Special Education Experts from the American Institutes for Research to Participate in the Annual Conference of the Council for Exceptional Children
Washington, D.C. – Special education experts from the American Institutes for Research (AIR) will discuss Response to Intervention (RTI), adolescent literacy, progress monitoring tools, and other issues at the annual conference of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), which is being held April 25-28, 2011 at National Harbor, MD.
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 more than 800 sessions to special education professionals who are interested in learning about the latest evidence-based practices, innovative technology, products, and resources, and who want to network with other professionals.
The following is a list of the subjects and times of presentations involving AIR staff at the CEC conference:
April 26
Identifying the Right Tools and Interventions for Effective Response to Intervention
8:30 – 9:30 a.m. ET
In this session, staff from the National Center on Response to Intervention, operated by AIR, will describe and give participants a chance to interact with its “Tools Charts,” which rate the technical adequacy of screening tools, progress monitoring tools, and instructional interventions based on rigorous evidence standards developed by expert panels.
AIR Session Leader: Alison Gandhi
AIR Presenter: Katie Tackett
National Center on Response to Intervention: Increasing Supply-Demand for Evidence-Based RTI Practices
9:45 – 11:45 a.m. ET
The invited panel will describe efforts by the National Center on Response to Intervention to promote increased use of evidence-based practices for RTI in classrooms. Discussion will focus on increasing the supply of evidence-based practices by evaluating the technical rigor of commercially available screening tools, progress monitoring tools, and instructional programs for at-risk students; and working to increase the demand for evidence-based RTI practices, through its direct technical assistance to states.
AIR Panel Leader: Maurice McInerney
AIR Presenters: Katie Tackett, Allison Gandhi
April 27
Adolescent Literacy for Youth with Learning Disabilities in Transitions
1:15 – 2:00 p.m. ET
There has been a surge of research on developing adolescent literacy. What does it mean for transition specialists looking to bridge students to workforce expectations? This session looks at the research, what it means for youth in transitions, and offers ways that technologies can reinforce and extend literacy development.
AIR Session Leader: Heidi Silver-Pacuilla
Planning Tools for High School Response to Intervention Implementation
1:15 – 3:15 p.m. ET
Presenters from the National High School Center, National Center on Response to Intervention, and Center on Instruction will demonstrate planning tools that can assist practitioners in developing a conceptual framework and implementation plan for RTI in high schools. The National High School Center and the National Center on Response to Intervention are operated by AIR.
AIR Session Leader: Joseph Harris
AIR Presenters: Jessica Agus, Jenny Scala
April 28
Invited Session: From Research to Implementation of Response to Intervention Practices
1:15 – 3:15 p.m. ET
This panel session will describe studies on Response to Intervention (RTI) sponsored by the U. S. Department of Education (ED) including recent trends in special education identification, implementation of RTI across the United States, evidence-based RTI practices, and ED-supported technical assistance.
AIR Presenters: Louis Danielson, Katie Tackett
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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