2024 Strands

North Carolina will share their inclusive principal practices and their work to align these practices with leadership preparation programs. In North Carolina, a team of regional and district directors from the Office of Exceptional Children (OEC) actively reach out to superintendents and principals to create a suite of tools and trainings that help leaders understand 1) how to access rich, disaggregated data about their students, 2) how to use that data to make real-time decisions, and 3) how those activities can lead to more inclusive outcomes for all students. In Connecticut, the state AIPL team has defined and aligned inclusive principal practices to the PSEL standards for school leaders, and is collaborating with two universities to embed these practices into syllabi for principal leadership programs, creating professional learning that enables IEP teams to make inclusive placement decisions, and supports demonstration sites where principals take an active part in transforming their traditional models of delivering specialized services to children with disabilities and English learners so that each and every child has an equitable opportunity for access, participation, and learning with their neighbors and friends in their home school communities.

Presenters will share results of a statewide survey and follow-up interviews of coordinators of educational leadership preparation programs in California. Because the academic achievement of students with disabilities typically lags behind that of their peers, inclusive approaches are deemed essential to addressing this issue in classrooms and schools. School leaders play a critical role in supporting inclusive schools and practices. The current study was conducted to gather information from preparation programs (both in higher education and in school districts) in California to understand the extent to which these programs integrate knowledge and experiences regarding inclusive practices. Obtaining and interpreting these data provide insight into the needs of programs in the preparation of leaders to meet the needs of the diversity of students in today’s schools.

Colorado has built a community of principal preparation faculty dedicated to the implementation of inclusive, equity-driven leadership practices in Colorado schools. Through a statewide professional learning community on Exploring Educational Leadership Preparation with an Equity Mindset, Presenters will describe how conducting a crosswalk between Colorado’s Principal Quality Standards and the CEEDAR Innovation Configuration tool created a strong foundation and common language for a productive discussion of inclusive principal preparation. In addition to work conducted within leadership preparation programs to review and revise principal coursework and field experiences, presenters will describe the importance of convening faculty to discuss the broader implications of state policies on preparation programs.

Our nation's principals work tirelessly to ensure each child in their schools is provided with an excellent education. For many children this depends on the special education services they receive. Special education teachers have high expectations of their principals for necessary support. This session will provide practical guidance for principals in maximizing the learning of students with disabilities by giving them the expertise to provide leadership to teachers and parents as they work together to meet the unique needs of students who receive special education services. 

Your opportunity to engage with the national experts, share insights, ask questions,  get access to additional resources, recommend future  activities, supports and resources.   

Facilitator: Mark D. Weist, Ph.D., Professor, University of South Carolina

This session is intended for college and university faculty involved/interested in pre-service training on mental health (MH) for undergraduate/graduate education majors, and in-service training for education staff to enhance their MH skills. Following a brief review of the landscape including teacher workforce issues, management of student mental health challenges, mental health literacy integrated into schools’ multi-tiered systems of support (and other), we will share examples of successful strategies, and develop plans for next steps to significantly improve pre-service and in-service training on mental health. We will also develop ideas for a CEC-led agenda for this work to occur over the next few years.    

Presenter: Kimberly Yanek, Co-Director, Center for Social Behavior Support at Center for Implementation & Evaluation of Education Systems (CIEES), Old Dominion University and Technical Assistance Director, Center on PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions & Support)

Youth spend a great deal of time in classrooms, making classrooms an ideal protective factor and support for youth mental health and wellbeing. The collective effort of districts, schools, and classroom teachers is often overlooked as a powerful source of wellbeing. In this session, we will explore ways to uncover and enhance efforts to support youth mental health and wellbeing in classrooms through a collective effort.

Your opportunity to engage with the national experts, share insights, ask questions, get access to additional resources, recommend future activities, supports and resources. 

This session will address the growing concerns related to teacher and staff wellbeing, including a review of strategies and resources to support a healthy workforce. We will provide an overview of recommended resources (e.g., podcasts, resource directory) developed with practitioner and researcher input. We will highlight the role of staff equity as a foundation for promoting a supportive work environment for both students and staff. We will also consider the importance of staff wellbeing as a cornerstone for student mental and behavioral health. We will conclude with a review of additional resources, tools, and materials freely available through the National Center on Safe and Supportive Learning Environments (NCSSLE).

Given that schools are recognized as a key location for youth to receive mental health services and supports, Dr. Vivek Murthy, U.S. Surgeon General, called on educators, school staff and districts to “provide a continuum of supports” in response to the growing mental health needs of students (US Surgeon General’s Advisory, 2021). Schools are emerging from the early clutches of the pandemic, but recent results from the Merrimack College Teacher Survey (2023) suggest that youth mental health continues to adversely affect student learning, educators’ classroom management capacities, and work satisfaction. For example, one respondent said, “We are told to be aware of students’ trauma but do not have the training or skills to assist the students in dealing with trauma.” Educators are attempting to meet the mental health needs of youth without the training needed which increases susceptibility to burnout, demoralization, and turn-over. This session will focus on building educators’ capacities for addressing the mental health needs of students as a strategy to promote teacher competence, job satisfaction, and retention. Accessible professional development resources will also be shared and discussed.