987, the Readiness Program of The New York Institute for Special Education has had a dramatic impact on the lives of special education pre-school children as well as their families; Whereas the Van Cleve Program of The New York Institute for Special Education accepts children with learning and emotional disabilities from five to eleven years of age, the graduates of which show dramatic improvement in academic, social, and behavioral abilities; Whereas students in the Schermerhorn Program of The New York Institute for Special Education participate in individually designed academic and modified academic programs that emphasize independence and are given an opportunity to develop job behaviors and skills through pre-vocational activities and in career experience programs; Whereas The New York Institute for Special Education has continuously played a leadership role in advocating for quality education of children with disabilities; and Whereas The New York Institute for Special Education has continuously played a leadership role in conducting and promoting research relating to the education of children with disabilities: Now, therefore, be it

That the Congress— (1)commends The New York Institute for Special Education for providing excellent education for students with blindness and visual disabilities for 175 years, and for broadening its mission to provide the same quality education to students with emotional and learning disabilities; and (2)recognizes the high importance of, and supports all efforts to improve, education for physical, emotional, and learning disabled children.

Passed the House of Representatives December 6, 2006. Karen L. Haas, Clerk.