AIR Experts to Discuss Evidence-Based Intensive Interventions at the Council for Exceptional Children Annual Convention
Washington, D.C. – Special education experts from the American Institutes for Research (AIR) will discuss evidence-based intensive interventions for students during presentations at this year’s Council for Exceptional Children annual convention, which is taking place April 3 – 6 in San Antonio, Texas.
The Council for Exceptional Children is the largest international professional organization dedicated to improving the educational success of individuals with disabilities. The annual conference provides sessions on the latest evidence-based practices, technology, products and resources.
The following is a list of the subjects and times of presentations involving AIR staff:
April 4, 2013
Using Intensive Interventions in Academics and Behavior to Support Hard-to-Teach Students
8 a.m. – 9 a.m.
Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center
Room 007B
The evidence of persistent poor performance among students with disabilities is a compelling reason to individualize intensive interventions for this group. This session will describe and demonstrate the National Center on Intensive Intervention at AIR's data-based individualization approach to delivering and evaluating intensive reading, mathematics and behavioral interventions in grades K-12.
AIR Presenters: Lou Danielson and Rebecca Zumeta
A Data-Driven Tiered Approach to Intervention for Adolescents
10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center
Room 214D
Schools face many challenges to ensure all students are college and career ready. This session will look at aligning disparate interventions and targeted initiatives into a more comprehensive approach, discuss a data-driven tiered approach to gauging student need and progress, and identify specific interventions to enable all students to reach their potential.
AIR Presenter: Mindee O’Cummings
Educator Effectiveness Evaluations: Including Students with Disabilities and Special Educators
2:15 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.
Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center
Room 214C
This session explores issues related to the inclusion of students with disabilities and their teachers in educator evaluation systems. Panel members will provide an overview of the approaches used by several states and investigate issues that need to be considered as the models are developed and implemented.
AIR Presenter: Lynn Holdheide
Learning from the Field: Strategies for Successfully Implementing Intensive Intervention
3:45 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.
Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center
Room 007C
Staff from the NCII at AIR will join a panel discussion with district personnel who have been successful in producing positive outcomes for students with disabilities with the most intensive needs. Panelists will describe the critical district- and school-level factors that contributed to their success.
AIR Presenter: Allison Gandhi
April 5, 2013
Planning and Facilitating Professional Development to Support Effective Implementation: Considerations for Administrators and Practitioners
1 p.m. – 2 p.m.
Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center
Room 007B
The presentation will describe research-based professional development strategies, considerations when selecting a professional development provider and recommendations for planning and facilitating effective professional development. Attendees will have the opportunity to begin developing their own professional development plans based on the content presented and they will receive feedback from session facilitators and peers.
AIR Presenter: Rebecca Zumeta
Measuring Educator Effectiveness: Status and Implications for Improving Teacher Preparation Programs
5 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center
Room 214B
Panel members will discuss the validity of using student achievement scores for identifying effective teachers through value-added modeling, the degree to which current teacher observation systems validly capture effective instruction for students with disabilities and how to use indicators of teacher effectiveness to improve educator preparation programs.
AIR Presenter: Lynn Holdheide
April 6, 2013
Selecting Evidence-Based Tools for Implementing Intensive Intervention
2:15 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.
Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center
Room 217D
NCII at AIR staff will describe and give participants a chance to interact with its "Tools Charts," which rate the technical adequacy of academic and behavioral interventions and progress monitoring tools, based on rigorous evidence standards developed by expert panels. The center publishes the tools charts to assist educators and families in becoming informed consumers who can select interventions and progress monitoring tools that best meet their students' individual needs.
AIR Presenter: Rebecca Zumeta
For more information about the conference, visit http://www.cec.sped.org/Professional-Development/Annual-Convention/Regis....
About AIR
Established in 1946, with headquarters in Washington, D.C., the American Institutes for Research (AIR) is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization that conducts behavioral and social science research and delivers technical assistance both domestically and internationally in the areas of health, education and workforce productivity. For more information, visit www.air.org.
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