Technical Assistance Topics and Descriptions
Introduction to Inclusive Education (Inclusion 101)
Audience: General and Special Educators, CST, Administration
General Description: This package is intended as an introductory series, designed to help schools expand their knowledge about the fundamentals of inclusive education and what they “look like” in practice. Training will touch on the why, how, when, and where of inclusive education.
Outcomes: As a result of participation in this technical assistance package, participants will receive knowledge and guidance in:
The legal foundation for inclusive education;
Understanding how inclusive education is a whole-school approach, rather than an individual classroom strategy or program; and
Best practices in inclusive education with how to apply these in a general education classroom. ‘
Building an Inclusive Education Culture
Audience: General and Special Educators, CST, Administration
General Description: Values, beliefs, and attitudes about how we understand disability and inclusive education inform the policies and structures we develop and thus the practices we implement across our school communities. This technical assistance package will engage participants in reflective and dialogic exercises that define an inclusive school culture that explicitly integrates disability, operationalizing the roles of stakeholders, and taking actionable steps in realizing these aims.
Outcomes: As a result of participation in this technical assistance package, participants will receive knowledge and guidance in:
Understanding the values, beliefs, and attitudes associated with an inclusive school community and culture that values disability and reframes disability as another manifestation of diversity;
Defining their role in building and sustaining an inclusive school community and culture that values disability; and
Taking actionable steps in implementing an inclusive school community and culture that values disability.
Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
Audience: General and Special Educators, CST, Administration
General Description: The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework guides educators to design curriculum, instruction, and assessment in flexible ways that account for learner variability so that students can receive, engage with, and demonstrate knowledge of content in multiple ways according to their unique strengths. This technical assistance package will introduce attendees to the three principles of UDL and provide them with tools to incorporate these principles into their lesson planning.
Outcomes: As a result of participation in this technical assistance package, participants will receive knowledge and guidance in:
Defining the principles of UDL;
Designing goals, assessments, methods, and materials with flexibility and learner variability in mind; and
Applying UDL principles to lesson planning and classroom instruction.
Co-Teaching (K-12)
Audience: General and Special Educators, CST, Administration
General Description: Collaborative instruction through an in-class resource support model, or co-teaching, is the most frequently utilized method of providing support, modification, and accommodation for learners with disabilities in the general education classroom. This technical assistance package will walk co-teaching teams through models of co-teaching based on work first developed by Friend and Cook (1991) including supportive teaching, parallel teaching, team teaching, and complementary teaching, as well as Rhonda Bondie’s co-teaching playbook strategies. Through this technical assistance package, teachers will explore procedures, strategies, and routines they can use together to plan and deliver specially designed instruction for their students.
Outcomes: As a result of participation in this technical assistance package, participants will receive knowledge and guidance in:
Effective use of co-teaching models to support instruction;
Routines and procedures for collaborative planning; and
Instructional and management strategies to facilitate the shared responsibility to effectively support all students in the general education setting.
Collaborative Consultation
Audience: General and Special Educators, CST, Administration (Identified Consultant and Consultee)
General Description: This comprehensive technical assistance package is crafted to empower schools in advancing their understanding of the collaborative consultation service delivery model within inclusive educational settings.
Outcomes: Engaging in this technical assistance program promises participants invaluable insights and practical guidance on the following crucial aspects:
Establishing a robust legal foundation for inclusive education.
Embracing inclusive education as a holistic school-wide approach, transcending individual classroom strategies.
Incorporating best practices in inclusive education and mastering their application in general education classrooms.
Elevating student functionality while concurrently strengthening the capabilities of general education teachers.
Proficiently identifying the appropriate level of support for students within the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE).
Collaborative consultation is one method of delivering special education services to students with disabilities in general education classrooms. This package emphasizes a dynamic perspective, explicitly asserting that the framework is not a static model solely for placing students in special programs. Instead, it is a "dynamic construct" that envisions the instructional process propelling students toward higher levels of learning potential.
Utilizing Differentiation to Support Inclusive Education
Audience: General and Special Educators, CST, Administration
General Description: Differentiation ensures teachers are engaging, accommodating, and enhancing the curriculum to best support learner achievement. Building upon Carol Ann Tomlinson’s foundational work, this technical assistance package reviews the key aspects of differentiation and provides easy-to-implement strategies and routines teachers can use when planning and designing their differentiated instruction.
Outcomes: As a result of participation in this technical assistance package, participants will receive knowledge and guidance in:
Understanding the philosophy, definition, and purpose of differentiation;
Routines, strategies, and procedures teachers can use to design effective differentiated instruction; and
The role of assessment in differentiation.
Best Practices in Developing IEPs That Support Inclusive Education
Audience: General and Special Educators, CST, Administration
General Description: The Individualized Education Program (IEP) represents an integral road map with which to navigate the educational program and corresponding supports and services for learners with disabilities. This session will lead attendees through a hands-on process of writing IEPs grounded in inclusive values that reflect standards-aligned, skill-focused goals and objectives in order to equip educators and students with the tools necessary to access and participate in the general education classroom.
Outcomes: As a result of participation in this technical assistance package, participants will receive knowledge and guidance in:
Understanding the rationale for strengths-based IEPs (rather than deficit-based);
Best practices in writing standards-aligned, skill-focused, measurable annual goals and objectives; and
Conceptualizing how learners with varying strengths and abilities can be served in a heterogeneous classroom.
Supporting Positive Student Behavior Through Motivation and Engagement
Audience: General and Special Educators, CST, Administration
General Description: This technical assistance package will increase participants’ working knowledge of using evidence-based practices in classroom management and help them create a classroom environment that supports the personal, social, and academic growth of all students. Areas covered will include creative ways to establish clear expectations and routines, simple ideas for actively engaging all students, tips for effectively shaping student behavior through feedback, and ways to harness key principles of motivation in a typical classroom setting.
Outcomes: As a result of participation in this technical assistance package, participants will receive knowledge and guidance in:
Maximizing class structure with clear expectations and procedures;
Actively engaging students in observable ways; and
Encouraging students’ use of desired behaviors and fostering motivation.
Operationalizing Modifications and Accommodations
Audience: General and Special Educators, CST, Administration
General Description: In a typical classroom, there will be some students who benefit from general adaptations to instruction and assessment, some who require accommodations as outlined in their IEPs, and a few students who need more intensive modifications. However, at times the way accommodations and modifications are worded in a student’s IEP make it difficult to envision what they “look like” in action in a typical classroom setting. This technical assistance package is designed to help both general and special educators translate accommodations and modifications from IEPs into classroom practice.
Outcomes: As a result of participation in this technical assistance package, participants will receive knowledge and guidance in:
Clarifying the difference between accommodations and modifications and the impact each has on student work;
Exploring ways to address concerns and questions about grading and assessment for students receiving accommodations/modifications; and
Identifying potential barriers to learning for students with disabilities in order to anticipate what their individual adaptations (accommodations and modifications) would need to look like across various content areas.