Professional Development Opportunities
WEA's Inclusionary Practices Technical Assistance Network (IPTN) combines the Inclusionary Practices Project and Special Education Program to provide professional development online via Zoom.
Register for each course using the link listed next to the course title.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with the Zoom registration link.
Courses are available to all. Courses are free.
After completing a course, it will take up to 3 business days to receive your evaluation email. Once you submit your evaluation, it will take up to 3 business days to receive the email containing the link to download your clock hour form. Evaluation emails and clock hour form emails come from tgrady@washingtonea.org via Cvent. Check your junk and spam folders if you do not see our emails in your inbox.
IF, after 10 business days, you do not receive the emails and you have checked all of your email accounts and spam/junk folders, please complete the following form for assistance: https://forms.washingtonea.org/Forms/pdtrainingrecord.
For questions or registration assistance, email Thera Bradley.
Contact Phyllis Campano, Special Populations/Programs Coordinator, for questions regarding Special Education or the Inclusionary Practices Project.
Registration Information
Registration is a two-step process
1. Register for each course using the REGISTER HERE link next to the course title (Registration - via Cvent).
2. You will receive the link(s) to access the training and materials (if applicable) in the confirmation and/or reminder emails. You will be directed to a Zoom registration page when you click the Zoom link in these emails. Again, please check your spam/junk/promotions folders if you do not see these emails in your inbox.
Registration information and Zoom links will be sent again in an event reminder email as the course date approaches. Save this information.
COURSES CURRENTLY OFFERED in 2023
Universal Design for Learning 101 REGISTER HERE
October 9th and 11th from 4:30 PM to 7:30 PM
Participants will learn about Universal Design for Learning, a framework for inclusive education that aims to reduce learning barriers and optimize each student’s opportunity to learn in the general education setting.
The course will be organized into 4 core areas: equity and inclusionary practices, UDL Principles, overcoming barriers to implementation, and practical tips for implementing UDL principles in the classroom.
To fully participate, attendees should plan on using online resources. Course materials and resources will be accessed online.
SPED Law 101 REGISTER HERE
October 10th and 12th from 4:30 to 7:30 PM
Understanding the Federal and State laws for providing special education programs in our public schools is imperative to ensure the compliant delivery of services to qualified students.
This course provides an overview of the rules and regulations required for providing special education services.
Based on WAC 392-172A and specific court cases, instruction provides participants with the tools needed to provide compliant services.
Participants will:
- Gain awareness of the definition of Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) as it applies to students eligible for special education
- Walk through the IEP process – from referral through IEP development and implementation
- Gain awareness of the law as it applies to the least restrictive environment (LRE)
- Know the importance of parent and student participation in all program decisions
- Gain awareness of the procedural due process
Behavior Intervention Strategies through Inclusive Practices (Equity) REGISTER HERE
October 17th and 19th from 4:30 to 7:30 PM
Participants will be cultivating a growth mindset when working with students with social, emotional, and behavioral needs. They will learn about the different lenses of behavior and high-leverage practices for supporting students with social, emotional, and behavioral needs in inclusive classrooms. They will identify the root causes and different functions of behavior.
Learning Objectives:
- View behavior through a different lens. I.E. Implicit/Explicit bias, Ladder of Inference, ACEs, Disproportionality, and Relationships.
- Cultivate a growth mindset to improve student academic and behavioral success.
- Learn, apply, and increase high-leverage social and emotional practices to address all student's learning needs.
- Develop an understanding of behavior, functions, and their importance.
Sensory Strategies in the Inclusive Classroom (Equity) REGISTER HERE
October 24th and 25th from 4:30 to 7:30 PM
Participants will be guided through sensory processing concepts and will learn how to apply and incorporate these principles immediately into practice in the inclusive classroom. They will understand the importance of sensory support and the physiological needs of students to attain an optimal learning state.
Participants will learn about basic neurological processes around children’s sensory processing and how to identify and apply strategies immediately to produce lasting results.
- Participants should be able to…Identify students' sensory and physiological needs to attain an optimal learning state across all educational settings.
- Support students and yourself to identify their sensory preferences and self-regulation patterns (empathy practice)
- Understand basic neurological processes around children’s sensory processing.
- Identify and apply strategies for use in a variety of inclusive settings to support students.
Coaching & Mentoring of Inclusionary Behavioral Strategies REGISTER HERE
October 30th and November 2nd from 4:30 to 7:30 PM
Educational Leaders will evaluate the lenses of themselves and their colleagues that limit student behavioral change as well as reinforce systemic and historically exclusionary practices. They will identify frameworks that will help to cultivate alternative lenses from which to view behavioral approaches. They will look at ways to coach teachers for lasting and equitable change by applying high-leverage practices and other research-based methodologies.
This course is for those with a basic understanding of growth mindset, implicit bias, ACEs, restorative practices, PBIS, and functional behavior analysis. We recommend you take the foundational course before the coaching and mentoring version, where time is spent introducing these concepts.
Participants should be able to…
- Recognize our own lenses, as well as those of our colleagues, as we view educator behaviors that limit student behavioral change as well as reinforce systemic and historically exclusionary practices.
- Cultivate alternative lenses and frameworks to better understand and strengthen behavioral responses individually and school-wide.
- Apply these lenses and frameworks when using tools/interventions to create more inclusive practices.
De-Escalation Strategies REGISTER HERE
November 1st from 4:30 to 7:30 PM
Participants learn to recognize signs of a potential behavioral crisis and remediate it before a behavioral event. In addition to exploring how their own behavior can affect the escalation cycle, participants discover and practice de-escalation techniques that recognize the importance of maintaining student dignity during behavior crises.
At the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Determine individual student behavior triggers.
- Understand and describe the escalation cycle.
- Recognize the signs of a potential behavioral crisis and remediate them before the event.
Assistive Technology in the Inclusive Classroom REGISTER HERE
November 6th and 8th from 4:30 to 7:30 PM
This course is designed to give an overview of Assistive Technology and how it can be used in the inclusive classroom as well as in the greater community. We will cover the definition of Assistive Technology along with myths about AT. We will also give examples of accommodations and modifications as they relate to AT in a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS).
It is our hope that you will come away with a greater knowledge of a variety of AT and how it can have a positive impact in building more inclusive classrooms and, ultimately, society.
Participants will be able to…
- Define and describe Assistive Technology and how it differs from Augmentative & Alternative Communications (AAC)
- Debunk AT myths
- Articulate ways to collaborate with teams to use AT to create a more inclusive classroom
- State examples of inclusive Assistive Technology curriculum ideas and strategies.
Data Collection for Progress Monitoring REGISTER HERE
November 7th and 9th from 4:30 to 7:30 PM
This course improves data collection methods in general and special education settings. It introduces the steps to the data collection process, provides an overview of preparing for gathering data, and discusses different strategies for collecting data in various scenarios.
This course includes demonstrations and practice opportunities using common data collection methods and allows participants to analyze data into useful information for monitoring student progress.
- Participants will learn strategies to use technology to streamline data collection and create efficient practices.
- Participants will learn how high-leverage practices improve data collection strategies to demonstrate equity and inclusionary practices.
- Participants will have a deeper understanding of measurable data and an ability to identify subjective parameters - academic and behavior data collection.
- Participants will have practice working with each of the outlined methods.
- Participants will practice writing newly data-informed goals based on previous methods.
Early Childhood: Teaching Behavioral Expectations (Equity) REGISTER HERE
November 20th and 21st from 4:30 to 7:30 PM
This course shares Evidence-Based Practices (EBPs) for creating, planning, writing, implementing, and teaching behavioral expectations and rules to students in inclusive early childhood settings. This course uses strategies from The Pyramid Model, a positive behavior intervention model for Early Childhood, in combination with individualized strategies, to support all students’ acquisition of behavioral expectations and rules in an inclusive early childhood classroom.
Participants will…
- Discuss inclusion in an Early Childhood Setting.
- Differentiate between expectations and rules.
- Determine and create 3-5 classroom expectations.
- Create a rule matrix for one or more areas of a classroom
- Know 3+ Evidence-Based Practices for teaching expectations/rules in inclusive settings.
- Identify Universal Design for Learning (UDL)strategies for teaching behavioral expectations and rules.
Coaching & Mentoring for Successful Inclusion of Students with Significant Disabilities REGISTER HERE
December 4th and 5th from 4:30 to 7:30 PM
This course is designed for coaches and mentors who support teachers and other staff members working with students who have significant disabilities. Coaches and mentors will examine the steps to system change around inclusion and gain access to tools and strategies to increase inclusionary practices for all students using effective coaching techniques.
Participants will:
- Build awareness of equity and civil rights issues around inclusion and significant disabilities,
- Share tools and resources to facilitate inclusion
- Gain familiarity with specific coaching rubrics focusing on equity and inclusion
Developing Transition IEPs REGISTER HERE
December 6th and 7th from 4:30 to 7:30 PM
With post-secondary success in mind, this course provides participants the knowledge they need to develop meaningful, collaborative, and compliant transition IEPs aimed at assisting qualifying students with disabilities in achieving successful educational/ employment/ independent living skills beyond high school.
Participants will:
- Gain awareness of the rules and regulations for transition IEP development through examination of the Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 392-172A
- Identify appropriate career/vocational assessments to determine employment/ educational/ independent living IEP goals
- Understand the components of transition planning and how they drive the transition IEP process
- Learn and practice the process to develop meaningful, individualized, and collaborative transition IEPs.
Connect with us!
Other useful links:
Special Education Support Center
Twitter: @wa_sped_center
Facebook: @SpecialEdSupportCenter