Videos and Accompanying Materials

This video introduces current trends and considerations for creating teacher and leader evaluations that respond to the roles of educators of students with disabilities and the preparations of these educators, from the perspective of a large technical assistance center that works primarily with educational resource centers, state education agencies and teacher preparation programs. Considerations to design aligned systems from preservice to service settings that measure instructional practices and student growth are defined are also discussed.

With the adoption and implementation of the Common Core and other college- and career-ready standards, the bar has been raised for students to achieve at higher levels. As a result, the bar has also been raised for teachers, principals, and those who prepare them for those roles. This presentation introduces the report that focus on state components of the developmental continuum for teachers and leaders as well as pilots underway to implement the continuum.

This video is primarily focused on the ways that teacher preparation programs are evaluated, instead f individual teachers. Evidence from general education measures of effective teachers are considered for their application to special education teachers. There is also discussion of on interesting emerging practice to help measure and record what teachers are teaching.

Overview of different observation systems and a number of related research questions. The presenter also discusses issues that might undermine the validity of observation systems with special educators within the Danielson Framework for Teaching, and proposes some studies needed to explore these issues further.

Using VAM to evaluate educators of students with disabilities is a hot-button issue due to concerns about the model's ability to accurately attribute student growth, to educators who work across a variety of settings. This video provides a brief review of the purpose of value-added modeling as well as the pros and cons of its use. It also introduces some research and policy questions related to Value-Added Models for teachers of students with disabilities, and provides one research example.

Writing a competitive grant is a skill that needs to be learned. This session focused on building grant-writing skills as a graduate student or as a new faculty member. Presenters provide a Top Ten list of questions, such as: How do you start building your grant management skills? How do you gain “grant” experience? What are the critical "dos and don'ts" when writing your first grant? A link to the PowerPoint slides referred to in the video is provided below.

The three individuals presenting this session have extensive experience working with LEAs, districts, and schools to conduct personnel development programs, research, and TA in special education. The session provides a forum for these discussants to share their insights on how to successfully approach and engage local educators as partners in these pursuits.

This session focuses on how to develop and maintain long distance collaborations to foster research, leadership, and professional opportunities. The presenters address both books and tools that are available to assist with the collaborative process as well as practical issues that arise in collaboration, in three video segments. A link to a handout describing the tools and strategies discussed in the videos is provided below.