New Symposia Series
The 2023-20204 OSERS Symposia Series will provide an opportunity for the field to join OSERS in the challenge to raise expectations, engage families earlier, and fully empower all individuals who support transition services to improve postschool outcomes for children and youth with disabilities and their families. OSERS believes that education and vocational rehabilitation services can work seamlessly to deliver high-quality transition programming that will prepare youth with disabilities for lifelong success. Such effective delivery under IDEA and WIOA relies on purposeful collaboration between educators, vocational rehabilitation professionals, service providers, and especially youth and families. Watch the kickoff event for the Expect, Engage, Empower initiative here. The first session in this series will focus on the importance of building a sense of belonging for children, youth, and young adults with disabilities in school, college, and workplace settings.
- Symposium 1: October 25, 2023 - Belonging, Building and Sustaining Environments that Support High Expectations, Engagement, and Empowerment for All!
Past Symposia Series
Each year, the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) conducts a Symposia Series to provide high-quality, timely, and evidence-based strategies focused on improving performance in a specific topic. The 2019 OSEP Symposia Series focused on strategies to attract, prepare, and retain effective personnel -- general and special education teachers, early childhood personnel, and related services providers -- who have the knowledge and skills needed to provide effective instruction, interventions, supports, and services to children with disabilities. This is a topic that not only impacts every state but also disproportionately effects children with disabilities and their families due to the many unfilled positions and high attrition rates among special education teachers, early childhood personnel, and related services providers. The 2019 OSEP Symposia Series explored the factors contributing to personnel shortages in special education, early intervention, early childhood special education, and related services; highlight current research on this topic; and explore promising practices that are making a difference in programs, districts, and states.
Symposium 1: April 8, 2019 - Preparing Personnel to Serve Children with Disabilities.
Symposium 2: May 15, 2019 - Retaining Effective Personnel to Serve Children with Disabilities.
Symposium 3: August 14, 2019 - Attracting Personnel to Serve Children with Disabilities.