New legislation regarding corporal punishment of students with disabilities takes effect August 27, 2025. 70 O.S. 2021, Section 13-116, is amended to read as follows: Section 13-116. A. School district personnel shall be prohibited from using corporal punishment on any student identified with a disability in accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
Thanks to the leadership of our State Director, Sherri Coats, we were proud to bring back the statewide special education conference. This was the first Oklahoma Special Education Conference hosted by the Office of Special Education Services in almost two decades, held at the beautiful Omni Oklahoma City Hotel Conference Center. We hope you found it meaningful and inspiring to improve programs and outcomes for students with disabilities.
We had over 1,000 individuals register, with 869 in attendance. Many participants have reached out requesting the presentation slide decks for reference and future district-level training. To support that, we’ve created a Google Drive folder where you can easily access and download the PowerPoint presentations from the Special Education Conference.
Looking Ahead to 2026
Planning is already underway for our next Oklahoma Special Education Conference, scheduled for July 2026. The focus will be on supporting students with disabilities in reading and writing.
Next year’s conference will feature:
- More breakout session opportunities across all three days
- Extended session times for deeper learning, hands-on activities, and collaboration
- Longer Q&A periods
- Expanded breaks for networking and visiting vendor booths
Your feedback has been incredibly helpful, and we’re committed to making the 2026 conference even better. Be on the lookout for the official Save the Date announcement in the spring semester.
Thank you again for your participation and continued dedication to students with disabilities!
The School-Based Services Participation Agreement is now accessible in the Grants Management System. Districts opting to use this agreement can now begin submitting their online application. Please follow the steps below to complete the application process.
Directions for accessing the School-Based Medicaid Contract
1. Sign in to your Single Sign-On
2. Click on "Grants Management and Expenditure Reporting"
3. Click on "GMS Access / Select"
4. Be sure the Fiscal Year is "2026"
5. Scroll down to the AVAILABLE ribbon
6. Locate IDEA, locate School-Based application, click the CREATE button on the far right
7. Once signed and dated, please upload the agreement back into the GMS.
NOTE: The items below must be completed:
Signature Page: Signature, Printed Name, Title, and Date of Board Approval.
Our partners at Developmental Disabilities Services (DDS) have asked us to help families of students with intellectual and developmental disabilities learn more about available DDS services. IEP teams are now required to give parents of students who participate in the Oklahoma Alternate Assessment Program (OAAP) written information about the DDS Home and Community Services Waiver. We recommend sharing it with all parents of students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The information is linked here and can also be found in EDPlan under Documents > Special Education. Encourage families to visit Oklahoma Developmental Disabilities Services Dashboard for inspirational stories of individuals and their families and more information.
A new statement has been added to the "Informed Parental Consent" section of the IEP. The statement will appear for all students, but it will default to “N/A” for students who are not participating in the OAAP.
Developmental Disabilities Services (DDS) Sample.
You can find the most updated OAAP Information for the 2025-2026 school year. Find and access information regarding DLM Score Reports, Test Administrator Training Updates, and DLM Reminders.
Child Count Reporting Webinar for Special Education Directors.
Can’t attend any webinar? A session will be recorded and posted to the OSDE Special Education Child Count Collection website for viewing at your convenience. To register, please view the Data Child Count.
Content includes a review of critical information about child count reporting for special education and updates on a few related topics.
Many districts have expressed concern about graduating seniors exited from their SIS not showing up in EDPlan—while it may look like something is wrong, this is normal. OSDE creates the graduations file and processes it after the WAVE rollover. With this year being an exception to previous years with the switch to the SIF Unity API, the graduation file will most likely be processed in late August. Please continue to monitor your exiting report and reach out to OSDE for further guidance if seniors are not showing up beginning in September. It is not necessary to manually exit your graduates from EDPlan at this time.
FY26 Project 621 Flow Through and Project 641 Pre School allocations are now available. You can access your application in the GMS.
Our annual Finance Workshops are now available for registration. Choose the location and date that’s best for you. Hope to see you there!
If you have any questions, please contact your district finance specialist at 405-521-3351.
Allocations for Project 615, Professional Development, and Project 618, Transition Development, are now available. Districts that received this allocation can complete their online budget application through the GMS. Applications not completed by December 31, 2025 will forfeit their allocation.
For assistance regarding your district finance, please contact your finance specialist at 405-521-3351.
Alternate Diploma Collaborative quarterly meetings will continue for 2025-2026 to support the implementation of the Alternate Diploma and 18-22 Extended Transition Programs/Services. Districts in need of assistance are encouraged to attend quarterly meetings for alternate diploma updates and to ask questions that arise as you support your students, families, schools, and district. Quarterly meetings may feature guest presenters with information to support students on the Alternate Diploma pathway and 18-22 year-old students who continue to attend school to receive FAPE.
All Quarterly Collaborative Meetings will be held via Teams from 3:00 PM- 4:00 PM on the dates listed:
- October 23, 2025
- January 22, 2025
- March 26, 2026
Meeting ID: 252 040 567 180 and Passcode: W4xdRc
Join SoonerStart and OSDE this fall to discuss the early childhood transition from SoonerStart to the LEA. Choose from one of 5 locations from October 20, 2025 - November 3, 2025 (OKC, Tulsa, McAlester, Enid, or Lawton) and meet your transition partners to discuss policies, practices, guidance, and resources to ensure a ‘smooth and effective transition’.
Objectives for this training include:
• To provide SoonerStart, LEA personnel, and other community agencies/programs with the knowledge of requirements under IDEA Part B and C regarding transition.
• To offer SoonerStart and LEA personnel the opportunity to get real-time technical assistance regarding guidance from the Office of Special Education Programs.
• To foster relationships between SoonerStart, LEAs, and other community agencies/programs that serve our families and students.
For more information and to register, please see the Early Childhood Transition Flyer.
Join us for a chance to discuss early childhood data, as well as available tools & resources. This is an ongoing group to discuss all topics related to early childhood data. This is an opportunity to ask any of your early childhood data questions. Please use this form to suggest questions or topics.
Please register for one of the following meetings you plan to attend. All sessions are from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM CST.
Educators across Oklahoma are invited to join a virtual professional development session hosted by the SPARK Community of Practice on September 23, 2025, at 11:00 AM CST. The event, titled Collaboration in Special Education, features Dr. Elana Grissom, an expert in educational psychology and inclusive instruction.
Dr. Grissom will explore practical strategies for co-teaching, interdisciplinary teamwork, and student-centered planning. Her experience spans classroom teaching, academic research, and policy consultation, making her insights especially valuable for today’s educators.
The SPARK Community of Practice, supported by the Oklahoma State Personnel Development Grant (OKSPDG), offers monthly sessions designed to strengthen inclusive practices and foster professional growth. This session emphasizes the importance of collaboration in meeting the diverse needs of students with disabilities.
Registration is free and open to all special education professionals.
These courses fulfill the requirements listed in 70 O.S. § 1210.196.5: Guidelines for Training of Volunteer Diabetes Care Assistants.
If you have any questions, please contact Kellie Carter.
- Live Classes: Find Classes
- Live Virtual Registration:
- On-demand virtual Classes on OSDE Connect
This course fulfills the requirements listed in 70 O.S § 1210.284: Vision Screening - Recommendations on Standards - Comprehensive Eye Exam on Failure - Annual Reports.
Live:
Class options:
Vision Screening Provider Training-
Vision Screening Trainer of Provider (only available to those who are certified in Vision Screening Provider Training)
On-Demand:
Available upon request for renewal only by contacting Kellie Carter.
All questions and concerns can be directed to Kellie Carter.
Note: The Crisis Prevention Intervention (CPI) Verbal Intervention training will no longer be offered through OSDE-SES at the close of November 2025. Documentation of the use of restraint and seclusion is not just for students with disabilities, but for all students. Therefore, restraint and verbal intervention training should take place with more than the special education personnel, but all school personnel who might be involved in a restraint situation of any student. We are encouraging districts to explore various training options to ensure continued compliance with safety and intervention using best practices from nationally recognized programs (e.g., Mandt System, MindSet Safety Management, Crisis Prevention Institute, etc.). OSDE-SES does not endorse one program over the other. It is up to the district to choose which training program to use.
We also encourage districts to have an employee trained to be a trainer within the district who will be able to teach and apply these skills for verbal interventions, including the proper physical restraint training for all staff across your district.
We appreciate each district's commitment to maintaining a safe and supportive learning environment using verbal interventions. All districts should avoid the use of physical restraints unless there is an imminent danger of the student harming themselves or others.
CPI - Verbal Intervention with OSDE-SES in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Please join us for an updated and revised Data Literacy Retreat. This annual training is ready to kick off the fourth year in a row! We have expanded the opportunity based on feedback from our recurrent participants. This training, previously held in October, has been moved to September to better accommodate fall break and child count schedules. Additionally, we have expanded and reorganized the interaction between data analysis and MTSS. We hope you will consider bringing a team to engage in a data analysis opportunity.
Join us for an engaging, hands-on data literacy training focusing on:
OKMTSS for Districts and Sites
- Data Analysis with Screening and Progress Monitoring tools
- Student Achievement Data
- Participants will learn about:
- OKMTSS Data-Driven Decision Rules * New addition
- Effective Data Analysis Methods
- Conducting a Root Cause Analysis
- Developing a Theory of Action
- Creating an Action Plan
Four regional options are available. The training will be the same at each location. However, teams should attend one training all together and not split their team to each event. It is recommended that districts and schools bring their MTSS team; however, it can be challenging to accommodate absences in the school building. Districts and schools should bring at least a pair of participants with one of the participants being someone who has high-level user access to screening data, state test data, and SIS data. Single participants are welcome to attend, though, they may find that the activities and collaboration are challenging to do alone. Participants should bring devices and comfort items as the room may be varied in temperature.
This event is free and various Project money can be used for overnight hotel stay and travel to and from the location. Registration will close two days before the event date. There is limited capacity for each area. When capacity has been reached, participants will be moved to a waitlist.
All sessions are 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
- Data Retreat #1- OKC on September 15-16, 2025
- Data Retreat #2- Tulsa on September 18-19, 2025
- Data Retreat #3- McAlester on September 22-23, 2025
- Data Retreat #4- Elk City on September 25-26, 2025
There is one registration page for all locations. Please register for each person planning to attend.
The Office of Special Education Services is pleased to announce the Annual Conference for Support Staff for the 2025–2026 school year. This all-day event provides an opportunity for support staff to earn 6 hours of professional development credit.
Piece by Piece: Building Strategies for Support
The dates and locations have been chosen for the following, please register as spots are limited.
For more information about the conference, please see the draft Agenda, Speaker Information, or by contacting Megan Salisbury or Abby Johnson.
Oklahoma State Department of Education Special Education Services is
partnering with LRP Publications to bring expertly designed professional
development through DirectSTEP® eCourses at no cost to districts.
In previous years, special educators could access professional development modules through Pepper in the EdPlan platform. Beginning this school year, OSDE-SES has discontinued its use of Pepper. Content for the Paraprofessional training (for para certification), the Long-Term Substitute modules, and other professional development is available through the OSDE Connect platform.
Educators wishing to access the Para or Long-Term Sub modules should contact Carolyn Thomas for access rights.
The Tier one supports listed below are accessible for all school sites serving students in Oklahoma. The focus for these resources is improving K-3 early literacy through improving MTSS.
Professional Development
The SSIP is comprised of self-paced, asynchronous professional development, synchronous, virtual, live events, an in-person OKMTSS conference, and an in-person data literacy retreat. To enroll in these opportunities, participants will access the sequence through the state department’s OSDE Connect platform. Once enrolled, the professional leader participating will complete an initial quiz. This quiz is to ensure that the school participants have a keen understanding regarding the implementation of the professional development opportunity and how it will benefit their site. For more information about the length and topic of the modules, please read the SSIP Guidance Document.
Access to the course can be found on OSDE Connect for the 2025-2028 school year or by accessing the enrollment.
OSDE-sponsored events, professional development, and conferences are beneficial to special education teachers and staff. Information about upcoming events can be found on the Project 613 list.
Additional information or questions about Project 613 can be directed to Mitchell Kern.
Districts may now submit 2024-2025 school year documentation to receive bonus points. Bonus Points are located on the Annual Determination Report to be released November 2025. Districts can earn up to two (2) bonus points for professional development, transition planning and/or parent advisory committee meetings. All bonus point documentation must total 3 hours for each event. For professional development bonus points complete the survey and provide the required documentation. The professional development bonus point survey is located in EdPlan. Log-into EdPlan, select Tools>LEA> Document Library>PD Bonus to access the survey. Complete the
survey and upload professional development documentation (summarized titled agenda with sign-in sheet), transition planning and/or parent advisory committee meetings to the PD Bonus tab.
To receive bonus points the required documentation must meet the following criteria:
- Professional development events must have a total of 3 hours for one topic.
- Professional development event can be divided into 1 or more segments.
- Professional development requires both general education and special education teachers.
- Professional development must focus on areas related to special education.
- Professional development documentation requires topic title, event date, summarized agenda and sign-in sheet.
- Transition Planning meetings must have a total of 3 hours.
- Parent Advisory meetings must have a total of 3 hours.
- Meetings can be divided into 1 or more segments.
- Transition planning documentation requires titled summarized agenda and/or meeting minutes including event date with sign-in sheets.
- Parent advisory committee meetings require titled summarized agenda and/or meeting minutes including event date with sign-in sheets.
- All event documentation must have title, event date and summarized agenda.
Districts that are assigned DMR "Level 2, 3, or 4" support will receive professional
development bonus points providing all monitoring requirements are completed timely.
Districts that are assigned DMR "Level 1" support and/or "Compliance" must complete and submit the bonus professional development survey with additional professional development documentation.
All required bonus point approval documentation must be complete and submitted timely. Required documentation for bonus point approval includes the bonus survey, summarized agendas, committee meeting minutes and sign-in sheets. If required documentation is incomplete and/or does not meet bonus professional development requirements, then requirements have not been met for bonus point approval.
Email the monitoring coordinator when survey is submitted and/or for additional information:
Letters A-M contact Kristen Coleman
Letters N-Z contact Felica Denton
Submission deadline is Tuesday, September 30, 2025.
If your district employs educational interpreters, please verify that they are on the OSDE Educational Interpreter Registry. All interpreters in an educational setting are required to be on the registry and are required to obtain yearly CEUs.
Educational Interpreter Registry - Oklahoma State Department of Education
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