The opening session will include a welcome and keynote from Glenna Wright-Gallo, Assistant Secretary, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), an overview of the event, and Dr. Tessie Bailey sharing lessons learned from the PROGRESS Center focused on the essential ingredients of high-quality educational programming.

What is an IEP and how does it support the development and implementation of high-quality educational programming for students with disabilities? This session is intended for educators and leaders who are new to special education or looking for a review of basic information about the IEP. During the session, presenters will describe the role of the IEP in providing FAPE and why it is important, review the seven required sections of an IEP, and discuss how the parts of the IEP work together to address the individual needs of students to allow them to make progress and meet challenging goals. Participants will have opportunities for discussion, reflection, networking, and questions throughout the session.

Are accommodations SDI? What about universal design for learning (UDL) or high-leverage practices (HLPs)? This interactive session will help explain SDI for students with disabilities and clarify why accommodations, UDL, and HLPs are not SDI. Participants will gain access to freely available tools to assist with the design and delivery of SDI that meets the unique academic and functional needs of students across grade spans.

The Day 2 opening session will include a welcome and keynote from the U.S. Department of Education’s OSEP Deputy Director, an overview of the event, and Amy Peterson sharing lessons learned from the PROGRESS Center about what it takes to develop a system to support the implementation of high-quality educational programming for students with disabilities.

This session will provide practical tools, tips, and strategies designed to equip local coaches or teacher leaders to effectively support educators in the development and implementation of high-quality educational programming for students with disabilities. The session will model tools that can be used to support coaching conversations and share lessons learned from district leaders who have partnered with the PROGRESS Center to support coaches within their districts.

In this session, participants will explore research-based strategies for fostering self-directed learning among educators using the PROGRESS Center's online learning resources. The session will present tips for building social learning opportunities, developing personalized learning plans, and leveraging cohort-based approaches. Participants will be introduced to some theoretical foundations for these strategies and practical resources and recommendations for technology tools to support the implementation of these strategies, including the PROGRESS Center's online learning modules, tip sheets, note-taking guides, and other materials.

Students receiving special education services are general education students first. That’s why it is so important for general and special education leaders and educators to collaborate to provide high-quality educational programming for students with disabilities. This session will focus on the importance of the partnership between general and special education and the role of leaders in that collaboration.

In this session, you will hear from educators and administrators from Tomball Independent School District (Texas). Presenters will share how the district promotes high-quality instruction, a collaborative culture, and trust to ensure positive outcomes and experiences for all students including students with disabilities. Panelists will share examples of how they create an environment to ensure all students feel like they belong and how they use evidence-based literacy practices and inclusive technology to promote access to high-quality instruction.

Did you know that cognitive and metacognitive strategy instruction is one of six high-leverage, evidence-based practices that research has shown to support implementation of high-quality instructional programming for students with and at risk for disabilities regardless of their identified disability category or grade span? In this session, presenters will model cognitive and metacognitive strategy instruction to support students’ academic success and share free resources to help educators prepare to support their students.

This session will celebrate what participants have learned across the two days and remind participants where they can access tools and resources from the PROGRESS Center. It also will include a video and panel presentation spotlighting educators and administrators from the East Baton Rouge (EBR) Parish School System in Louisiana as they share their work to support students with disabilities and the impact it has had on their students’ outcomes.