Special Education Parent Involvement Survey
The OPI has moved from a paper and pencil survey to an electronic special education Parent Involvement Survey. With this, the agency has also moved from a sampling of parents to a census of parents (one parent per household). On March 4, 2024, all districts and cooperatives will receive several templates to provide to parents. You can provide the survey link to parents in the following manners, text, email, in person, or with the QR code. The survey will be open from March 4 through June 30, 2024.
Starting in August of 2024, districts and cooperatives can provide the survey link to parents at any time throughout the year, such as at IEP team meetings, parent-teacher conferences, etc. There will be a Spanish and English version. The OPI has Braille copies as well as the Duxbury file. If you have parents who are visually impaired or blind, please reach out to Danni McCarthy at dmccarthy@mt.gov or 406-594-3610 (call or text).
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MCEC Education Conference in Missoula April 3-5, 2024 CPI Training offered on April 2 as Pre-Conference with limited spots available.
Montana Paraprofessional Recognition Week April 1-5, 2024
Celebrate your paraeducators by giving recognition for their hard work! Please download and print this Paraeducator Recognition Certificate to give to your paraeducators to show your appreciation. Some have chosen to honor paraprofessionals in the following ways:
- Give a certificate of recognition at the school board meeting.
- Send information to parents and students acknowledging the role of paraprofessionals via the school newsletter.
- Advertise in the school or district newsletter about Montana Paraprofessional Week.
- Recognize one or two paraprofessionals each day, announcing their names and roles over the loudspeaker during the daily announcements.
- Recognize paraprofessionals on the school reader board.
- Organize an appreciation lunch, and an after-school tea, before school brunch, and have the paraprofessionals served by teachers and administrators.
Questions: Contact Tammy Lysons, 406-431-2309 or Anne Carpenter, 406-465-0922
Featured Speaker:
Dr.Zelphine Smith Dixon
Dr. Zelphine Smith-Dixon served as the Georgia State Special Education Director and the Board President for the National Association of State Directors of Special Education. She worked diligently to improve schools in both South Carolina and Georgia. Dr. Smith-Dixon leads with her heart and serves her local community as a voice of influence in national networks such as the IDEA Data Center, National Technical Assistance Center on Transition, CEEDAR Project, and Gates K-12 Education to Work Foundation.
SESSIONS: Inclusive Leadership: The Heart of the Matter and A Tiered Framework of Supports: Keeping Students First
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Featured Speaker:
Dr. Tessie Rose Bailey
Tessie Rose Bailey, Ph.D., is the Director of the PROGRESS Center and an advisor for the MTSS Center. In addition, she supports states and districts in implementing special education requirements and MTSS/RTI through several other national centers--National Center for Systemic Improvement (NCSI) and National Center on Intensive Interventions (NCII)-- and state contracts. Dr. Bailey has conducted 100s educational workshops and presentations on effective implementation of MTSS/RTI, secondary MTSS/RTI and transition, special education law, and special education within MTSS/RTI in 46 states.
SESSIONS: Taxonomy of Intervention Part 1: Selection of Interventions and TI Part 2: Intensifying Interventions; Using Response to Intervention (RTI) to determine Specific Learning Disability (SLD)
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Statewide SPED Directors Meetings
The statewide meetings scheduled for March 13th and April 10th are canceled. The next meeting is scheduled for May 8th via Zoom. We look forward to seeing you in person at the MCEC/MCASE Conference in Missoula on April 3-5 and at the Joint Partnership Meeting in Helena on April 24.
Mark your calendars for the Special Education Joint Partnership Meeting April 24, 2024, in Helena. The State Special Education Advisory Panel and CSPD State Council will meet on April 25 also in Helena. For more information, email Danni McCarthy.
Special Education Community of Practice
There will be NO SPED Community of Practice in March! Enjoy your spring break.
What is the SPED Community of Practice: These meetings are one-hour sessions held the second Wednesday of the Month from 3:30-4:30. There will be a short 10-20 minute presentation on a topic followed by a discussion around that topic. The purpose of these meetings is to provide technical assistance and support for Special Education teachers as well as help build a network for teachers throughout Montana.
April 10th Topic: Twice Exceptional
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Special Education Law Conference Montana – Save the Date Oct. 21-22, 2024
Watch for more information coming soon!
Behavior/Discipline Reporting and Validation
REMINDER…Districts are strongly encouraged to input behavior data throughout the year and to periodically run Data Validation Reports in AIM/Infinite Campus to review incidents and address potential data issues before the end of the school year.
NOTE…Validation reports for Behavior data reporting are available in AIM/Infinite Campus and can be reviewed at any time during the school year and before certification. Behavior Certification for the 2023-24 school year will open on Monday, 5/13/24, and close on Friday 6/21/24.
FYI…all Montana public schools, including the Montana School for the Deaf & Blind (MSDB), must enter discipline data into their local AIM/Infinite Campus site. Behavior data collected by the OPI is used to meet federal reporting requirements for the U.S. Department of Education.
Behavior reporting encompasses any event that takes place from July 1 through June 30 and:
- Results in an out‐of‐school suspension or expulsion, regardless of the length of time, for any enrolled student; or
- Results in an in‐school suspension, regardless of the length of time, for an enrolled student with a disability* or enrolled in a 21st Century Community Learning Center (21st CCLC).
* In‐school suspensions can also be entered for general education students; however, the OPI will only include the special education events required for federal reporting.
The reporting deadline is June 21, 2024
Questions? Contact Shara Blair, SPED/AIM Data Specialist @ 444-0685
In-Person
Presenter: Doug Doty
March 12, 2024 @ 8:30 - 11:30 AM
Robins Building 425 6th St, Havre
How do you take data on student performance when they are doing a physical skill and not taking a written test? This training will include: Why collect data? What is a task analysis and when do you need one? What are the different types of data collection and their advantages/disadvantages? When should you use or not use a specific type of data collection? Four types of prompts and how/why to record prompt data? What is “chaining” and when should you use it? How do you teach students to maintain and generalize the skills they have learned? Put it all together and make toast with jelly.
Presenter: Jerry Girard is the Counseling Director in Student Health Services at MSUB (MSUB) and the co-owner of Girard Consulting and Education
March 16, 2024 @ 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
MSU Student Union Building, Beartooth Room; Billings
Adult Mental Health First Aid is an 8-hour, in-person training designed to emphasize and reinforce key skills to help someone who is developing a mental health challenge or experiencing a mental health crisis. Just as CPR training helps those without medical training assist an individual experiencing a medical challenge or crisis, MHFA training helps those without clinical mental health training assist someone experiencing a mental health challenge or crisis. Adult Mental Health First Aid teaches participants to: • Recognize the potential risk factors and warning signs for a range of mental health problems, including depression, anxiety/trauma, psychosis, substance use disorders, and self-injury. • Use a 5-step action plan to help an individual in crisis connect with appropriate professional help. • Interpret the prevalence of various mental health disorders in the U.S. and the need for reduced mental health stigma in their communities. • Apply knowledge of the appropriate professional, peer, social, and self-help resources available to help someone with a mental health problem treat and manage the problem and achieve recovery. • Reinforce the importance of listening without judgment during the MHFA intervention process. • Assess their own views and feelings about mental health challenges and disorders. Mental Health First Aid manual includes with workshop.
Virtual Events
Presenter: Stephanie Lester
March 12, 2024 @ 4:30 PM - 6:30 PM
Math EVERY Day for EVERY Child!
The focus of this training will be to introduce a variety of instructional strategies that will provide children with opportunities to practice and reinforce key math skills during their daily routines. A wide variety of inclusionary practices will be discussed as well as developmentally appropriate knowledge and skill acquisition strategies that are applicable to increasing the access to the curriculum for all children. Specific strategies and resources focused on developing children’s skills in subitizing, counting, one-to-one correspondence, cardinality, and hierarchical inclusion will be provided.
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Introduction to Evidence-based Hearing Screening Practices for Children Age 0-5
FREE WEBINAR:
February 27, 2024 @ 12:00-1:30 pm MT
REGISTER HERE
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Check out this great resource document on 10 Essential Principles for Effective Education of Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing from NASDSE. Use the link or image below to see the full document.
Special Education General Information:
Contact Kelley Brown, 406-444-5661 or check out our webpage.
Danni McCarthy, Montana's State Special Education Director, 406-594-3610
The OPI is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation, require an alternate format, or have questions concerning accessibility, contact the OPI ADA Coordinator, 406-444-3161, opiada@mt.gov, Relay Service: 711.
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