Professional Resources and Opportunities for Growth in Specialized Services
UPDATE: The 2024 PROGRESS Conferences have reached full capacity and registration is now closed.
The PROGRESS Project is an ongoing statewide network for teacher leaders and ESAs who support the professional growth of special education teachers and ESA staff who form leadership learning communities to share information, collaborate on the implementation of learned practice, and provide reciprocal support for ongoing work in schools.
The PROGRESS Project is hosting the first annual PROGRESS Conference, a statewide professional development program based on curriculum that is designed to build content and experiential expertise among teacher and ESA leaders. The PROGRESS Conference will assist special education teacher/ESA leaders to develop expertise for supporting special and general education teachers and school administrators as they serve students with disabilities, increase inclusionary opportunities, and establish multi-tiered systems of support.
Questions about the PROGRESS Project can be directed to ecselinfo@uw.edu.
Professional Development Opportunity
The Enhancing Capacity for Special Education Leadership (ECSEL) program, with support from OSPI, and the PROGRESS Project are sponsoring two free one-day professional development conferences for teacher leaders and ESAs who support the professional growth of special education teachers and ESA staff. This professional development opportunity is for individuals in teacher/ESA leadership positions (coach, program specialist, educational specialist, etc.) who want to grow their effectiveness in supporting staff at the school level and build their professional community with colleagues in similar positions in their region.
Each one-day conference will focus on leadership and coaching of Practices to Develop and Support Paraprofessionals and Practices to Support Positive, Prosocial Behavior for Students with IEPs.
Participants will learn:
Developing Paraprofessionals:
- Leading and influencing district and school-based practices to develop and support the paraprofessional role
- Developing the working relationship between case-managers and paraprofessionals, in support of student outcomes
- Supporting paraprofessional work with students (differentiating academic work, supporting academic interventions, collecting data, teaching small groups, supporting students who have IEP goals in behavior or social skills, supporting students to reach IEP goals)
Positive Behavior Support
- Leading and influencing school-based practices for behavior and social skills
- Supporting positive student behavior at the school, classroom and individual student level
- Practices for supporting student behavioral health needs at Tier 2 & Tier 3
- Data-based Individualization for Behavior (intensive intervention)
The free one-day conferences will be offered on Friday, March 1st in Tacoma, WA and Friday, March 8th in Walla Walla, WA. The PROGRESS Conference will provide support to participants to include limited reimbursement of travel costs for those traveling beyond 100 miles round-trip, books or other learning resources, and eligibility for professional development credits.
PROGRESS Conference Information
PROGRESS Conferences are being developed to meet the needs of Special Education Teacher- and ESA-Leaders by regional affiliations (East and West side of WA State), acknowledging the differences in job expectations of teacher- and ESA-leaders due to size of district and affiliated infrastructure, and proximity/accessibility of available resources.
The conference will begin at 8:00 am and end at 4:00 pm. Breakfast and lunch will be provided.
REGISTER FOR THE CONFERENCE HERE
UPDATE: The conference located in Tacoma on March 1st has reached full capacity.
Conference Venues:
Address: 1320 Broadway, Tacoma, WA 98402
The planners of the 2024 PROGRESS Conference have secured a limited number of guestrooms for the night of February 29 at a block rate of $132 per room, plus appropriate state and local taxes.
Attendees are responsible for making their own hotel reservations. To receive the discounted rate, use the online reservation link here. The deadline to reserve at this discounted rate is February 8, 2024.
REGISTRATION FOR THE WALLA WALLA CONFERENCE IS NOW CLOSED.
Friday, March 8, 2024
Marcus Whitman Hotel and Conference Center, Walla Walla, WA
Address: 6 W Rose St, Walla Walla, WA 99362
The planners of the 2024 PROGRESS Conference have secured a limited number of guestrooms for the nights of March 7 and March 8 at a block rate of $179 per room per night, plus appropriate state and local taxes.
Attendees are responsible for making their own hotel reservations. To receive the discounted rate, use the online reservation link here. The deadline to reserve at this discounted rate is Tuesday, January 30, 2024.
REGISTER FOR THE CONFERENCE HERE