November 21, 2023, Special Education Updates

Minnesota Department of Education

Special Education Updates

November 21, 2023

Webinar Series: Local Implementation Alignment

The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) is continuing the webinar series into the 2023-24 school year. The series is provided to help support educators in the implementation of proactive and positive evidence-based strategies and resources, to highlight local examples of work that is being done to align systems of support across needs of diverse learners, to provide information on specific disabilities and to include voices of individuals and families within the community alongside educators and community organizations. We are excited to announce our next webinar in the series:

Local Implementation Alignment: Managing and Adapting Practice (MAP) as used by Stellher Human Services in Lake Park Audubon Schools. The Continued Story of Integrating School Linked Behavioral Health in Exemplar Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (PBIS) Schools

Date: December 13, 2023
Time: 3:30-4:30 p.m.

Presenters: Lisa McLeod, LSW, Lake Park Audubon Schools and Chris Godding, MSW, LICSW, Stellher Human Services

The school social worker from an exemplar PBIS school will share Behavior Intervention Team (BIT) and PBIS team functions, the importance of providing evidence-based practices, mitigating factors in successful implementation, and observed positive outcomes for students. A MAP overview, including a toolkit for building interventions, using common language across settings and how MAP strategies can be used across multiple tiers of intervention in a school setting will be shared.  Examples of how PBIS and MAP work align will be highlighted.

Register for Local Implementation Alignment: Managing and Adapting Practice (MAP) on ZoomGov.

Webinar Series: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Evidence-Based Practices and Collaboration Across School and Early Intervention Providers

Date: November 29, 2023
Time: 3-4 p.m. 

Presenters: Nicole Berning, M.S., BCBA, Department of Human Services (DHS) and Erin Farrell, Ed.D., BCBA, MDE

Collaboration and care coordination are essential elements to ensure the best possible long-term outcomes for our students. This presentation will outline key strategies and resources to help school and provider teams work together side by side. We will review resources to coordinate early intervention services with services in an educational setting, create person-centered goals and facilitate collaboration across multidisciplinary teams. We will highlight the evidence-based practices for learners with ASD in the classroom and how this collaboration helps to support the use of evidence-based practices across school and home environments.

Registration: 

Register for ASD Collaboration Across School and Early Intervention Providers on ZoomGov.

Strengthening Community by Lifting the Voices of Indigenous Special Education Staff Webinar Series

The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) and the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College encourage Native special education staff, special education staff, administrators, special education directors, special education coordinators, and all others interested to attend a webinar series intended to strengthen community by lifting the voices of Indigenous special education staff.

These focused webinar topics and dialogues emerged through listening sessions with Native special education staff around the state of Minnesota. MDE's Special Education Division and the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College are partnering and using State Personnel Development Grant (SPDG) funding to provide these webinars. While intended to serve the needs of and retain Native special education staff, the sessions are expansive enough to be a learning experience for all special education staff, administrators and institutes of higher education. We are hopeful the partnership and the webinars contribute to developing allyship.

The first webinar in the series will be held November 29, 2023:

Facilitator: Ann Mitchell, Principal Leadership Support Specialist, MDE
Time: 3:30-5 p.m.
Location: Zoom
Topic: Navigating Problems of Practice – People before Paper, Paper to serve People: Why Educators Deserve Balance

Continuing Education Units (CEUs) will be available for both teachers and administrators.

Register for this free Navigating Problems of Practice webinar on the Minnesota State website.

For more information on these webinars or the Native special education network, please contact Govinda Budrow, govinda.budrow@fdltcc.edu.

For more information on the State Personnel Development Grant (SPDG), please contact Dr. Becky Gerdes.

Special Education Trainings

In addition to the current webinar offerings, MDE has posted previous webinars that would be helpful for teams to review any school year. The insights and resources here are valuable for general educators and those serving students receiving special education services. All recordings are closed captioned and include links to accessible slide shows and other materials.Access webinar recordings from MDE Special Education webpage (https://education.mn.gov/MDE/dse/sped/spedtrain/).

Other topics included in the webinar series that are fully accessible are:

  • Alternative Delivery of Special Education Services (ADSIS) 101
  • Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) 101
  • Integrating PBIS and School Linked Behavioral Health Services
  • Evidence Based Practices used by School Linked Behavioral Health (SLBH) Providers and Exemplar Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) Schools
  • Statewide Assessment General Supports and Accommodations
  • Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS)
  • Five Practically Good Ideas for Any Reality
  • Returning to School During and After Crisis
  • Check-in/Check-Out as a Tier 2 Support
  • The Interconnected Systems Framework
  • Systematic Screening in the COVID-19 Era
  • Behavior Specific Praise: Implementing, Coaching, and Measuring the Impact of this Simple yet Specific Strategy

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The Minnesota Department of Education's (MDE) Special Education Division works toward its vision that all children get necessary support for healthy development and lifelong learning; its mission is to provide leadership to ensure a high-quality education for Minnesota's children and youth with disabilities. To learn more, visit the Special Education section of the MDE website.