December 13, 2024, Special Education Directors' Forum Agenda and Registration Information

Minnesota Department of Education sent this bulletin at 12/09/2024 10:00 AM CST
Minnesota Department of Education

Special Education Updates

December 9, 2024

December 13, 2024, Special Education Directors' Forum Agenda and Registration Information

The next Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) Special Education Directors' Forum will be held virtually on Friday, December 13, 2024, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Please register for the webinar on the ZoomGov website; you will then receive a link to join the webinar.

We will start the webinar fairly close to the scheduled 9:30 a.m. time. Attendees will be muted; please use the Q&A function for questions during the Forum. Our partners at Paradigm Veritext will provide a live transcription of the forum through the Zoom application. During the Forum, access the captions with the Closed Caption button at the bottom right of the Zoom meeting screen. If you wish to access the ASL interpretation, please email Doug Gray.

Four Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are available for the December Forum.

This Forum will be recorded. A captioned version will be made available for later viewing.

Agenda​ 

Welcome and Announcements: Sonia Smith, Director of Special Education, MDE

Minnesota Administrators for Special Education (MASE): Erin Toninato, Executive Director, MASE; Niceta Thomas, President, MASE

Agency and Legislative Updates: Daron Korte, Assistant Commissioner, MDE

Special Education Division Updates: Tom Delaney, Interagency Partnerships Supervisor, MDE; Garrett Petrie, Workforce and Low Incidence Supervisor, MDE; John Gimpl, Research, Practice and Implementation Supervisor, MDE

Early Childhood Special Education: Danielle Hayden, Early Education Director, MDE

Break

General Counsel and Dispute Resolution: Sara Winter, Dispute Resolution Supervisor, Office of General Counsel, MDE; Ellen Seibert, Dispute Resolution Staff Attorney, Office of General Counsel, MDE

Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Education: Jeff Plaman, Online and Digital Learning Specialist, MDE; Tom Delaney, Interagency Partnerships Supervisor, MDE

Defining Proficiency, Entrance and Exiting of English Learner (EL) Status for Students Taking the WIDA Alternate ACCESS:  Billy Brooks, Linguistic and Cultural Equity Specialist, MDE; Michael Bowlus, Multilingual Learner and Refugee Program Consultant, MDE

Closing/Evaluation: Sonia Smith, Director of Special Education, MDE

Adjourn

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.