Module Descriptions
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Response to Intervention (RtI) Module
Denise Conrad, Ed.D., is the former director of special education and student services for Great Falls Public Schools in Montana. With past experience as a teacher and administrator in both general and special education, she has provided consultation, in-service, and university-level training to educators and other professionals since 1973.
Ray Beck, Ed.D., is a senior consultant for Cambium Learning Sopris West. He previously worked as is a senior consultant for Cambium Learning Sopris West. He previously worked as a school psychologist, Director of Special Education, and president of the Montana Council for Exceptional Children and the Montana Association of School Psychologists. Recent work includes providing staff development to the Department of Defense Educational Activities Branch.
Summary
This module presents an overview of RtI including a definition, the multi-tiered service delivery model, essential components, and a list of additional resources. The major focus is on evidence-based interventions that are practical and relatively easy to implement. Supporting the examples of evidence-based practices, including video demonstrations, is a team problem-solving process and a progress monitoring (data decision) element. -
The Realities of Leadership: Skills for Success in the 21st Century
Steve Edwards, Ph.D., is nationally recognized for his innovative approach to the education problems facing the United States. Edwards is a former principal of the award-winning East Hartford High School, adjunct professor of education at the University of Connecticut, and co-author of Conflict Resolution: A Blueprint for Preventing School Violence.
Summary
Key leadership attributes and the qualities that are most admired in a leader are discussed, with examples for creating a school-wide collaborative culture. Healthy schools create teams of teachers to collaborate daily to help them focus on student achievement and meet the needs for all students. - Conflict Resolution Skills Training Module
Steve Edwards, Ph.D., is nationally recognized for his innovative approach to the education problems facing the United States. Edwards is a former principal of the award-winning East Hartford High School, adjunct professor of education at the University of Connecticut, and co-author of Conflict Resolution: A Blueprint for Preventing School Violence.
Summary
Create a win-win for your school by participating in the school and the community. Specific actions should be taken when a conflict situation arises: Listen — Define the problem — Adjust — Refine the problem — Move forward and have a menu of options available for win-win outcomes. -
Classroom Behavior Management Strategies
Terrance M. Scott, Ph.D., is a professor and the Director of Special Education Programs at the University of Louisville. He has more than 50 published works in the areas of behavioral disorders and behavior support systems. Scott is a recipient of the Distinguished Early Career Award from the International Council for Exceptional Children.
Summary
Discipline can be defined as what happens prior to inappropriate behavior and the steps taken to increase the probability of student behavioral success. Behavioral success should be met with the same positive acknowledgement that academic successes do, and behavior errors should be met with the same correction procedures that academic errors do. Strategies with classroom examples are given to enable you to have a classroom environment that focuses on behavioral success. - Challenging Behaviors Training Module
Terrance M. Scott, Ph.D., is a professor and the director of Special Education Programs at the University of Louisville. He has more than 50 published works in the areas of behavioral disorders and behavior support systems. Scott is a recipient of the Distinguished Early Career Award from the International Council for Exceptional Children.
Summary
This module provides interventions and videos that address Challenging Behavior and Positive Behavior Supports. Its purpose is to provide teachers and other school personnel with the most current evidence-based interventions for dealing effectively with students who exhibit challenging behaviors. -
Autism Spectrum Disorders: Communication and Social Competence to Improve Behavior
Beverly Braman, Ph.D., is a behavioral consultant with more than 25 years of hands-on experience working with individuals on the autism spectrum. She is extensively trained in applied behavior analysis and specializes in working with autistic children who have significant behavioral challenges. Braman has conducted hundreds of autism training workshops across the United States and abroad.
Summary
Create an environment that matches and promotes the social needs and skills of students along the autism spectrum. Changing behavior and improving social competence means teaching communication using the student�s individualized communication system and his/her strengths and ability level. Strategies and examples of teaching to the social deficits are included in this module. -
Universal Design for Learning
Debra Bauder, Ed.D., has worked in special education for nearly 30 years, collaborating with hundreds of professionals in regular and special education to provide technical consultation and training on effective methods of integrating technology and UDL strategies into the curriculum.
Summary
All students can participate in general education classes with the barriers to access removed wherever possible. Curricula can be made accessible by developing lessons that provide support and access for all students. Students need to be engaged and given various ways and opportunities to engage in the tasks at hand. - Conducting Standardized SPED Assessments
Karen Cadigan, Ph.D., is the Director of Outreach and Public Policy at the Center for Early Education and Development. She is a nationally certified school psychologist and worked in public schools for seven years. Her current teaching, training, and research efforts focus on early childhood assessment, early literacy development, autism in early childhood, and linking early childhood research to public policies.
Summary
Assessment informs a decision through information that includes, but isn�t limited to, test scores. Use multiple methods in multiple settings by multiple professionals to examine the student�s educational, cognitive and mental health needs. It is also vital to use good clinical judgment and skills when sharing assessment results with families. - Enhancing Educational Programs for Students with Moderate to Severe Disabilities
Roberta Schnorr, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at SUNY Oswego where she coordinates a Master�s Program in Special Education. Dr. Schnorr works closely with schools and families to advocate for and support the development of high quality inclusive education programs and to promote literacy learning for all.
Summary
Participation in literacy learning can enhance language development and communication, especially for augmentative/assisted communication users. This module gives examples of setting up the classroom environment to enhance successful student participation. -
Speech Language Pathologists (SLP) Module - Presentation Title: 3:1 Service Model
Sharon Soliday, MA, CCC-SLP, an SLP for the past 16 years and a 2003 ASHA award winner for Outstanding Clinician in the Schools, has worked in the schools, residential state facilities, and now exclusively in private practice contracting specialist staff into public school settings. Sharon has traveled extensively throughout the US speaking on workload management and the 3:1 service model.
Summary
This module describes the 3:1 Service Model in which therapy is provided directly to students for three weeks, followed by one week of consultative services with families and staff. SLP therapy is individualized depending on student need, general education expectation, grade level, and teaching styles. SLPs ask questions of teachers to identify relationships between objectives and general education assignments and utilize planning time. -
Foundations of Literacy for Early Childhood Educators
Lucy Hart Paulson, Ed.D., CCC-SLP, is a speech-language pathologist with a research focus on early literacy. She manages the Western Montana RiteCare Language and Literacy Clinic at The University of Montana and is a research faculty member in the Division of Educational Research and Service.
Summary
Early literacy curriculum best practices are reviewed with examples of developmentally appropriate forms of direct instruction. Also included are examples of the ongoing and dynamic assessment process with the collection of data to provide the necessary information that is tied to instruction and intervention. - Early Childhood Literacy Development
Tina Pelletier, B.A., draws on more than 20 years of experience in the literacy field as a teacher, mentor, reading specialist, curriculum leader, and adjunct university faculty member. She has extensive experience as a curriculum consultant and staff development coordinator.
Summary
Phonological skills are critical in learning to read. A variety of effective instructional strategies used in each of the Big Five areas of reading (phonemic awareness, phonics/decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension) are reviewed along with multiple examples for use in the classroom. - Secondary Literacy Development
Frank Smith, M.Ed., serves as a literacy consultant for the Stanislaus County Office of Education in Modesto, California. He has taught at the elementary and middle school levels in both general and special education settings, specializing in intervention and accelerated reading instruction for students with intensive needs.
Summary
Explicit, systematic instruction in the Big Five (phonemic awareness, phonics/decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension), along with active engagement of students learning to use specific strategies, allows for continuous literacy improvement for middle and high school students. This module gives examples of how to successfully achieve this using the �I do it, we do it, you do it� instructional format. -
Foundations for Numeracy Module
Michele Douglass, Ph.D., serves as an educational consultant to school districts and businesses on effective curriculum alignment, pedagogy, systems analysis, and staff development. She is nationally known for her deep understanding of how students perceive mathematical concepts and what it takes to create an effective learning environment.
Summary
This module begins by building the foundation of standards and research into the importance of building numeracy in children prior to entering school. It also provides examples of activities that increase children�s knowledge in each specific topic of numeracy, and ideas for assessing students� understanding of numeracy. - Effective Strategies for Students with Mathematics Difficulties
Michele Douglass, Ph.D., serves as an educational consultant to school districts and businesses on effective curriculum alignment, pedagogy, systems analysis, and staff development. She is nationally known for her deep understanding of how students perceive mathematical concepts and what it takes to create an effective learning environment.
Summary
Effective strategies, explicit instruction, student think-alouds, and vocabulary development are four of the key areas of student struggles in mathematics. Key points will be shared on how to conduct classroom conversations about mathematics, the sources of problems that arise, and also how to encourage all students to think about mathematics in various ways. The module also demonstrates the use of algebra tiles as one method for solving equations and substitution problems leading into solving more complex linear equations that will support students in Algebra and Algebra II. - Teaching to Big Ideas in Mathematics
Michele Douglass, Ph.D., serves as an educational consultant to school districts and businesses on effective curriculum alignment, pedagogy, systems analysis, and staff development. She is nationally known for her deep understanding of how students perceive mathematical concepts, and what it takes to create an effective learning environment.
Summary
This module reviews the importance of teaching to a big idea and supporting students in concept rich instruction that builds memory and understanding of concepts. This module supports the teaching of Pre-Algebra, Algebra and Geometry by analyzing the pacing calendar to identify the big ideas and critical content for students to learn throughout the year.