Special Education Professional Development
Summer Seminars
The Educational Partnership Program, through a contract with Cambium Learning Group, has provided special education professional development for over 700 educators and administrators at LEAs serving military-connected students through nine face-to-face training opportunities around the country. The training was based on a set of 16 special education training modules that DoDEA also offers to any schools that serve military-connected students via DVDs or online. The modules cover topics that include: Response to Intervention, challenging behavior, autism, and various literacy and mathematics interventions. A full list of topics is available here:
In the Summer of 2012, the Partnership Program provided free seminars for teachers in three military-connected school districts: Cumberland County Public Schools - which serves students with parents stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C.; the Midwest City-Del City School District which serves students whose parents are stationed, Fort Sill, Okla.; and Central Kitsap School District which serves families in the Joint Base Lewis McChord in Wash.
The in-person seminars featured prominent experts in special education who could effectively articulate proven practices that teachers can implement in their classroom. Materials were also provided to the teachers so they have what they need to be successful. The training and materials benefit all students within the school district.
Cambium and the Partnership Program worked with each host district to customize the training to meet local needs, with the ability to support up to 300 teachers for four days on two topics.
"This summer's DoDEA Educational Partnership seminars were outstanding," said Greg Lynch, superintendent of Central Kitsap School District. "Our staff had been asking for more special education-related professional development, but recent funding reductions made that difficult.
Cumberland County teachers received training in working with challenging behaviors for general education teachers, and another session specifically for special education teachers. Midwest City-Del City School District teachers were trained on effective strategies for students with mathematics difficulties and also challenging student behaviors, while teachers in Central Kitsap also were trained on challenging student behaviors and universal design for learning.
"The seminars were a great, no-cost opportunity that we really appreciated," Lynch said. "The speakers were engaging, and the content helps us work better with all students as we continue to advance student achievement."
Summer Seminars: Multimedia Presentations
"The resources and materials provided were of the highest standards and current with the research and pedagogy in the field of education," Almlie said. "Administrators, teachers, paraprofessional and related service staff came away with useful strategies that they could immediately implement with students."
--Ann Almlie, Director of Special Education, Clover Park School District
"I have received many favorable and appreciative comments from our participants on the quality and utility of the materials they received from Sopris West - Cambium Learning through this training. I would highly recommend these training opportunities to others."
--Brenda Scott, Exceptional Children Assistive & Instructional Technology Coordinator, Onslow County Public Schools
Article on the Onslow County Public Schools Seminar
Resources to Empower Students
Through a contract with Cambium Learning Group, the Partnership Program has developed 16 Special Education training modules available to school districts that serve children from military families.
Customizable
School districts can customize each presentation to fit the needs of their schools and teachers using a facilitator guide provided for each module. Recognizing that schools will have varying needs, the guide includes additional information, activities and implementation material on key topics in the module. Evaluations are also provided in the facilitator guide to ensure teachers are able to provide feedback and districts can track implementation.
How to Use the Facilitator Guide Instructions 
Contact DoDEA to Receive the Modules
If your school district serves children from military families you are eligible to receive our training modules in an electronic file available for downloading, or in DVD format. If you would like to receive a set or if you have additional questions, please email David Butler with the following information:
- Provide your name and contact information.
- Specify if you wish to have the DVDs mailed to you or download the modules via the internet.
- Please note if you would be willing to have your teachers complete a brief online evaluation of the training modules.
If you have questions, please contact David Butler at david.butler@hq.dodea.edu