Special Education
OSDE - SES - May 7, 2024 - Internal
The first draft of the Revised Oklahoma Special Education Policies and Procedures Manual has been developed for public review and comment prior to the final draft being submitted to the Oklahoma State Board of Education. All newly revised additional language is identified by yellow highlights and eliminated language is identified by strikethrough notations.
To easily find the revised language, use the steps below:
- Open Find (CTRL+F)
- Arrow down to Advance Find
- Select More
- Select Format
- Select Highlight
- Now you can select Find Next to navigate the document to the highlighted edits.
Any interested party is invited to submit written comments to the Oklahoma State Department of Education, Office of Special Education Services, 2500 North Lincoln Boulevard, Suite 412, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105-4599 or through email to Abby Johnson (abby.johnson@sde.ok.gov) with “Public Comment” clearly noted in the subject line. All comments should cite the applicable chapter and page number of the draft manual. All written comments must be received no later than Friday, May 31, 2024.
All solicitations for the public comment are barrier free. Individuals who speak a language(s) other than English, or have a hearing impairment and require an interpreter, are asked to contact the Oklahoma State Department of Education via e-mail to Abby Johnson (abby.johnson@sde.ok.gov) with “Public Comment” clearly noted in the subject line.
Public hearings whereby members of the public may submit oral comments are scheduled for 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Friday, May 17, 2024, and 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Monday, May 20, 2024, at the Oklahoma State Department of Education, State Board Room, Room 1-250, 2500 North Lincoln Boulevard, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105. Persons wishing to speak must sign in at the door of the state board room prior to the start of the hearing. Time limitations may be imposed on presentations to ensure that all persons who desire to make oral comments will have an opportunity to do so.
The Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) kindly requests your participation in an important survey about Fentanyl and Narcan usage in schools to better understand and support school safety and health. This survey is crucial for helping understand the prevalence and impact of Fentanyl use and the preparedness of schools to manage opioid-related emergencies. By collecting data on the frequency of fentanyl incidents, access to Narcan, and staff / Student training on overdose response, the OSDE can identify gaps in school safety protocols and resources across the different districts.
The information will enable the development of targeted strategies and policies to improve School and student health, including support services for students and staff affected by opioid misuse. Ultimately, the survey will help the OSDE make informed decisions to protect the well-being of school communities. 63 O.S. § 1-2506.1 and 70 O.S. § 1210.242 allows for trained personnel (see statute for requirements) to administer Narcan (Naloxone) without a prescription in the school setting.
Narcan (Naloxone) & Fentanyl in Schools 2023-2024 Survey
The 2023-2024 Vision Screening Report is now open on Single Sign-On. Each year, the Oklahoma State Department of Education requires schools to report the vision screening results of Kindergarten, first grade, and third grade students, in response to state law 70 O.S. § 1210.284. The Vision Screening report is due June 14, 2024.
If you have questions or concerns, contact Kellie Carter, Manager of School Nursing Programs.
**NEW** OAAP Update
You can find the most updated OAAP information for the 2023-2024 school year in the OAAP Memo. Find and access information regarding Spring Testing Window, Data Extracts, OAS and Essential Element alignment, and more.
**NEW** Early Childhood EOY Data Reminders
- Early Childhood Outcomes for all children exiting preschool this school year must be completed no later than 6/30/2024 in order to count as completed for the district. Guidance regarding entry and exit ECOs, as well as best practice is available on the website.
- District data related to early childhood transitions must be submitted (even if no transitions occurred) no later than 6/30/2024 via the District Summary Data in EdPlan. Guidance related to early childhood transition and early childhood enrollment is also available on the website.
- End of Year Reports for ECOs and Early Childhood Transitions are available in EdPlan Advanced Reporting.
- While looking at these reports, consider the red flags as a prompt for LEA teams to check to ensure ECOs and early childhood transitions have been completed as indicated. If they have been done, then nothing additional is required.
- These reports are available as tools for districts. They are informational, so the red flag report will likely not change.
- For questions related to early childhood data, please reach out to the data team and/or Megan Withers.
Register now for the Open Door Assistance in May.
The Special Education Data Team is also available to answer questions and review data concerns at (405) 521-3351.
Project 619 OKMTSS Implementation
Targeted districts will be receiving funds for the purpose of developing or improving an OKMTSS framework using an evidence-based academic and/or behavior continuum of interventions through tiered support.
The Project 619 Memo provides actions steps and additional information.
The FY2025 Assurances are now available online. Assurances must be completed prior to July 1st.
You can access the Assurances through your Single Sign On.
- Sign into your Single Sign On
- Select: Grants Management/Expenditure Reporting
- Select: Page on the GMS Access
- Change Fiscal Year: 2025
- Proceed: Create your Assurances
When completing the FY25 Assurances, districts should be sure their nine digit zip code corresponds with their physical address. The physical address should match the districts physical address in SAM.gov.
Feedback Opportunities: Alternate Diploma Collaborative and Lessons Learned & Future Focus
Information from these two short surveys will be used to plan for future Alternate Diploma Collaborative activities. Please take this opportunity and spend a few minutes to provide feedback to guide the future of the Alternate Diploma Collaborative (Zoom) meetings and to share your district’s Lessons Learned and Future Focus related to the implementation of the Alternate Diploma and 18-22 Extended Transition Programs/Programming/Services. Some information gleaned from the Lessons Learned & Future Focus survey will be shared at the final Alternate Diploma Collaborative on May 23, 2024. Thank you in advance for you time and valuable feedback!!!
- Alternate Diploma Collaborative Feedback.
- Share feedback for Alternate Diploma & 18-22 ETPs: Lessons Learned & Future Focus.
OSDE-SES is providing Transition Technical Assistance through a temporary, part-time Secondary Transition Program Specialist. Assistance to schools/districts will be available through various formats to include e-mail, phone, virtual (via Microsoft Teams) and/or in-person. Please use this link to complete a Transition Technical Assistance Request for your school/district regarding Secondary Transition topics, including the new Alternate Diploma and 18-22 Transition Programs. For brief questions and/or more information about Transition Technical Assistance, please contact Claudia Beckner or Lori Chesnut.
The Oklahoma State Department of Education, Office of Special Education Services will continue to hold Secondary Transition/Alternate Diploma Collaborative meetings monthly beginning in August.
Zoom meetings will typically be held on the 4th Thursday of each month at 3:00 p.m., except for holidays/school vacation weeks.
The schedule of monthly sessions and known topics are listed below:
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May 23, 2024
- Alternate Diploma & 18-22 Extended Transition Programs: Lessons Learned & Future Focus – OSDE-SES, Districts & Transition Partners
Join us via Zoom for all sessions scheduled.
Meeting ID: 160 702 2023 Passcode: 393839
Indicator 14: Post-School Outcomes Survey and Informational Webinar
Indicator 14: Post-School Outcomes Survey is the “Percent of youth who had IEPs, are no longer in secondary school and who have been competitively employed, enrolled in some type of postsecondary school, or both, within one year of leaving high school.” The Oklahoma State Department of Education, Special Education Services (OSDE-SES) annually surveys exiters (students who exit the IDEA) aged 16 and up a year after they graduate, drop out, or age out. The results are reflected on the annual District Determination Profile (DDP). It is important to have a high percentage of exiters participate in the Post-School Outcomes (PSO) Survey to ensure that the data are representative of the State and districts and useful in improving effective transition programs and services. Districts may opt-in to Survey their former students to reconnect and raise PSO response rates.
Watch the OSDE-SES and Data-Driven Enterprises Indicator 14: Post-School Outcomes Informational Webinar to learn more about opting in to survey your former students to raise your response rates and to find out what they have been doing since leaving high school!
Check out the updated the updated PSO Guidance Briefs.
The Office of Special Education Services at the Oklahoma State Department has developed a state-systemic improvement plan (SSIP) to support educators who serve kindergarten through third grade students, with a focus on students with special needs and early literacy outcomes.
We are excited to offer an opportunity for the coming school year for school sites who educate students K-3, within the State of Oklahoma, who have scored 0% proficiency for third-grade reading based on state testing proficiency for students with IEPs.
What is the State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP)? Website link
The program features three tiers of participation:
- Tier 1:
- Universal Supports: Access to templates and protocols for early literacy interventions and evidence-based practices. You can access the Universal Supports through OK Multi-Tiered System of Supports | Oklahoma State Department of Education.
- Sequenced Professional Development: Access to a professional development sequence, intended to support educators with early literacy outcomes.
- Tier 2:
- Strategic Leadership Coaching: To support development of a site MTSS leadership team, aide in implementing MTSS for K-3 early literacy, continuous coaching. Application due June 1, 2024.
- Tier 3:
- Instructional Coaching: Application to access direct, individual support for educators working with K-3 students, supporting early literacy. Educators must be concurrently participating in the professional development sequence. Application due June 1, 2024.
The application for participation has been included in the email as links. On-time deadline is June 1, 2024, and late-acceptance will continue until August 1, 2024, or until the capacity for the program has been reached.
We are hosting informative virtual meetings to answer your questions and provide insight into this program! The informative meetings will be the same session but offered at different times to accommodate your schedule:
When: May 8th, 8-9 AM
Register in advance for this meeting
For more information to determine if this program is right for your school site, please reach out to Alexa Hudak to set up a phone conversation to answer any questions you might have.
We are eager for your participation!
Questions about Indicator 7 results? Join us for an in-depth discussion of this indicator including targets, calculations, and responding to results.
Thursday, May 9, 2024 from 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Open Door for Early Childhood Outcomes data.
This month the Office of English Language Proficiency will be hosting an EL Lunch and Learn to gather stakeholder feedback regarding Alternate ACCESS Accountability and Reclassification.
We are requesting that both LEA EL and SPED administration attend to fully represent dually identified students.
Join us for 30 minutes, as we share information about the Alternate ACCESS standards setting and its potential impact on Accountability and Reclassification. You may register below.
You are invited to a ZoomGov meeting.
When: May 9, 2024, at 12:30 PM
Register in advance for this meeting here.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
OSDE presents a one-day, opportunity for districts to participate in a hands-on
Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) Fidelity of Implementation
Rubric self-assessment. The self-assessment requires a district-level
MTSS Leadership team to assess the district’s implementation level of
the specific essential components necessary to have an MTSS framework
for academics and behavior.
Please see the OKMTSS Fidelity of Implementation Flyer for more information and registration.
The Oklahoma State Department of Education, the State Personnel Development Grant, Project AWARE, the State Systemic Improvement Plan- B, and other collaborating offices, are hosting the MTSS Summer Conference. The intent of this conference is to support educators in a focused approach to align and implement an MTSS systems. The conference is not intended to only consist of background knowledge but to provide actionable steps and information to implement high-quality implementations for all students.
When:
Pre-Conference- June 24th; 12:30-4:30pm- Learn the MTSS Frameworks
- Pyramid Model
- Resources
- Keynote Session- OKMTSS on EDPlan
- Breakout groups
- Networking/Connection Sessions
- Live webinar style sessions
- Virtual Engagement
Register your MTSS teams today! Registration is limited! Participants attending the in-person conference will leave the conference with ongoing conference materials! We look forward to connecting with you!
For more information about this conference, please reach out to Alexa Hudak.
**NEW** CPI Verbal Intervention
The Oklahoma State Department of Education, Office of Special Education Services will be holding their CPI Verbal Intervention Regional Trainings for you to send 4 employees to get certified.
ONLY 40 people will be able to attend each session, so make sure you register ASAP!Regional Trainings:
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August 29, 2024: Stillwater, Oklahoma
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September 5, 2024: Ardmore, Oklahoma
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October 4, 2024: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
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January 17, 2025: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
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February 7, 2025: Guymon, Oklahoma
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February 21, 2025: Lawton, Oklahoma
CPI is approved through Project 613 for substitutes, travel, and lodging. Keep in mind lodging must be at least 60 miles one way.
Questions can be directed to Megan Salisbury
The Oklahoma State Department of Education, Office of Special Education Services will be hosting our Annual Conference for Support Staff for the 2024-2025 School Year.
- September 6, 2024: Ardmore, Oklahoma
- November 1, 2024: Stillwater, Oklahoma
- January 30, 2025: Lawton, Oklahoma
- February 6, 2025: Guymon, Oklahoma
If you have any questions about the Oklahoma's Engaging Support Conference, please email Megan Salisbury or Abby Johnson.
Educational Interpreter Registry
If your district employs educational interpreters, please verify that they are on the OSDE Educational Interpreter Registry. All interpreters in an educational setting are required to be on the registry and are required to obtain yearly CEUs.
Special Education Services
Oklahoma State Department of Education
2500 North Lincoln Boulevard, Suite 412
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
P: (405) 521-3351 F: (405) 522-2380
SDESpecialEducation@sde.ok.gov
Categories: specialed
OSDE - SES - May 2, 2024 - External
The University of Oklahoma Zarrow Institute is seeking help to finalize the Transition Assessment & Goal Generator-Middle School (TAGG-MS). Middle school students with mild to moderate disabilities, educators and their parents or caregivers of these youth are invited to participate in field testing of this new transition assessment for middle school students. Participants will be compensated for their time in helping with this important stage of the process.
What will I be asked to do?
Educators:
- Complete demographic information on yourself and your students
- Complete the professional assessment version for each student
- Assist parents/caregivers and students in completing their appropriate assessments
Will I be compensated?
YES!
Educators:
- $30.00 for each completed assessment set
- 10 free TAGG credits
Parents and Students:
- $10.00 gift card for each completed assessment
Please see the flyer announcement for more information!
Oklahoma Department of Career Technology Education (ODCTE) Innovative Grants
- “Supporting CTE Special Populations Grant Application 2024-2026” is now available. Check it out and begin planning in advance for an opportunity to be awarded a two-year grant (up to $50,000/year) aimed at helping schools implement transition programs and/or other support strategies to assist in the provision of transferable skill sets to students regarding the attainment of meaningful employment and becoming productive members of society!!!
- The Supporting CTE Special Populations Overview (oklahoma.gov) outlines the requirements for the 2024-2026 grant application and required goal priorities.
- Special Populations include the following: Individuals with Disabilities, Individuals from Economically Disadvantaged Families, Individuals Preparing for Non-Traditional Fields, Single Parents, Including Single Pregnant Women, Out Of Workforce Individuals, English Learners, Homeless Individuals, Youth In or Aged Out of Foster Care System, and Youth with a Parent who is a member of the Armed Forces and on Active Duty.
- Perkins LEAs or consortia meeting the $15,000 requirement OR technology centers, technology center co-ops, postsecondary institutions, or consortia meeting the $50,000 requirement are eligible to complete the grant application.
- Application deadline is currently listed as May 3, 2024 (subject to change)
SW OK Caregiver Retreat at Quartz Mountain Lodge
Free to caregivers raising a child/adult with Developmental/Intellectual Disabilities living in the Beckham, Caddo, Comanche, Cotton, Custer, Greer, Harmon, Jackson, Kiowa, Tillman, and Washita Counties.
Join us on May 3rd and 4th.
Visit SoonerSUCCESS for more information or see the Caregiver Respite Retreat Flyer, also available in Spanish .
Communication is at the core of everything we do with children and youth who are
deafblind and have significant support needs. Supporting students to become proficient
communicators can challenge family members and the most skilled and experienced
educators. This session will explore the features of communication that are unique to
who have significant support needs, including recognizing the impact of stress and
anxiety on communication, creating communication systems that meet the needs of
everyone using common sense strategies, promoting communication-rich environments,
and debunking the myth that it is ever too late to become effective communications.
Please join us on May 8, 2024 at 3:00 PM. For more information and to register for the webinar, please see the 17 Communications Basic to Ponder Flyer.
Questions about Indicator 7 results? Join us for an in-depth discussion of this indicator including targets, calculations, and responding to results.
Thursday, May 9, 2024 from 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Open Door for Early Childhood Outcomes data.
The Oklahoma School for the Deaf is pleased to present the 2024 statewide Deaf Education Conference.
Professionals in the field of deaf education will come together, engage in dynamic workshops, connect with colleagues, and identify pathways to empowering students through access, language, and literacy. Attendees will include early interventionists, early childhood specialists, teachers of the deaf, and educational interpreters.
The pre-conference will be held June 3-4, 2024.
The conference will be held June 5-6, 2024.
Registration is now open.
This intensive 13-hour interactive workshop is designed to teach the theory and protocol for the Picture Exchange Communication System® (PECS®), an evidence-based practice based on Applied Behavior Analysis, typical language development, and B.F. Skinner’s Verbal Behavior. Using presenter demonstrations, role-play opportunities, and video examples participants will gain a thorough understanding and hands-on experience of each of the six phases of PECS.
For more information and registration, please see the PECS Level 1 Flyer.
TechNow STEM Camp is open to Oklahoma students with disabilities, ages 14-19 who are on an IEP or 504 Plan or who have other documented physical, mental, or cognitive disabilities. At STEM Camp, students will learn different ways to interact with computers, software, and related technologies to design and create: Power Racer dragster, HT Racer, full color patches for jackets, pants and shirts.
They'll get to make shirts, hats, mouse pads, pin back buttons, and bracelets. Students will develop new skills while interacting with peers and making memories that will last a lifetime. The camp is held from 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. over three days. Below are the dates and locations of the currently planned STEM Camps for Summer 2024.
For more information and to register, please see STEM Camp 2024.
Behavioral Science for Teachers (BeST) Training with Dr. Scott Singleton
OSDE-Special Education Services is pleased to announce its partnership with Dr. Scott Singleton, to provide behavioral science training to district staff to increase its capacity in addressing significant student behavior. Dr. Scott Singleton BCBA-D, NCSP has worked in the behavioral science and education field for over 20 years. He has served as a school psychologist in multiple states, the response to intervention coordinator for a large urban school district, clinical director for a school for children with developmental disabilities and is currently a professor of psychology at the University of Central Oklahoma where he oversees Behavior Central, a center for teacher training and behavioral consultation, and the master’s program in behavior analysis.
**Sessions will be held in Oklahoma City, Sapulpa, OR Woodward (Sessions are the exact same at all locations) on the dates provided.
Your team must attend BOTH SESSION DAYS.
Locations:
- Oklahoma City , July 15, 2024-July 16, 2024, from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM (2 full days)
- Sapulpa, July 17, 2024-July 18, 2024, from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM (2 full days)
- Woodward, July 22, 2024-July 23, 2024, from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM (2 full days)
Session Days will include:
- DAY ONE:
- Session 1 – Science of Behavior; Rationale for a Scientific Approach; Motivation – What motivates behavior?; Cues – What triggers behavior?; Functions – What causes behavior to be resistant to Change?
- Session 2 – Assessment of Behavior; Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA); Progress Monitoring;
- DAY TWO:
- Session 3 – Behavior Intervention; Level 1 Prevention Strategies; Level 2 Targeted Interventions; Level 3 Intensive Interventions.
If you are interested in the BeST Training, please see the Behavioral Science for Teachers (BeST) Flyer and submit the Behavioral Science for Teachers (BeST) Form.
If you have any questions, please contact Megan Salisbury.
**NEW** Paraprofessional Training – Fall 2024
The Oklahoma State Department of Education – Office of Special Education Services in collaboration with Dr. Kaylin Coody, will host a series of Paraprofessional training this Fall.
Designed for those wanting to obtain the Tier 2 Paraprofessional Certificate, the training provides an overview of classroom behavior strategies, legal aspects of special education, and data collection.
The training is divided into two locations. With each location having a Part I and Part II.
There is no cost associated with the training. If participants cannot attend and do not cancel within 4 days prior to the training, the district will be responsible for the cost associated with the participant(s), approximately $100 each.
Enrollment is limited to 50 participants.
Registration for the
- Oklahoma City September 17, 2024 & October 22, 2024
- Glenpool September 18, 2024 & October 23, 2024
Questions about the training, or for those requiring interpreting services, can be directed to Abby Johnson.
Cameron University is offering a graduate courses that qualify for a $500.00 Micro-Credential Scholarship.
- Children & Youth: Special Needs (Boot Camp)
- Instructional Strategies for Students with Mild/Moderate Disabilities
- Advanced Assessment in Special Education
- Historical and Modern Foundations
- Practicum in Mild/Moderate Special Education
- Foundations of Literacy
Classes begin on May 22nd! For more information about the scholarship, please see our Cameron University Micro-Credential Flyer.
Center on Transition Innovations
The Center on Transition Innovations at Virginia Commonwealth University continues providing resources for this month’s focus on Workplace Readiness Skills! The resources for this month include the following:
- Workplace Readiness Rubric - skill categories in the rubric are Personal Qualities, People Skills, and Professional Traits necessary for employment success (based on Virginia’s 21st Century Workplace Readiness Skills, but applicable anywhere! Could be used as an informal transition assessment for present levels/developing annual transition goals in Employment. Some skill categories are also tied to Independent Living and Community Participation.
- Parent Involvement and Workplace Readiness Skills – 50-minute webcast video and accompanying PPT – great for sharing with parents AND transition services providers (teachers, paraprofessionals, related services, DRS and DDS).
- Workplace Readiness Toolkit: Practicing Employment Skills at Home – toolkit structure and activities are based on the Workplace Readiness Rubric skill categories.
- Transition and Court Involved Youth: Work-Place Readiness Skills Assessment – informal assessment used to gauge early job assets and needs which an be conducted with a team or independently with a student, teacher, and parent/guardian.
Special Education Services
Oklahoma State Department of Education
2500 North Lincoln Boulevard, Suite 412
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
P: (405) 521-3351 F: (405) 522-2380
SDESpecialEducation@sde.ok.gov
Categories: specialed
Oklahoma ABLE Tech - Vol. 2, Issue 4
May is Older Americans Month! Check out these AT devices chosen by our AT specialists from the Hearing, Mobility, Seating and Positioning, Speech Communication and Recreation categories that may be useful to individuals as they age!
- Clarity TV Listener - Connect your television or smartphone to this device for high quality personal amplification of TV shows, phone calls, and music. This device has been especially useful in scenarios where people live closely together, like apartments or assisted living communities!
- Support Plus Walker Tray - This easy-to-use meal tray slides over the handles of your walker to create a stable and convenient table that's perfect for situations like mealtime. The tray has a hard plastic base, raised edges to prevent spills, a removable non-slip pad with two recessed cup holders, and precision-cut slots that fit most standard walker handles.
- Playing Cards and Holder - Large Print Playing Cards were designed for people who enjoy playing cards but have impaired or low vision. The 1-inch high bold numbers and designs are in black or red on a white background and are in the upper left corner. Pair them with the the Twin Tier Premiere Playing Card Holder, and you'll be playing cards for hours. The hands-free playing card holder can be used with both standard and over-sized playing cards. It provides an easy way to keep your hand organized, and can allow those with grip impairments to keep enjoying their favorite games.
- Match up the Sayings - This game is a simple but effective, fun memory-jogging activity! Just find the two halves of a popular proverb or saying and match them together. This game is great for people with dementia, Alzheimer's, or just those wanting to work on their memory.
- Speech Apps - There are multiple options for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) apps that can be used on an iPad! One example is Apraxia Therapy Lite, which can help navigate apraxia and aphasia, using video to help people speak again after a stroke or other conditions. Search our Device Loan Program inventory to see all the AAC app options and read more about each.
On Friday, March 22, Oklahoma ABLE Tech staff hosted the first in-person Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) partner meeting since 2020. ABLE Tech works closely with organizations across the state who share our mission to enhance the lives of all Oklahomans by offering assistive technology (AT) devices and services, financing opportunities, digital accessibility services, advocacy, and education. Representatives from our MOA partner organizations and ABLE Tech staff gathered in Stillwater at Oklahoma ABLE Tech’s main offices for a productive morning.
The meeting kicked off with a Stillwater Smart Home Demonstration Site tour led by Louise Ruleford, ABLE Tech’s Device Loan Program Specialist. Partners had the chance to exchange insights and experiences with smart home technology, which sparked discussions about how enabling technology can benefit the individuals they serve. Following the tour, the meeting transitioned to the business segment, where representatives from each MOA partner organization provided updates and received new reporting guidelines from ABLE Tech staff. Following the meeting, Jonathan Carter, a certified mobility specialist from Newby-Vance Mobility Sales and Services, showcased a modified van for everyone to explore. Everyone enjoyed checking out the van's extensive features.
Oklahoma ABLE Tech extends sincere gratitude to all our MOA partners for the invaluable services they offer to Oklahomans statewide. For more details about our partners and the services they provide, visit ABLE Tech’s Core Program Partnerships webpage.
Did you know the Financial Loan Program has several different loan options? If you're in need of assistive technology (AT), durable medical equipment (DME), or disability-related home modifications, here are a few options to consider:
The microloan is for $3,000 or less and can be repaid over a maximum term of 36 months. This loan product allows for additional flexibility in credit criteria and debt-to-income ratio. Examples of items that could be financed with the microloan include low-cost hearing aids, vision equipment, lift chairs, or computers.
The home modification loan is for up to $10,000 and can be repaid over a maximum term of 7 years, depending on the amount and type of home improvements financed. Examples include ramps, walk-in showers, and smart home AT purchases. Home modification loans for applicants that are not considered low-income may be processed through BancFirst of Stillwater, have a maximum amount of $25,000, and a term of 5 years.
All loans have an 8% interest rate. To learn more about these products or to apply for a loan go to Oklahoma ABLE Tech's Financial Loan page or visit OkAT's website.
The District Three SoonerStart team has earned the Third Quarter Recognition Award! The team will receive new AT to add to their Demonstration Kits! District Three includes Creek and Payne Counties.
To learn more about SoonerStart and AT for Early Intervention, visit our collaboration webpage!
The Oklahoma ABLE Tech Device Reutilization team is excited to see so many pieces of durable medical equipment (DME) and assistive technology (AT) come into the warehouse to fulfill device application requests, with more to come soon! This influx of devices is possible through several grants that have been awarded for 2024, including the INCOG, COEDD, and KEDDO Area Agencies on Aging, and the OkAT Foundation’s Oklahoma City Foundation iFund award! It won’t take the team long to distribute the equipment and get these devices in the homes of those who need them.
We are so thankful for our partners who have like-minded missions to serve Oklahomans with disabilities. If you are looking for ways to collaborate with us to help individuals receive much needed DME or AT – contact Assistant Director Shelley Gladden!
Celebrating Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2024!
In late February, Michelle Soriano and Kelli Suding from the National Center on Accessible Educational Materials (AEM) at CAST facilitated a working seminar with members of the Oklahoma AEM leadership team at the Oklahoma Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. In attendance were representatives from the Accessible Instructional Materials Center of Oklahoma, Byng Public Schools, Decoding Dyslexia, Liberty Braille, Oklahoma ABLE Tech, and Oklahoma CareerTech. The goal of the seminar was to develop a Sustainability Plan for continuing the work began through the Intensive Technical Assistance provided over the past four (4) years by the National AEM Center. A plan was developed and will be initiated in October 2024. It includes:
- Continuing and enhancing the coordinated system of support for educators and employers.
- Developing and maintaining a platform for the provision of resources related to AEM for Oklahoma professionals and families.
- Developing additional guidance and resources related to education and employment.
- Providing direct technical assistance, on a selective basis, to Oklahoma school districts related to the provision of AEM.
- Implementing a data collection system, in collaboration with the Oklahoma State Department of Education, to monitor the provision of AEM and to improve related services.
The CRDC is a required survey of all school districts in all United States territories. Through the use of this survey, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) gathers information about student participation in educational programs, activities, staff, and school climate factors for students from preschool to 12th grade. This Profile of Students with Disabilities in U.S. Public Schools During the 2020-21 School Year document released in February 2024 outlines the data collected on students with disabilities from the 2020-2021 school year. Please see the latest issue for data concerning student enrollment by disability category, race, ethnicity, sex, English-language learner status, and other school climate factors. Parents, educators, and school district employees may be especially interested in reading through the data to better understand the statistics behind disability categories and other factors related to disability status.
SERC’s mission is to help school districts and parents resolve disputes at the earliest stage possible. To learn more about SERC, visit their website.
The Oklahoma Rehabilitation Council (ORC) participated in the National Coalition of State Rehabilitation Councils (NCSRC) Spring Conference on April 6 and 7, 2024, in Bethesda, MD. ORC was represented by Jeff Newton, the Council’s current Chair, Nikki Jolly, a new member representing a Community Rehabilitation Program (CRP), and Carolina Colclasure, ORC Program Manager.
The conference brings together representatives from State Rehabilitation Councils (SRCs) from all over the country and advises on best practices and new strategies for accomplishing the SRCs’ goals and objectives.
This year’s conference included presentations on:
- SRC Basics
- Involving Members in the State Plan Development Process
- Lessons learned in assisting with the State Plan
- Association of People Supporting Employment First (APSE)
- Culture of integrity through engagement
- Updates from the Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation (CSAVR) and the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA)
ORC also presented this year. Jeff and Carolina shared the “SRC Annual Strategic Plan: Oklahoma Model” and led a table exercise. The information was very well received, and there was a lot of participation from the other states! The NCSRC Fall Conference is set for Seattle, WA, from October 19-20, 2024.
ORC's mission is to facilitate consumer education and empowerment, to assure services are of high quality and lead to the employment of individuals with disabilities within Oklahoma. To learn more about ORC, visit their website.
May 1 is National Interpreter Appreciation Day! The first Wednesday in May has been designated as Interpreter Appreciation Day to recognize the contributions interpreters make to facilitate communication between the d/Deaf and hearing worlds.
Did you know that American Sign Language (ASL) is not a direct translation from English? ASL has its own grammatical structure and relies on concepts and cultural mediation to ensure an accurate interpretation. Their work breaks barriers and gives opportunities for meaningful interaction.
Oklahoma State University’s Student Accessibility Services (SAS) office wants to introduce our interpreters and thank them for the dedication, skill, and compassion they bring to our d/Deaf and hard of hearing students and staff. We are so fortunate to have them on our team helping SAS to make campus more inclusive!
- Jessi Alexander – QAST V/V
- Cam Cheek – QAST V/V
- Samuel Hall – QAST V/V
- Sydney Monroe QAST IV/V
- Kalee Morales – QAST V/IV
- Ren Myers – Intern Interpreter – QAST results pending
- Margaret Newman – QAST V/V
- Taylor Woodall-Greene – QAST V/V
- Janice K. Woods – CI/CT, QAST V/V, Certified Courtroom Interpreter
To learn more about the levels of interpreting certifications, please visit Oklahoma’s Interpreter Certification and Resource Center.
QAST is the Quality Assurance Screening Test, a regional sign language interpreting and transliterating assessment tool.
Special Education Services
Oklahoma State Department of Education
2500 North Lincoln Boulevard, Suite 412
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
P: (405) 521-3351 F: (405) 522-3503
SDESpecialEducation@sde.ok.gov
Categories: specialed
OSDE - SES - April 30, 2024 - Internal
The Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) kindly requests your participation in an important survey about Fentanyl and Narcan usage in schools to better understand and support school safety and health. This survey is crucial for helping understand the prevalence and impact of Fentanyl use and the preparedness of schools to manage opioid-related emergencies. By collecting data on the frequency of fentanyl incidents, access to Narcan, and staff / Student training on overdose response, the OSDE can identify gaps in school safety protocols and resources across the different districts.
The information will enable the development of targeted strategies and policies to improve School and student health, including support services for students and staff affected by opioid misuse. Ultimately, the survey will help the OSDE make informed decisions to protect the well-being of school communities. 63 O.S. § 1-2506.1 and 70 O.S. § 1210.242 allows for trained personnel (see statute for requirements) to administer Narcan (Naloxone) without a prescription in the school setting.
Narcan (Naloxone) & Fentanyl in Schools 2023-2024 Survey
The 2023-2024 Vision Screening Report is now open on Single Sign-On. Each year, the Oklahoma State Department of Education requires schools to report the vision screening results of Kindergarten, first grade, and third grade students, in response to state law 70 O.S. § 1210.284. The Vision Screening report is due June 14, 2024.
If you have questions or concerns, contact Kellie Carter, Manager of School Nursing Programs.
If your district is serving students with special educational needs who are currently receiving instruction in detention facilities, group homes, or hospitals, the OSDE-SES is offering web-based curricula at no cost to the district. The OSDE-SES has partnered with Edmentum to provide free access to Courseware, Exact Path, and Study Island to special education students who receive their educational services in alternative placements such as detention facilities, group homes, or hospital settings. If you're interested, have questions, or need more information, please contact Elana Grissom.
End of Year Trainings
Register now for the Open Door Assistance in May.
The Special Education Data Team is also available to answer questions and review data concerns at (405) 521-3351.
**NEW** Project 619 OKMTSS Implementation
Targeted districts will be receiving funds for the purpose of developing or improving an OKMTSS framework using an evidence-based academic and/or behavior continuum of interventions through tiered support.
The Project 619 Memo provides actions steps and additional information.
The FY2025 Assurances are now available online. Assurances must be completed prior to July 1st.
You can access the Assurances through your Single Sign On.
- Sign into your Single Sign On
- Select: Grants Management/Expenditure Reporting
- Select: Page on the GMS Access
- Change Fiscal Year: 2025
- Proceed: Create your Assurances
When completing the FY25 Assurances, districts should be sure their nine digit zip code corresponds with their physical address. The physical address should match the districts physical address in SAM.gov.
New memorandum regarding changes and updates to the application for High Needs, Tier I and Tier II. Please contact your finance specialist for any assistance
Feedback Opportunities: Alternate Diploma Collaborative and Lessons Learned & Future Focus
Information from these two short surveys will be used to plan for future Alternate Diploma Collaborative activities. Please take this opportunity and spend a few minutes to provide feedback to guide the future of the Alternate Diploma Collaborative (Zoom) meetings and to share your district’s Lessons Learned and Future Focus related to the implementation of the Alternate Diploma and 18-22 Extended Transition Programs/Programming/Services. Some information gleaned from the Lessons Learned & Future Focus survey will be shared at the final Alternate Diploma Collaborative on May 23, 2024. Thank you in advance for you time and valuable feedback!!!
- Alternate Diploma Collaborative Feedback.
- Share feedback for Alternate Diploma & 18-22 ETPs: Lessons Learned & Future Focus.
OSDE-SES is providing Transition Technical Assistance through a temporary, part-time Secondary Transition Program Specialist. Assistance to schools/districts will be available through various formats to include e-mail, phone, virtual (via Microsoft Teams) and/or in-person. Please use this link to complete a Transition Technical Assistance Request for your school/district regarding Secondary Transition topics, including the new Alternate Diploma and 18-22 Transition Programs. For brief questions and/or more information about Transition Technical Assistance, please contact Claudia Beckner or Lori Chesnut.
The Oklahoma State Department of Education, Office of Special Education Services will continue to hold Secondary Transition/Alternate Diploma Collaborative meetings monthly beginning in August.
Zoom meetings will typically be held on the 4th Thursday of each month at 3:00 p.m., except for holidays/school vacation weeks.
The schedule of monthly sessions and known topics are listed below:
-
April 25, 2024
- - Resources for Career Readiness & Career Exploration - Nathan Brubaker, OK Career Guide & Theresa Shaklee, OK College Start
-
May 23, 2024
- Alternate Diploma & 18-22 Extended Transition Programs: Lessons Learned & Future Focus – OSDE-SES, Districts & Transition Partners
Join us via Zoom for all sessions scheduled.
Meeting ID: 160 702 2023 Passcode: 393839Indicator 14: Post-School Outcomes Survey and Informational Webinar
Indicator 14: Post-School Outcomes Survey is the “Percent of youth who had IEPs, are no longer in secondary school and who have been competitively employed, enrolled in some type of postsecondary school, or both, within one year of leaving high school.” The Oklahoma State Department of Education, Special Education Services (OSDE-SES) annually surveys exiters (students who exit the IDEA) aged 16 and up a year after they graduate, drop out, or age out. The results are reflected on the annual District Determination Profile (DDP). It is important to have a high percentage of exiters participate in the Post-School Outcomes (PSO) Survey to ensure that the data are representative of the State and districts and useful in improving effective transition programs and services. Districts may opt-in to Survey their former students to reconnect and raise PSO response rates.
Watch the OSDE-SES and Data-Driven Enterprises Indicator 14: Post-School Outcomes Informational Webinar to learn more about opting in to survey your former students to raise your response rates and to find out what they have been doing since leaving high school!
Check out the updated the updated PSO Guidance Briefs.
The Office of Special Education Services at the Oklahoma State Department has developed a state-systemic improvement plan (SSIP) to support educators who serve kindergarten through third grade students, with a focus on students with special needs and early literacy outcomes.
We are excited to offer an opportunity for the coming school year for school sites who educate students K-3, within the State of Oklahoma, who have scored 0% proficiency for third-grade reading based on state testing proficiency for students with IEPs.
What is the State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP)? Website link
The program features three tiers of participation:
- Tier 1:
- Universal Supports: Access to templates and protocols for early literacy interventions and evidence-based practices. You can access the Universal Supports through OK Multi-Tiered System of Supports | Oklahoma State Department of Education.
- Sequenced Professional Development: Access to a professional development sequence, intended to support educators with early literacy outcomes.
- Tier 2:
- Strategic Leadership Coaching: To support development of a site MTSS leadership team, aide in implementing MTSS for K-3 early literacy, continuous coaching. Application due June 1, 2024.
- Tier 3:
- Instructional Coaching: Application to access direct, individual support for educators working with K-3 students, supporting early literacy. Educators must be concurrently participating in the professional development sequence. Application due June 1, 2024.
The application for participation has been included in the email as links. On-time deadline is June 1, 2024, and late-acceptance will continue until August 1, 2024, or until the capacity for the program has been reached.
We are hosting informative virtual meetings to answer your questions and provide insight into this program! The informative meetings will be the same session but offered at different times to accommodate your schedule:
When: May 8th, 8-9 AM
Register in advance for this meeting
For more information to determine if this program is right for your school site, please reach out to Alexa Hudak to set up a phone conversation to answer any questions you might have.
We are eager for your participation!
These rescheduled training sessions will focus on using assessment results to develop meaningful transition plans for students with significant support needs (severe/profound) who participate in the OAAP and for students with Mild/Moderate disabilities.
Participants will:
- Learn to incorporate transition assessment results into the IEP
- Review case studies
- Analyze transition assessment results
- Use assessment results to identify specific transition strengths and needs and develop postsecondary goals, annual transition goals, services, coordinated activities, and courses of study.
OSDE-SES recommends that participants complete the Secondary Transition for Students with Disabilities self-paced course in OSDE Connect before attending this training. This course is recommended for teachers/providers who are new to secondary transition and as a refresher for experienced staff.
Since the trainings were not full, registration for both sessions is still open!
If you wish to attend, please register for your preferred session below. Sessions are from 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM:
- Secondary Transition: Using Assessment Results to Develop Meaningful Transition Plans (OAAP), May 1, 2024
- Secondary Transition: Using Assessment Results to Develop Meaningful Transition Plans (Mild/Moderate), May 2, 2024
Questions about Indicator 7 results? Join us for an in-depth discussion of this indicator including targets, calculations, and responding to results.
Thursday, May 9, 2024 from 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Open Door for Early Childhood Outcomes data.
This month the Office of English Language Proficiency will be hosting an EL Lunch and Learn to gather stakeholder feedback regarding Alternate ACCESS Accountability and Reclassification.
We are requesting that both LEA EL and SPED administration attend to fully represent dually identified students.
Join us for 30 minutes, as we share information about the Alternate ACCESS standards setting and its potential impact on Accountability and Reclassification. You may register below.
You are invited to a ZoomGov meeting.
When: May 9, 2024, at 12:30 PM
Register in advance for this meeting here.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
OSDE presents a one-day, opportunity for districts to participate in a hands-on
Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) Fidelity of Implementation
Rubric self-assessment. The self-assessment requires a district-level
MTSS Leadership team to assess the district’s implementation level of
the specific essential components necessary to have an MTSS framework
for academics and behavior.
Please see the OKMTSS Fidelity of Implementation Flyer for more information and registration.
The Oklahoma State Department of Education, the State Personnel Development Grant, Project AWARE, the State Systemic Improvement Plan- B, and other collaborating offices, are hosting the MTSS Summer Conference. The intent of this conference is to support educators in a focused approach to align and implement an MTSS systems. The conference is not intended to only consist of background knowledge but to provide actionable steps and information to implement high-quality implementations for all students.
When:
Pre-Conference- June 24th; 12:30-4:30pm- Learn the MTSS Frameworks
- Pyramid Model
- Resources
- Keynote Session- OKMTSS on EDPlan
- Breakout groups
- Networking/Connection Sessions
- Live webinar style sessions
- Virtual Engagement
Register your MTSS teams today! Registration is limited! Participants attending the in-person conference will leave the conference with ongoing conference materials! We look forward to connecting with you!
For more information about this conference, please reach out to Alexa Hudak.
Certified Trainer for CPI
Beginning with the incoming 2024-2025 school year districts requesting training in Nonviolent Crisis Intervention or Nonviolent Crisis Intervention With Advanced Physical Skills are encouraged to send an employee to become a Certified Trainer for CPI. Once certified to become a trainer the said employee will be certified to train others in their place of employment. Beginning with the forthcoming school year OSDE will be transitioning to Verbal Interventions only and will not train individuals in the disengagements or restraints in CPI. Please note the dates, locations, and the information for contacting the CPI Senior Territory Manager for Oklahoma below.
Location and Date:- Oklahoma City
- May 29, 2024-May 31, 2024
- August 20, 2024-August 22, 2024
- December 10, 2024-December 12, 2024
- Oklahoma City - APS (Advanced)
- June 4, 2024-June 7, 2024
- Tulsa
- May 14, 2024-May 16, 2024
- August 6, 2024-August 8, 2024
- October 15, 2024-October 17, 2024
Jaime Schroeder, Schedule a Call
Senior Territory Account Manager at CPI for Kansas, Oklahoma & Nebraska
Crisis Prevention Institute
10850 W. Park Place, Suite 250 • Milwaukee, WI 53224
Direct 414.441.1750 • crisisprevention.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jaime-schroeder
Educational Interpreter Registry
If your district employs educational interpreters, please verify that they are on the OSDE Educational Interpreter Registry. All interpreters in an educational setting are required to be on the registry and are required to obtain yearly CEUs.
Special Education Services
Oklahoma State Department of Education
2500 North Lincoln Boulevard, Suite 412
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
P: (405) 521-3351 F: (405) 522-2380
SDESpecialEducation@sde.ok.gov
Categories: specialed
OSDE - SES - April 25, 2024 - External
Presence is the leading provider of live, online therapy and evaluation services in pre–K–12 schools. OSDE-SES has been supporting LEAs through a partnership with PCG-Medicaid billing services and Presence this school year to provide free evaluations. However, Presence has now met the limit of the OSDE-SES's allocation of funding for the payment of the free evaluation service to LEAs. The demand this school year has been significantly more than the previous school year for funding these evaluations across the State of Oklahoma. We will review the number of LEAs who took advantage of this free service for evaluations to determine a projection for next year's budget.
Please know for the remainder of this school year Presence will no longer be accepting referrals at no cost to the LEAs. You may contract directly with Presence to meet any of the remainder of the school year evaluation and/or therapy needs or contract with another qualified professional to meet the obligation of Child Find.
- Jeni Robison for more information about Medicaid billing
- Kelly Wright for more information about services through Presence
**NEW** BeST Training with Dr. Singleton
Behavioral Science for Teachers (BeST) Training with Dr. Scott Singleton
OSDE-Special Education Services is pleased to announce its partnership with Dr. Scott Singleton, to provide behavioral science training to district staff to increase its capacity in addressing significant student behavior. Dr. Scott Singleton BCBA-D, NCSP has worked in the behavioral science and education field for over 20 years. He has served as a school psychologist in multiple states, the response to intervention coordinator for a large urban school district, clinical director for a school for children with developmental disabilities and is currently a professor of psychology at the University of Central Oklahoma where he oversees Behavior Central, a center for teacher training and behavioral consultation, and the master’s program in behavior analysis.
**Sessions will be held in Oklahoma City, Sapulpa, OR Woodward (Sessions are the exact same at all locations) on the dates provided.
Your team must attend BOTH SESSION DAYS.
Locations:
- Oklahoma City , July 15, 2024-July 16, 2024, from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM (2 full days)
- Sapulpa, July 17, 2024-July 18, 2024, from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM (2 full days)
- Woodward, July 22, 2024-July 23, 2024, from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM (2 full days)
Session Days will include:
- DAY ONE:
- Session 1 – Science of Behavior; Rationale for a Scientific Approach; Motivation – What motivates behavior?; Cues – What triggers behavior?; Functions – What causes behavior to be resistant to Change?
- Session 2 – Assessment of Behavior; Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA); Progress Monitoring;
- DAY TWO:
- Session 3 – Behavior Intervention; Level 1 Prevention Strategies; Level 2 Targeted Interventions; Level 3 Intensive Interventions.
If you are interested in the BeST Training, please see the Behavioral Science for Teachers (BeST) Flyer and submit the Behavioral Science for Teachers (BeST) Form.
If you have any questions, please contact Megan Salisbury.
This intensive 13-hour interactive workshop is designed to teach the theory and protocol for the Picture Exchange Communication System® (PECS®), an evidence-based practice based on Applied Behavior Analysis, typical language development, and B.F. Skinner’s Verbal Behavior. Using presenter demonstrations, role-play opportunities, and video examples participants will gain a thorough understanding and hands-on experience of each of the six phases of PECS.
For more information and registration, please see the PECS Level 1 Flyer.
All people have a need for closure-from little things like finishing daily activities to big things like achieving major goals. This need for closure may be even greater for children and young adults who are deafblind or who have other significant support needs. Lack of
opportunities to satisfactorily experience closure may lead to increased stress and anxiety,
much of which could be avoided or at least minimized. This stress and anxiety can be
compounded by ambiguity, which is something we all experience but that may be
magnified simply as a result in living life as a person who is deafblind. This session will cover why closure is so important, the impact of ambiguity on stress and anxiety, and simple things we can do to support the everyday lives of our children or students we serve.
Join us on May 2, 2024 at 3:00 PM via ZOOM. For more information and to register, please see the Closure, Ambiguity, and Stress Flyer.
- “Supporting CTE Special Populations Grant Application 2024-2026” is now available. Check it out and begin planning in advance for an opportunity to be awarded a two-year grant (up to $50,000/year) aimed at helping schools implement transition programs and/or other support strategies to assist in the provision of transferable skill sets to students regarding the attainment of meaningful employment and becoming productive members of society!!!
- The Supporting CTE Special Populations Overview (oklahoma.gov) outlines the requirements for the 2024-2026 grant application and required goal priorities.
- Special Populations include the following: Individuals with Disabilities, Individuals from Economically Disadvantaged Families, Individuals Preparing for Non-Traditional Fields, Single Parents, Including Single Pregnant Women, Out Of Workforce Individuals, English Learners, Homeless Individuals, Youth In or Aged Out of Foster Care System, and Youth with a Parent who is a member of the Armed Forces and on Active Duty.
- Perkins LEAs or consortia meeting the $15,000 requirement OR technology centers, technology center co-ops, postsecondary institutions, or consortia meeting the $50,000 requirement are eligible to complete the grant application.
- Application deadline is currently listed as May 3, 2024 (subject to change)
SW OK Caregiver Retreat at Quartz Mountain Lodge
Free to caregivers raising a child/adult with Developmental/Intellectual Disabilities living in the Beckham, Caddo, Comanche, Cotton, Custer, Greer, Harmon, Jackson, Kiowa, Tillman, and Washita Counties.
Join us on May 3rd and 4th.
Visit SoonerSUCCESS for more information or see the Caregiver Respite Retreat Flyer, also available in Spanish .
Communication is at the core of everything we do with children and youth who are
deafblind and have significant support needs. Supporting students to become proficient
communicators can challenge family members and the most skilled and experienced
educators. This session will explore the features of communication that are unique to
who have significant support needs, including recognizing the impact of stress and
anxiety on communication, creating communication systems that meet the needs of
everyone using common sense strategies, promoting communication-rich environments,
and debunking the myth that it is ever too late to become effective communications.
Please join us on May 8, 2024 at 3:00 PM. For more information and to register for the webinar, please see the 17 Communications Basic to Ponder Flyer.
Questions about Indicator 7 results? Join us for an in-depth discussion of this indicator including targets, calculations, and responding to results.
Thursday, May 9, 2024 from 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Open Door for Early Childhood Outcomes data.
The Oklahoma School for the Deaf is pleased to present the 2024 statewide Deaf Education Conference.
Professionals in the field of deaf education will come together, engage in dynamic workshops, connect with colleagues, and identify pathways to empowering students through access, language, and literacy. Attendees will include early interventionists, early childhood specialists, teachers of the deaf, and educational interpreters.
The pre-conference will be held June 3-4, 2024.
The conference will be held June 5-6, 2024.
Registration is now open.
The BEST-STEP program includes a week-long employment program for youth to build their employment skills, followed by a 4 week-paid internship in their community. We are seeking work skills trainers to work with our youth to help develop jobs and serve as job coaches.
This is an excellent opportunity for educational professionals looking to earn some money this summer including teachers, paraprofessionals, classroom assistants, etc.
Applicants need their own transportation, be able to pass a background check, and be prepared to work with our awesome youth with disabilities.
Training is provided and there are several camps in the OKC metro and across the state for which they could apply.
Here are some of the tasks the BEST STEP Skills Trainers (BSST) will be doing with our students:- Employer of record will be OU (University of Oklahoma)
- Hourly rate is $19 to $22 per hour depending on certification.
- Working in April and May, up to 8 hours a week.
- Estimated working at 20-25 hours a week, for up to 6 weeks in June and July.
- Mileage reimbursement is available.
- Collaboration and communication with all team members.
- Participate in student interviews to determine student support needs, skill level and job interests.
- Participate in job development to identify community job placements for student paid work experiences.
- After the first week of employment, visit student worksite at least one-hour, one-time per week, during the remaining 3-week program period.
- Provide technical assistance and/or guidance to employers, co-workers and/or students as needed to increase learning and to maintain employment success.
- Facilitate assistance to employers, co-workers and/or students to complete timesheets and progress reports on a weekly basis.
- Must have a reliable vehicle and required vehicle insurance. Staff will not transport students.
- Must successfully complete the University's background screening requirements, Working with Minors training, and eligible to work in the U.S.
- Must turn in a Direct Service Verification form filled out and signed by the student and turned into the team lead.
Please see the 2024 BEST STEP Skill Trainer Flyer and the 2024 BEST STEP Skill Trainer Questionnaire for more information.
TechNow STEM Camp is open to Oklahoma students with disabilities, ages 14-19 who are on an IEP or 504 Plan or who have other documented physical, mental, or cognitive disabilities. At STEM Camp, students will learn different ways to interact with computers, software, and related technologies to design and create: Power Racer dragster, HT Racer, full color patches for jackets, pants and shirts.
They'll get to make shirts, hats, mouse pads, pin back buttons, and bracelets. Students will develop new skills while interacting with peers and making memories that will last a lifetime. The camp is held from 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. over three days. Below are the dates and locations of the currently planned STEM Camps for Summer 2024.
For more information and to register, please see STEM Camp 2024.
**NEW** Micro-Credential Scholarship
Cameron University is offering a graduate courses that qualify for a $500.00 Micro-Credential Scholarship.
- Children & Youth: Special Needs (Boot Camp)
- Instructional Strategies for Students with Mild/Moderate Disabilities
- Advanced Assessment in Special Education
- Historical and Modern Foundations
- Practicum in Mild/Moderate Special Education
- Foundations of Literacy
Classes begin on May 22nd! For more information about the scholarship, please see our Cameron University Micro-Credential Flyer.
**NEW** Center on Transition Innovations
The Center on Transition Innovations at Virginia Commonwealth University continues providing resources for this month’s focus on Workplace Readiness Skills! The resources for this month include the following:
- Workplace Readiness Rubric - skill categories in the rubric are Personal Qualities, People Skills, and Professional Traits necessary for employment success (based on Virginia’s 21st Century Workplace Readiness Skills, but applicable anywhere! Could be used as an informal transition assessment for present levels/developing annual transition goals in Employment. Some skill categories are also tied to Independent Living and Community Participation.
- Parent Involvement and Workplace Readiness Skills – 50-minute webcast video and accompanying PPT – great for sharing with parents AND transition services providers (teachers, paraprofessionals, related services, DRS and DDS).
- Workplace Readiness Toolkit: Practicing Employment Skills at Home – toolkit structure and activities are based on the Workplace Readiness Rubric skill categories.
- Transition and Court Involved Youth: Work-Place Readiness Skills Assessment – informal assessment used to gauge early job assets and needs which an be conducted with a team or independently with a student, teacher, and parent/guardian.
Special Education Services
Oklahoma State Department of Education
2500 North Lincoln Boulevard, Suite 412
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
P: (405) 521-3351 F: (405) 522-2380
SDESpecialEducation@sde.ok.gov
Categories: specialed
OSDE - SES - April 23, 2024 - Internal
If your district is serving students with special educational needs who are currently receiving instruction in detention facilities, group homes, or hospitals, the OSDE-SES is offering web-based curricula at no cost to the district. The OSDE-SES has partnered with Edmentum to provide free access to Courseware, Exact Path, and Study Island to special education students who receive their educational services in alternative placements such as detention facilities, group homes, or hospital settings. If you're interested, have questions, or need more information, please contact Elana Grissom.
The Oklahoma State Department of Education hereby notifies all interested parties of its intent to make available and provide information about P.L. 108-446 IDEA Parts B and C, FFY 2025 grant application, for early intervention [infants and toddlers with disabilities, ages birth to three (0-3)], and children and youth with disabilities ages three through twenty-one (3-21) in Oklahoma.
The first draft of the P.L. 108-446 FFY 2024 grant application has been developed for public review and comment prior to the final draft being submitted to the United States Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. The P.L. 108-446 FFY 2025 grant application includes provisions for assuring the state has policies and procedures in effect to meet the eligibility requirements of parts B and C of the act, as well as funds under parts B and C of the act.
For information on how to submit a public comment, please view the attached notice.
End of Year Trainings
Register now for the Open Door Assistance in May.
The Special Education Data Team is also available to answer questions and review data concerns at (405) 521-3351.
FY25 Assurances
The FY2025 Assurances are now available online. Assurances must be completed prior to July 1st.
You can access the Assurances through your Single Sign On.
- Sign into your Single Sign On
- Select: Grants Management/Expenditure Reporting
- Select: Page on the GMS Access
- Change Fiscal Year: 2025
- Proceed: Create your Assurances
When completing the FY25 Assurances, districts should be sure their nine digit zip code corresponds with their physical address. The physical address should match the districts physical address in SAM.gov.
New memorandum regarding changes and updates to the application for High Needs, Tier I and Tier II. Please contact your finance specialist for any assistance
Feedback Opportunities: Alternate Diploma Collaborative and Lessons Learned & Future Focus
Information from these two short surveys will be used to plan for future Alternate Diploma Collaborative activities. Please take this opportunity and spend a few minutes to provide feedback to guide the future of the Alternate Diploma Collaborative (Zoom) meetings and to share your district’s Lessons Learned and Future Focus related to the implementation of the Alternate Diploma and 18-22 Extended Transition Programs/Programming/Services. Some information gleaned from the Lessons Learned & Future Focus survey will be shared at the final Alternate Diploma Collaborative on May 23, 2024. Thank you in advance for you time and valuable feedback!!!
- Alternate Diploma Collaborative Feedback.
- Share feedback for Alternate Diploma & 18-22 ETPs: Lessons Learned & Future Focus.
OSDE-SES is providing Transition Technical Assistance through a temporary, part-time Secondary Transition Program Specialist. Assistance to schools/districts will be available through various formats to include e-mail, phone, virtual (via Microsoft Teams) and/or in-person. Please use this link to complete a Transition Technical Assistance Request for your school/district regarding Secondary Transition topics, including the new Alternate Diploma and 18-22 Transition Programs. For brief questions and/or more information about Transition Technical Assistance, please contact Claudia Beckner or Lori Chesnut.
The Oklahoma State Department of Education, Office of Special Education Services will continue to hold Secondary Transition/Alternate Diploma Collaborative meetings monthly beginning in August.
Zoom meetings will typically be held on the 4th Thursday of each month at 3:00 p.m., except for holidays/school vacation weeks.
The schedule of monthly sessions and known topics are listed below:
-
April 25, 2024
- - Resources for Career Readiness & Career Exploration - Nathan Brubaker, OK Career Guide & Theresa Shaklee, OK College Start
-
May 23, 2024
- Alternate Diploma & 18-22 Extended Transition Programs: Lessons Learned & Future Focus – OSDE-SES, Districts & Transition Partners
Join us via Zoom for all sessions scheduled.
Meeting ID: 160 702 2023 Passcode: 393839**NEW** OKMTSS Community of Practice
Connect your MTSS implementation efforts with the OKMTSS training sequence. Network and problem solve with districts at every stage of implementation. This session will cover Data-Based Individualization. The event will take place via Microsoft Teams on this Thursday, April 25, 2024.
For more information and registration, please see the OKMTSS CoP Flyer.
Indicator 14: Post-School Outcomes Survey is the “Percent of youth who had IEPs, are no longer in secondary school and who have been competitively employed, enrolled in some type of postsecondary school, or both, within one year of leaving high school.” The Oklahoma State Department of Education, Special Education Services (OSDE-SES) annually surveys exiters (students who exit the IDEA) aged 16 and up a year after they graduate, drop out, or age out. The results are reflected on the annual District Determination Profile (DDP). It is important to have a high percentage of exiters participate in the Post-School Outcomes (PSO) Survey to ensure that the data are representative of the State and districts and useful in improving effective transition programs and services. Districts may opt-in to Survey their former students to reconnect and raise PSO response rates.
Watch the OSDE-SES and Data-Driven Enterprises Indicator 14: Post-School Outcomes Informational Webinar to learn more about opting in to survey your former students to raise your response rates and to find out what they have been doing since leaving high school!
Check out the updated the updated PSO Guidance Briefs.
The Office of Special Education Services at the Oklahoma State Department has developed a state-systemic improvement plan (SSIP) to support educators who serve kindergarten through third grade students, with a focus on students with special needs and early literacy outcomes.
We are excited to offer an opportunity for the coming school year for school sites who educate students K-3, within the State of Oklahoma, who have scored 0% proficiency for third-grade reading based on state testing proficiency for students with IEPs.
What is the State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP)? Website link
The program features three tiers of participation:
- Tier 1:
- Universal Supports: Access to templates and protocols for early literacy interventions and evidence-based practices. You can access the Universal Supports through OK Multi-Tiered System of Supports | Oklahoma State Department of Education.
- Sequenced Professional Development: Access to a professional development sequence, intended to support educators with early literacy outcomes.
- Tier 2:
- Strategic Leadership Coaching: To support development of a site MTSS leadership team, aide in implementing MTSS for K-3 early literacy, continuous coaching. Application due June 1, 2024.
- Tier 3:
- Instructional Coaching: Application to access direct, individual support for educators working with K-3 students, supporting early literacy. Educators must be concurrently participating in the professional development sequence. Application due June 1, 2024.
The application for participation has been included in the email as links. On-time deadline is June 1, 2024, and late-acceptance will continue until August 1, 2024, or until the capacity for the program has been reached.
We are hosting informative virtual meetings to answer your questions and provide insight into this program! The informative meetings will be the same session but offered at different times to accommodate your schedule:
When: April 30th, 3-4 PM
Register in advance for this meeting
When: May 8th, 8-9 AM
Register in advance for this meeting
For more information to determine if this program is right for your school site, please reach out to Alexa Hudak to set up a phone conversation to answer any questions you might have.
We are eager for your participation!
OSDE is offering a FREE intervention management tool for all districts. This tool is intended to support district and site level intervention tracking that schools are already completing. Weekly sessions regarding how to use the OKMTSS on EDPlan data management system's intervention platform are open for all educators to attend. We will have two sessions in February, three sessions in March and five sessions in April. These training sessions will provide time for general education teachers to learn how to create a group of students for interventions, how to create an individual student intervention plan targeted to evidence-based intervention protocols provided within the platform, and to see how the progress monitoring data is graphed to provide the visual story necessary to determine if a student is or is not responding to the intervention.
OSDE invites general education teacher to access OKMTSS on EDPlan to learn the function of the system this spring, so that when the system is integrated with all of the district's Student Information System (SIS) across the state starting in the 2024-2025 school year, teachers will have a good understand of how to utilize OKMTSS on EDPlan. Below are the registration links for the training sessions. Please consider sending as many general education teachers as possible to these sessions. OSDE seeks to ensure the platform is accessible for all educators so they can practice this spring, in order to prepare for the coming school year use of the OKMTSS on EDPlan system.
For those interested, please do not update any user types prior to the training.These rescheduled training sessions will focus on using assessment results to develop meaningful transition plans for students with significant support needs (severe/profound) who participate in the OAAP and for students with Mild/Moderate disabilities.
Participants will:
- Learn to incorporate transition assessment results into the IEP
- Review case studies
- Analyze transition assessment results
- Use assessment results to identify specific transition strengths and needs and develop postsecondary goals, annual transition goals, services, coordinated activities, and courses of study.
OSDE-SES recommends that participants complete the Secondary Transition for Students with Disabilities self-paced course in OSDE Connect before attending this training. This course is recommended for teachers/providers who are new to secondary transition and as a refresher for experienced staff.
Since the trainings were not full, registration for both sessions is still open!
If you wish to attend, please register for your preferred session below. Sessions are from 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM:
- Secondary Transition: Using Assessment Results to Develop Meaningful Transition Plans (OAAP), May 1, 2024
- Secondary Transition: Using Assessment Results to Develop Meaningful Transition Plans (Mild/Moderate), May 2, 2024
Questions about Indicator 7 results? Join us for an in-depth discussion of this indicator including targets, calculations, and responding to results.
Thursday, May 9, 2024 from 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Open Door for Early Childhood Outcomes data.
This month the Office of English Language Proficiency will be hosting an EL Lunch and Learn to gather stakeholder feedback regarding Alternate ACCESS Accountability and Reclassification.
We are requesting that both LEA EL and SPED administration attend to fully represent dually identified students.
Join us for 30 minutes, as we share information about the Alternate ACCESS standards setting and its potential impact on Accountability and Reclassification. You may register below.
You are invited to a ZoomGov meeting.
When: May 9, 2024, at 12:30 PM
Register in advance for this meeting here.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
OSDE presents a one-day, opportunity for districts to participate in a hands-on
Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) Fidelity of Implementation
Rubric self-assessment. The self-assessment requires a district-level
MTSS Leadership team to assess the district’s implementation level of
the specific essential components necessary to have an MTSS framework
for academics and behavior.
Please see the OKMTSS Fidelity of Implementation Flyer for more information and registration.
The Oklahoma State Department of Education, the State Personnel Development Grant, Project AWARE, the State Systemic Improvement Plan- B, and other collaborating offices, are hosting the MTSS Summer Conference. The intent of this conference is to support educators in a focused approach to align and implement an MTSS systems. The conference is not intended to only consist of background knowledge but to provide actionable steps and information to implement high-quality implementations for all students.
When:
Pre-Conference- June 24th; 12:30-4:30pm- Learn the MTSS Frameworks
- Pyramid Model
- Resources
- Keynote Session- OKMTSS on EDPlan
- Breakout groups
- Networking/Connection Sessions
- Live webinar style sessions
- Virtual Engagement
Register your MTSS teams today! Registration is limited! Participants attending the in-person conference will leave the conference with ongoing conference materials! We look forward to connecting with you!
For more information about this conference, please reach out to Alexa Hudak.
Certified Trainer for CPI
Beginning with the incoming 2024-2025 school year districts requesting training in Nonviolent Crisis Intervention or Nonviolent Crisis Intervention With Advanced Physical Skills are encouraged to send an employee to become a Certified Trainer for CPI. Once certified to become a trainer the said employee will be certified to train others in their place of employment. Beginning with the forthcoming school year OSDE will be transitioning to Verbal Interventions only and will not train individuals in the disengagements or restraints in CPI. Please note the dates, locations, and the information for contacting the CPI Senior Territory Manager for Oklahoma below.
Location and Date:- Oklahoma City
- May 29, 2024-May 31, 2024
- August 20, 2024-August 22, 2024
- December 10, 2024-December 12, 2024
- Oklahoma City - APS (Advanced)
- June 4, 2024-June 7, 2024
- Tulsa
- May 14, 2024-May 16, 2024
- August 6, 2024-August 8, 2024
- October 15, 2024-October 17, 2024
Jaime Schroeder, Schedule a Call
Senior Territory Account Manager at CPI for Kansas, Oklahoma & Nebraska
Crisis Prevention Institute
10850 W. Park Place, Suite 250 • Milwaukee, WI 53224
Direct 414.441.1750 • crisisprevention.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jaime-schroeder
Educational Interpreter Registry
If your district employs educational interpreters, please verify that they are on the OSDE Educational Interpreter Registry. All interpreters in an educational setting are required to be on the registry and are required to obtain yearly CEUs.
Special Education Services
Oklahoma State Department of Education
2500 North Lincoln Boulevard, Suite 412
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
P: (405) 521-3351 F: (405) 522-2380
SDESpecialEducation@sde.ok.gov
Categories: specialed
OSDE - SES - April 18, 2024 - External
Presence is the leading provider of live, online therapy and evaluation services in pre–K–12 schools. OSDE-SES has been supporting LEAs through a partnership with PCG-Medicaid billing services and Presence this school year to provide free evaluations. However, Presence has now met the limit of the OSDE-SES's allocation of funding for the payment of the free evaluation service to LEAs. The demand this school year has been significantly more than the previous school year for funding these evaluations across the State of Oklahoma. We will review the number of LEAs who took advantage of this free service for evaluations to determine a projection for next year's budget.
Please know for the remainder of this school year Presence will no longer be accepting referrals at no cost to the LEAs. You may contract directly with Presence to meet any of the remainder of the school year evaluation and/or therapy needs or contract with another qualified professional to meet the obligation of Child Find.
- Jeni Robison for more information about Medicaid billing
- Kelly Wright for more information about services through Presence
OKMTSS on EdPlan Training
OSDE is offering a FREE intervention management tool for all districts, this is a different aspect of EDPlan that is different than EasyIEP. This tool is intended to support district and site level intervention tracking that schools are already completing. Weekly sessions regarding how to use the OKMTSS on EDPlan data management system's intervention platform are open for all educators to attend. We will have two sessions in February, three sessions in March and five sessions in April. These training sessions will provide time for general education teachers to learn how to create a group of students for interventions, how to create an individual student intervention plan targeted to evidence-based intervention protocols provided within the platform, and to see how the progress monitoring data is graphed to provide the visual story necessary to determine if a student is or is not responding to the intervention.
OSDE invites general education teacher to access OKMTSS on EDPlan to learn the function of the system this spring, so that when the system is integrated with all of the district's Student Information System (SIS) across the state starting in the 2024-2025 school year, teachers will have a good understand of how to utilize OKMTSS on EDPlan.
Below are the registration links for the February training sessions. Please consider sending as many general education teachers as possible to these sessions. OSDE seeks to ensure the platform is accessible for all educators so they can practice this spring, in order to prepare for the coming school year use of the OKMTSS on EDPlan system.
For those interested, please do not update any user types prior to the training.The Office of Special Education Services at the Oklahoma State Department has developed a state-systemic improvement plan (SSIP) to support educators who serve kindergarten through third grade students, with a focus on students with special needs and early literacy outcomes.
We are excited to offer an opportunity for the coming school year for school sites who educate students K-3, within the State of Oklahoma, who have scored 0% proficiency for third-grade reading based on state testing proficiency for students with IEPs.
We are hosting informative virtual meetings to answer your questions and provide insight into this program! The informative meetings will be the same session but offered at different times to accommodate your schedule:
- April 19th, 12-1 PM - Register in Advance!
- April 30th, 3-4 PM - Register in Advance!
- May 8th, 8-9 AM - Register in Advance!
What is the State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP)?
The program features three tiers of participation:
- Tier 1:
- Universal Supports: Access to templates and protocols for early literacy interventions and evidence-based practices. You can access the Universal Supports through OK Multi-Tiered System of Supports | Oklahoma State Department of Education.
- Sequenced Professional Development: Access to a professional development sequence, intended to support educators with early literacy outcomes.
- Tier 2:
- Strategic Leadership Coaching: To support development of a site MTSS leadership team, aide in implementing MTSS for K-3 early literacy, continuous coaching. Application due June 1, 2024.
- Tier 3:
- Instructional Coaching: Application to access direct, individual support for educators working with K-3 students, supporting early literacy. Educators must be concurrently participating in the professional development sequence. Application due June 1, 2024.
The application for participation has been included in the email as links. On-time deadline is June 1, 2024, and late-acceptance will continue until August 1, 2024, or until the capacity for the program has been reached.
For more information to determine if this program is right for your school site, please contact Alexa Hudak to set up a phone conversation to answer any questions you might have.
We are eager for your participation!Developed from current research in the field, individual stories, and assessment data, the CVI Protocol provides a new framework for understanding CVI. The protocol outlines 16 visual behaviors and associated compensatory strategies that describe how individuals with CVI can be impacted.
This presentation will:
- Define each area of the protocol
- Outline potential implications
- Describe ideas for accommodations and strategies
- Include stories from individuals with CVI
Join us on from 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM on April 18, 2024 for Translating CVI Assessment via Zoom and April 25, 2024 for Individual Intervention via Zoom.
To find out more information about the webinar series, see the CVI Protocol Flyer.
The Oklahoma Deaf Blind Technical Assistance Program in partnership with the University of Oklahoma, will be hosting a webinar discussing Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) on April 18, 2024 at 3:00 PM via Zoom. In the session, Maurice Belote will guide participants in learning about evidence-based auditory strategies that support students with CAPD.
Registration is now open. A Zoom link for the webinar will be emailed to you a week prior to the session.
Family Perspective Conference that will provide information to help you navigate available programs and resources for children with special needs.
Come join us on April 24, 2024 at 9:00 AM.
Fore more information and for registration, please see the On the Road Flyer.
All people have a need for closure-from little things like finishing daily activities to big things like achieving major goals. This need for closure may be even greater for children and young adults who are deafblind or who have other significant support needs. Lack of
opportunities to satisfactorily experience closure may lead to increased stress and anxiety,
much of which could be avoided or at least minimized. This stress and anxiety can be
compounded by ambiguity, which is something we all experience but that may be
magnified simply as a result in living life as a person who is deafblind. This session will cover why closure is so important, the impact of ambiguity on stress and anxiety, and simple things we can do to support the everyday lives of our children or students we serve.
Join us on May 2, 2024 at 3:00 PM via ZOOM. For more information and to register, please see the Closure, Ambiguity, and Stress Flyer.
- “Supporting CTE Special Populations Grant Application 2024-2026” is now available. Check it out and begin planning in advance for an opportunity to be awarded a two-year grant (up to $50,000/year) aimed at helping schools implement transition programs and/or other support strategies to assist in the provision of transferable skill sets to students regarding the attainment of meaningful employment and becoming productive members of society!!!
- The Supporting CTE Special Populations Overview (oklahoma.gov) outlines the requirements for the 2024-2026 grant application and required goal priorities.
- Special Populations include the following: Individuals with Disabilities, Individuals from Economically Disadvantaged Families, Individuals Preparing for Non-Traditional Fields, Single Parents, Including Single Pregnant Women, Out Of Workforce Individuals, English Learners, Homeless Individuals, Youth In or Aged Out of Foster Care System, and Youth with a Parent who is a member of the Armed Forces and on Active Duty.
- Perkins LEAs or consortia meeting the $15,000 requirement OR technology centers, technology center co-ops, postsecondary institutions, or consortia meeting the $50,000 requirement are eligible to complete the grant application.
- Application deadline is currently listed as May 3, 2024 (subject to change)
SW OK Caregiver Retreat at Quartz Mountain Lodge
Free to caregivers raising a child/adult with Developmental/Intellectual Disabilities living in Beckham, Caddo, Greer, Harmon and Kiowa Counties.
Join us on May 3rd and 4th.
Visit SoonerSUCCESS for more information.
Communication is at the core of everything we do with children and youth who are
deafblind and have significant support needs. Supporting students to become proficient
communicators can challenge family members and the most skilled and experienced
educators. This session will explore the features of communication that are unique to
who have significant support needs, including recognizing the impact of stress and
anxiety on communication, creating communication systems that meet the needs of
everyone using common sense strategies, promoting communication-rich environments,
and debunking the myth that it is ever too late to become effective communications.
Please join us on May 8, 2024 at 3:00 PM. For more information and to register for the webinar, please see the 17 Communications Basic to Ponder Flyer.
Questions about Indicator 7 results? Join us for an in-depth discussion of this indicator including targets, calculations, and responding to results.
Thursday, May 9, 2024 from 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Open Door for Early Childhood Outcomes data.
The Oklahoma School for the Deaf is pleased to present the 2024 statewide Deaf Education Conference.
Professionals in the field of deaf education will come together, engage in dynamic workshops, connect with colleagues, and identify pathways to empowering students through access, language, and literacy. Attendees will include early interventionists, early childhood specialists, teachers of the deaf, and educational interpreters.
The pre-conference will be held June 3-4, 2024.
The conference will be held June 5-6, 2024.
Registration is now open.
The BEST-STEP program includes a week-long employment program for youth to build their employment skills, followed by a 4 week-paid internship in their community. We are seeking work skills trainers to work with our youth to help develop jobs and serve as job coaches.
This is an excellent opportunity for educational professionals looking to earn some money this summer including teachers, paraprofessionals, classroom assistants, etc.
Applicants need their own transportation, be able to pass a background check, and be prepared to work with our awesome youth with disabilities.
Training is provided and there are several camps in the OKC metro and across the state for which they could apply.
Here are some of the tasks the BEST STEP Skills Trainers (BSST) will be doing with our students:- Employer of record will be OU (University of Oklahoma)
- Hourly rate is $19 to $22 per hour depending on certification.
- Working in April and May, up to 8 hours a week.
- Estimated working at 20-25 hours a week, for up to 6 weeks in June and July.
- Mileage reimbursement is available.
- Collaboration and communication with all team members.
- Participate in student interviews to determine student support needs, skill level and job interests.
- Participate in job development to identify community job placements for student paid work experiences.
- After the first week of employment, visit student worksite at least one-hour, one-time per week, during the remaining 3-week program period.
- Provide technical assistance and/or guidance to employers, co-workers and/or students as needed to increase learning and to maintain employment success.
- Facilitate assistance to employers, co-workers and/or students to complete timesheets and progress reports on a weekly basis.
- Must have a reliable vehicle and required vehicle insurance. Staff will not transport students.
- Must successfully complete the University's background screening requirements, Working with Minors training, and eligible to work in the U.S.
- Must turn in a Direct Service Verification form filled out and signed by the student and turned into the team lead.
Please see the 2024 BEST STEP Skill Trainer Flyer and the 2024 BEST STEP Skill Trainer Questionnaire for more information.
TechNow STEM Camp is open to Oklahoma students with disabilities, ages 14-19 who are on an IEP or 504 Plan or who have other documented physical, mental, or cognitive disabilities. At STEM Camp, students will learn different ways to interact with computers, software, and related technologies to design and create: Power Racer dragster, HT Racer, full color patches for jackets, pants and shirts.
They'll get to make shirts, hats, mouse pads, pin back buttons, and bracelets. Students will develop new skills while interacting with peers and making memories that will last a lifetime. The camp is held from 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. over three days. Below are the dates and locations of the currently planned STEM Camps for Summer 2024.
For more information and to register, please see STEM Camp 2024.
Special Education Paraeducator Assessment and Evaluation Toolkit from CEC
The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) provides this toolkit as a resource for school district administrators, teachers and paraeducators who work with students with disabilities. This toolkit provides ongoing mentoring and professional development.
The Oklahoma Autism Center is offering Professional Development Opportunities for 2023-2024 including:
- Autism: Foundation Training
- Reducing Challenging Behaviors
- Conducting FBA and Writing BIP's
Please see the OAC Professional Development Opportunities for more information.
Center on Transition Innovations
The Center on Transition Innovations at Virginia Commonwealth University has announced the transition theme for the month of April!
This month’s focus is Workplace Readiness Skills! The first resource for this month is a Workplace Readiness Rubric. Check out this amazing resource! Even through the rubric is based on Virginia’s 21st Century Workplace Readiness Skills, the skill categories found in the rubric are personal qualities, people skills, and professional traits that are necessary for employment success anywhere! The Workplace Readiness Rubric could be used as an informal transition assessment for developing annual transition goals in Employment. Some of the skill categories are also relevant to Independent Living and Community Participation.
The Special Education Resolution Center (SERC) has been collaborating with the Oklahoma State Department of Education for nearly 20 years to help families and school districts resolve conflicts at the earliest stage possible. SERC provides services for children from birth to age 3 in SoonerStart and for students ages 3 through 21 in public schools.
Please view the March 2024 SERC Newsletter.
The Transition program provides services to prepare students with disabilities for employment and life after high school. Services may include career counseling, vocational evaluation, work adjustment training, on-the-job training, work-study, and job development and placement. The Vocational Rehabilitation and Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired divisions jointly run the Transition program so the youth can easily move into adult services when it is time.
Please view the April 2024: Check Out the Transition Resources and Services
Special Education Services
Oklahoma State Department of Education
2500 North Lincoln Boulevard, Suite 412
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
P: (405) 521-3351 F: (405) 522-2380
SDESpecialEducation@sde.ok.gov
Categories: specialed
OSDE - SES - April 16, 2024 - Internal
The 2023-2024 Vision Screening Report is now open on Single Sign-On. Each year, the Oklahoma State Department of Education requires schools to report the vision screening results of Kindergarten, first grade, and third grade students, in response to state law 70 O.S. § 1210.284. The Vision Screening report is due June 14, 2024.
If you have questions or concerns, contact Kellie Carter, Manager of School Nursing Programs.
If your district is serving students with special educational needs who are currently receiving instruction in detention facilities, group homes, or hospitals, the OSDE-SES is offering web-based curricula at no cost to the district. The OSDE-SES has partnered with Edmentum to provide free access to Courseware, Exact Path, and Study Island to special education students who receive their educational services in alternative placements such as detention facilities, group homes, or hospital settings. If you're interested, have questions, or need more information, please contact Elana Grissom.
The Oklahoma State Department of Education hereby notifies all interested parties of its intent to make available and provide information about P.L. 108-446 IDEA Parts B and C, FFY 2025 grant application, for early intervention [infants and toddlers with disabilities, ages birth to three (0-3)], and children and youth with disabilities ages three through twenty-one (3-21) in Oklahoma.
The first draft of the P.L. 108-446 FFY 2024 grant application has been developed for public review and comment prior to the final draft being submitted to the United States Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. The P.L. 108-446 FFY 2025 grant application includes provisions for assuring the state has policies and procedures in effect to meet the eligibility requirements of parts B and C of the act, as well as funds under parts B and C of the act.
For information on how to submit a public comment, please view the attached notice.
End of Year Trainings
Register now for the Open Door Assistance in May.
The Special Education Data Team is also available to answer questions and review data concerns at (405) 521-3351.
**UPDATED** FY25 Assurances
The FY2025 Assurances are now available online. Assurances must be completed prior to July 1st.
You can access the Assurances through your Single Sign On.
- Sign into your Single Sign On
- Select: Grants Management/Expenditure Reporting
- Select: Page on the GMS Access
- Change Fiscal Year: 2025
- Proceed: Create your Assurances
When completing the FY25 Assurances, districts should be sure their nine digit zip code corresponds with their physical address. The physical address should match the districts physical address in SAM.gov.
New memorandum regarding changes and updates to the application for High Needs, Tier I and Tier II. Please contact your finance specialist for any assistance
OAAP Update
You can find the most updated OAAP information for the 2023-2024 school year in the OAAP Memo. Find and access information regarding No Test Management Access, DLM TIP Sheets, Manuals for Testing, Spring Testing Reminders, and more in the memo.
Feedback Opportunities: Alternate Diploma Collaborative and Lessons Learned & Future Focus
Information from these two short surveys will be used to plan for future Alternate Diploma Collaborative activities. Please take this opportunity and spend a few minutes to provide feedback to guide the future of the Alternate Diploma Collaborative (Zoom) meetings and to share your district’s Lessons Learned and Future Focus related to the implementation of the Alternate Diploma and 18-22 Extended Transition Programs/Programming/Services. Some information gleaned from the Lessons Learned & Future Focus survey will be shared at the final Alternate Diploma Collaborative on May 23, 2024. Thank you in advance for you time and valuable feedback!!!
- Alternate Diploma Collaborative Feedback.
- Share feedback for Alternate Diploma & 18-22 ETPs: Lessons Learned & Future Focus.
OSDE-SES is providing Transition Technical Assistance through a temporary, part-time Secondary Transition Program Specialist. Assistance to schools/districts will be available through various formats to include e-mail, phone, virtual (via Microsoft Teams) and/or in-person. Please use this link to complete a Transition Technical Assistance Request for your school/district regarding Secondary Transition topics, including the new Alternate Diploma and 18-22 Transition Programs. For brief questions and/or more information about Transition Technical Assistance, please contact Claudia Beckner or Lori Chesnut.
The Oklahoma State Department of Education, Office of Special Education Services will continue to hold Secondary Transition/Alternate Diploma Collaborative meetings monthly beginning in August.
Zoom meetings will typically be held on the 4th Thursday of each month at 3:00 p.m., except for holidays/school vacation weeks.
The schedule of monthly sessions and known topics are listed below:
-
April 25, 2024
- - Resources for Career Readiness & Career Exploration - Nathan Brubaker, OK Career Guide & Theresa Shaklee, OK College Start
-
May 23, 2024
- Alternate Diploma & 18-22 Extended Transition Programs: Lessons Learned & Future Focus – OSDE-SES, Districts & Transition Partners
Join us via Zoom for all sessions scheduled.
Meeting ID: 160 702 2023 Passcode: 393839Indicator 14: Post-School Outcomes Survey and Informational Webinar
Indicator 14: Post-School Outcomes Survey is the “Percent of youth who had IEPs, are no longer in secondary school and who have been competitively employed, enrolled in some type of postsecondary school, or both, within one year of leaving high school.” The Oklahoma State Department of Education, Special Education Services (OSDE-SES) annually surveys exiters (students who exit the IDEA) aged 16 and up a year after they graduate, drop out, or age out. The results are reflected on the annual District Determination Profile (DDP). It is important to have a high percentage of exiters participate in the Post-School Outcomes (PSO) Survey to ensure that the data are representative of the State and districts and useful in improving effective transition programs and services. Districts may opt-in to Survey their former students to reconnect and raise PSO response rates.
Watch the OSDE-SES and Data-Driven Enterprises Indicator 14: Post-School Outcomes Informational Webinar to learn more about opting in to survey your former students to raise your response rates and to find out what they have been doing since leaving high school!
Check out the updated the updated PSO Guidance Briefs.
The Office of Special Education Services at the Oklahoma State Department has developed a state-systemic improvement plan (SSIP) to support educators who serve kindergarten through third grade students, with a focus on students with special needs and early literacy outcomes.
We are excited to offer an opportunity for the coming school year for school sites who educate students K-3, within the State of Oklahoma, who have scored 0% proficiency for third-grade reading based on state testing proficiency for students with IEPs.
What is the State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP)? Website link
The program features three tiers of participation:
- Tier 1:
- Universal Supports: Access to templates and protocols for early literacy interventions and evidence-based practices. You can access the Universal Supports through OK Multi-Tiered System of Supports | Oklahoma State Department of Education.
- Sequenced Professional Development: Access to a professional development sequence, intended to support educators with early literacy outcomes.
- Tier 2:
- Strategic Leadership Coaching: To support development of a site MTSS leadership team, aide in implementing MTSS for K-3 early literacy, continuous coaching. Application due June 1, 2024.
- Tier 3:
- Instructional Coaching: Application to access direct, individual support for educators working with K-3 students, supporting early literacy. Educators must be concurrently participating in the professional development sequence. Application due June 1, 2024.
The application for participation has been included in the email as links. On-time deadline is June 1, 2024, and late-acceptance will continue until August 1, 2024, or until the capacity for the program has been reached.
We are hosting informative virtual meetings to answer your questions and provide insight into this program! The informative meetings will be the same session but offered at different times to accommodate your schedule:
When: April 19th, 12-1 PM
Register in advance for this meeting
When: April 30th, 3-4 PM
Register in advance for this meeting
When: May 8th, 8-9 AM
Register in advance for this meeting
For more information to determine if this program is right for your school site, please reach out to Alexa Hudak to set up a phone conversation to answer any questions you might have.
We are eager for your participation!
OSDE is offering a FREE intervention management tool for all districts. This tool is intended to support district and site level intervention tracking that schools are already completing. Weekly sessions regarding how to use the OKMTSS on EDPlan data management system's intervention platform are open for all educators to attend. We will have two sessions in February, three sessions in March and five sessions in April. These training sessions will provide time for general education teachers to learn how to create a group of students for interventions, how to create an individual student intervention plan targeted to evidence-based intervention protocols provided within the platform, and to see how the progress monitoring data is graphed to provide the visual story necessary to determine if a student is or is not responding to the intervention.
OSDE invites general education teacher to access OKMTSS on EDPlan to learn the function of the system this spring, so that when the system is integrated with all of the district's Student Information System (SIS) across the state starting in the 2024-2025 school year, teachers will have a good understand of how to utilize OKMTSS on EDPlan. Below are the registration links for the training sessions. Please consider sending as many general education teachers as possible to these sessions. OSDE seeks to ensure the platform is accessible for all educators so they can practice this spring, in order to prepare for the coming school year use of the OKMTSS on EDPlan system.
For those interested, please do not update any user types prior to the training.These rescheduled training sessions will focus on using assessment results to develop meaningful transition plans for students with significant support needs (severe/profound) who participate in the OAAP and for students with Mild/Moderate disabilities.
Participants will:
- Learn to incorporate transition assessment results into the IEP
- Review case studies
- Analyze transition assessment results
- Use assessment results to identify specific transition strengths and needs and develop postsecondary goals, annual transition goals, services, coordinated activities, and courses of study.
OSDE-SES recommends that participants complete the Secondary Transition for Students with Disabilities self-paced course in OSDE Connect before attending this training. This course is recommended for teachers/providers who are new to secondary transition and as a refresher for experienced staff.
Since the trainings were not full, registration for both sessions is still open!
If you wish to attend, please register for your preferred session below. Sessions are from 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM:
- Secondary Transition: Using Assessment Results to Develop Meaningful Transition Plans (OAAP), May 1, 2024
- Secondary Transition: Using Assessment Results to Develop Meaningful Transition Plans (Mild/Moderate), May 2, 2024
Questions about Indicator 7 results? Join us for an in-depth discussion of this indicator including targets, calculations, and responding to results.
Thursday, May 9, 2024 from 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Open Door for Early Childhood Outcomes data.
This month the Office of English Language Proficiency will be hosting an EL Lunch and Learn to gather stakeholder feedback regarding Alternate ACCESS Accountability and Reclassification.
We are requesting that both LEA EL and SPED administration attend to fully represent dually identified students.
Join us for 30 minutes, as we share information about the Alternate ACCESS standards setting and its potential impact on Accountability and Reclassification. You may register below.
You are invited to a ZoomGov meeting.
When: May 9, 2024, at 12:30 PM
Register in advance for this meeting here.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
OSDE presents a one-day, opportunity for districts to participate in a hands-on
Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) Fidelity of Implementation
Rubric self-assessment. The self-assessment requires a district-level
MTSS Leadership team to assess the district’s implementation level of
the specific essential components necessary to have an MTSS framework
for academics and behavior.
Please see the OKMTSS Fidelity of Implementation Flyer for more information and registration.
The Oklahoma State Department of Education, the State Personnel Development Grant, Project AWARE, the State Systemic Improvement Plan- B, and other collaborating offices, are hosting the MTSS Summer Conference. The intent of this conference is to support educators in a focused approach to align and implement an MTSS systems. The conference is not intended to only consist of background knowledge but to provide actionable steps and information to implement high-quality implementations for all students.
When:
Pre-Conference- June 24th; 12:30-4:30pm- Learn the MTSS Frameworks
- Pyramid Model
- Resources
- Keynote Session- OKMTSS on EDPlan
- Breakout groups
- Networking/Connection Sessions
- Live webinar style sessions
- Virtual Engagement
Register your MTSS teams today! Registration is limited! Participants attending the in-person conference will leave the conference with ongoing conference materials! We look forward to connecting with you!
For more information about this conference, please reach out to Alexa Hudak.
Certified Trainer for CPI
Beginning with the incoming 2024-2025 school year districts requesting training in Nonviolent Crisis Intervention or Nonviolent Crisis Intervention With Advanced Physical Skills are encouraged to send an employee to become a Certified Trainer for CPI. Once certified to become a trainer the said employee will be certified to train others in their place of employment. Beginning with the forthcoming school year OSDE will be transitioning to Verbal Interventions only and will not train individuals in the disengagements or restraints in CPI. Please note the dates, locations, and the information for contacting the CPI Senior Territory Manager for Oklahoma below.
Location and Date:- Oklahoma City
- May 29, 2024-May 31, 2024
- August 20, 2024-August 22, 2024
- December 10, 2024-December 12, 2024
- Oklahoma City - APS (Advanced)
- June 4, 2024-June 7, 2024
- Tulsa
- May 14, 2024-May 16, 2024
- August 6, 2024-August 8, 2024
- October 15, 2024-October 17, 2024
Jaime Schroeder, Schedule a Call
Senior Territory Account Manager at CPI for Kansas, Oklahoma & Nebraska
Crisis Prevention Institute
10850 W. Park Place, Suite 250 • Milwaukee, WI 53224
Direct 414.441.1750 • crisisprevention.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jaime-schroeder
Educational Interpreter Registry
If your district employs educational interpreters, please verify that they are on the OSDE Educational Interpreter Registry. All interpreters in an educational setting are required to be on the registry and are required to obtain yearly CEUs.
Special Education Services
Oklahoma State Department of Education
2500 North Lincoln Boulevard, Suite 412
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
P: (405) 521-3351 F: (405) 522-2380
SDESpecialEducation@sde.ok.gov
Categories: specialed
OSDE - SES - April 11, 2024 - External
Presence is the leading provider of live, online therapy and evaluation services in pre–K–12 schools. OSDE-SES has been supporting LEAs through a partnership with PCG-Medicaid billing services and Presence this school year to provide free evaluations. However, Presence has now met the limit of the OSDE-SES's allocation of funding for the payment of the free evaluation service to LEAs. The demand this school year has been significantly more than the previous school year for funding these evaluations across the State of Oklahoma. We will review the number of LEAs who took advantage of this free service for evaluations to determine a projection for next year's budget.
Please know for the remainder of this school year Presence will no longer be accepting referrals at no cost to the LEAs. You may contract directly with Presence to meet any of the remainder of the school year evaluation and/or therapy needs or contract with another qualified professional to meet the obligation of Child Find.
- Jeni Robison for more information about Medicaid billing
- Kelly Wright for more information about services through Presence
OKMTSS on EdPlan Training
OSDE is offering a FREE intervention management tool for all districts, this is a different aspect of EDPlan that is different than EasyIEP. This tool is intended to support district and site level intervention tracking that schools are already completing. Weekly sessions regarding how to use the OKMTSS on EDPlan data management system's intervention platform are open for all educators to attend. We will have two sessions in February, three sessions in March and five sessions in April. These training sessions will provide time for general education teachers to learn how to create a group of students for interventions, how to create an individual student intervention plan targeted to evidence-based intervention protocols provided within the platform, and to see how the progress monitoring data is graphed to provide the visual story necessary to determine if a student is or is not responding to the intervention.
OSDE invites general education teacher to access OKMTSS on EDPlan to learn the function of the system this spring, so that when the system is integrated with all of the district's Student Information System (SIS) across the state starting in the 2024-2025 school year, teachers will have a good understand of how to utilize OKMTSS on EDPlan.
Below are the registration links for the February training sessions. Please consider sending as many general education teachers as possible to these sessions. OSDE seeks to ensure the platform is accessible for all educators so they can practice this spring, in order to prepare for the coming school year use of the OKMTSS on EDPlan system.
For those interested, please do not update any user types prior to the training.The Office of Special Education Services at the Oklahoma State Department has developed a state-systemic improvement plan (SSIP) to support educators who serve kindergarten through third grade students, with a focus on students with special needs and early literacy outcomes.
We are excited to offer an opportunity for the coming school year for school sites who educate students K-3, within the State of Oklahoma, who have scored 0% proficiency for third-grade reading based on state testing proficiency for students with IEPs.
We are hosting informative virtual meetings to answer your questions and provide insight into this program! The informative meetings will be the same session but offered at different times to accommodate your schedule:
- April 19th, 12-1 PM - Register in Advance!
- April 30th, 3-4 PM - Register in Advance!
- May 8th, 8-9 AM - Register in Advance!
What is the State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP)?
The program features three tiers of participation:
- Tier 1:
- Universal Supports: Access to templates and protocols for early literacy interventions and evidence-based practices. You can access the Universal Supports through OK Multi-Tiered System of Supports | Oklahoma State Department of Education.
- Sequenced Professional Development: Access to a professional development sequence, intended to support educators with early literacy outcomes.
- Tier 2:
- Strategic Leadership Coaching: To support development of a site MTSS leadership team, aide in implementing MTSS for K-3 early literacy, continuous coaching. Application due June 1, 2024.
- Tier 3:
- Instructional Coaching: Application to access direct, individual support for educators working with K-3 students, supporting early literacy. Educators must be concurrently participating in the professional development sequence. Application due June 1, 2024.
The application for participation has been included in the email as links. On-time deadline is June 1, 2024, and late-acceptance will continue until August 1, 2024, or until the capacity for the program has been reached.
For more information to determine if this program is right for your school site, please contact Alexa Hudak to set up a phone conversation to answer any questions you might have.
We are eager for your participation!Developed from current research in the field, individual stories, and assessment data, the CVI Protocol provides a new framework for understanding CVI. The protocol outlines 16 visual behaviors and associated compensatory strategies that describe how individuals with CVI can be impacted.
This presentation will:
- Define each area of the protocol
- Outline potential implications
- Describe ideas for accommodations and strategies
- Include stories from individuals with CVI
Join us on from 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM on April 18, 2024 for Translating CVI Assessment via Zoom and April 25, 2024 for Individual Intervention via Zoom.
To find out more information about the webinar series, see the CVI Protocol Flyer.
The Oklahoma Deaf Blind Technical Assistance Program in partnership with the University of Oklahoma, will be hosting a webinar discussing Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) on April 18, 2024 at 3:00 PM via Zoom. In the session, Maurice Belote will guide participants in learning about evidence-based auditory strategies that support students with CAPD.
Registration is now open. A Zoom link for the webinar will be emailed to you a week prior to the session.
Family Perspective Conference that will provide information to help you navigate available programs and resources for children with special needs.
Come join us on April 24, 2024 at 9:00 AM.
Fore more information and for registration, please see the On the Road Flyer.
All people have a need for closure-from little things like finishing daily activities to big things like achieving major goals. This need for closure may be even greater for children and young adults who are deafblind or who have other significant support needs. Lack of
opportunities to satisfactorily experience closure may lead to increased stress and anxiety,
much of which could be avoided or at least minimized. This stress and anxiety can be
compounded by ambiguity, which is something we all experience but that may be
magnified simply as a result in living life as a person who is deafblind. This session will cover why closure is so important, the impact of ambiguity on stress and anxiety, and simple things we can do to support the everyday lives of our children or students we serve.
Join us on May 2, 2024 at 3:00 PM via ZOOM. For more information and to register, please see the Closure, Ambiguity, and Stress Flyer.
- “Supporting CTE Special Populations Grant Application 2024-2026” is now available. Check it out and begin planning in advance for an opportunity to be awarded a two-year grant (up to $50,000/year) aimed at helping schools implement transition programs and/or other support strategies to assist in the provision of transferable skill sets to students regarding the attainment of meaningful employment and becoming productive members of society!!!
- The Supporting CTE Special Populations Overview (oklahoma.gov) outlines the requirements for the 2024-2026 grant application and required goal priorities.
- Special Populations include the following: Individuals with Disabilities, Individuals from Economically Disadvantaged Families, Individuals Preparing for Non-Traditional Fields, Single Parents, Including Single Pregnant Women, Out Of Workforce Individuals, English Learners, Homeless Individuals, Youth In or Aged Out of Foster Care System, and Youth with a Parent who is a member of the Armed Forces and on Active Duty.
- Perkins LEAs or consortia meeting the $15,000 requirement OR technology centers, technology center co-ops, postsecondary institutions, or consortia meeting the $50,000 requirement are eligible to complete the grant application.
- Application deadline is currently listed as May 3, 2024 (subject to change)
SW OK Caregiver Retreat at Quartz Mountain Lodge
Free to caregivers raising a child/adult with Developmental/Intellectual Disabilities living in Beckham, Caddo, Greer, Harmon and Kiowa Counties.
Join us on May 3rd and 4th.
Visit SoonerSUCCESS for more information.
Communication is at the core of everything we do with children and youth who are
deafblind and have significant support needs. Supporting students to become proficient
communicators can challenge family members and the most skilled and experienced
educators. This session will explore the features of communication that are unique to
who have significant support needs, including recognizing the impact of stress and
anxiety on communication, creating communication systems that meet the needs of
everyone using common sense strategies, promoting communication-rich environments,
and debunking the myth that it is ever too late to become effective communications.
Please join us on May 8, 2024 at 3:00 PM. For more information and to register for the webinar, please see the 17 Communications Basic to Ponder Flyer.
Questions about Indicator 7 results? Join us for an in-depth discussion of this indicator including targets, calculations, and responding to results.
Thursday, May 9, 2024 from 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Open Door for Early Childhood Outcomes data.
The Oklahoma School for the Deaf is pleased to present the 2024 statewide Deaf Education Conference.
Professionals in the field of deaf education will come together, engage in dynamic workshops, connect with colleagues, and identify pathways to empowering students through access, language, and literacy. Attendees will include early interventionists, early childhood specialists, teachers of the deaf, and educational interpreters.
The pre-conference will be held June 3-4, 2024.
The conference will be held June 5-6, 2024.
Registration is now open.
The BEST-STEP program includes a week-long employment program for youth to build their employment skills, followed by a 4 week-paid internship in their community. We are seeking work skills trainers to work with our youth to help develop jobs and serve as job coaches.
This is an excellent opportunity for educational professionals looking to earn some money this summer including teachers, paraprofessionals, classroom assistants, etc.
Applicants need their own transportation, be able to pass a background check, and be prepared to work with our awesome youth with disabilities.
Training is provided and there are several camps in the OKC metro and across the state for which they could apply.
Here are some of the tasks the BEST STEP Skills Trainers (BSST) will be doing with our students:- Employer of record will be OU (University of Oklahoma)
- Hourly rate is $19 to $22 per hour depending on certification.
- Working in April and May, up to 8 hours a week.
- Estimated working at 20-25 hours a week, for up to 6 weeks in June and July.
- Mileage reimbursement is available.
- Collaboration and communication with all team members.
- Participate in student interviews to determine student support needs, skill level and job interests.
- Participate in job development to identify community job placements for student paid work experiences.
- After the first week of employment, visit student worksite at least one-hour, one-time per week, during the remaining 3-week program period.
- Provide technical assistance and/or guidance to employers, co-workers and/or students as needed to increase learning and to maintain employment success.
- Facilitate assistance to employers, co-workers and/or students to complete timesheets and progress reports on a weekly basis.
- Must have a reliable vehicle and required vehicle insurance. Staff will not transport students.
- Must successfully complete the University's background screening requirements, Working with Minors training, and eligible to work in the U.S.
- Must turn in a Direct Service Verification form filled out and signed by the student and turned into the team lead.
Please see the 2024 BEST STEP Skill Trainer Flyer and the 2024 BEST STEP Skill Trainer Questionnaire for more information.
TechNow STEM Camp is open to Oklahoma students with disabilities, ages 14-19 who are on an IEP or 504 Plan or who have other documented physical, mental, or cognitive disabilities. At STEM Camp, students will learn different ways to interact with computers, software, and related technologies to design and create: Power Racer dragster, HT Racer, full color patches for jackets, pants and shirts.
They'll get to make shirts, hats, mouse pads, pin back buttons, and bracelets. Students will develop new skills while interacting with peers and making memories that will last a lifetime. The camp is held from 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. over three days. Below are the dates and locations of the currently planned STEM Camps for Summer 2024.
For more information and to register, please see STEM Camp 2024.
Special Education Paraeducator Assessment and Evaluation Toolkit from CEC
The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) provides this toolkit as a resource for school district administrators, teachers and paraeducators who work with students with disabilities. This toolkit provides ongoing mentoring and professional development.
The Oklahoma Autism Center is offering Professional Development Opportunities for 2023-2024 including:
- Autism: Foundation Training
- Reducing Challenging Behaviors
- Conducting FBA and Writing BIP's
Please see the OAC Professional Development Opportunities for more information.
Center on Transition Innovations
The Center on Transition Innovations at Virginia Commonwealth University has announced the transition theme for the month of April!
This month’s focus is Workplace Readiness Skills! The first resource for this month is a Workplace Readiness Rubric. Check out this amazing resource! Even through the rubric is based on Virginia’s 21st Century Workplace Readiness Skills, the skill categories found in the rubric are personal qualities, people skills, and professional traits that are necessary for employment success anywhere! The Workplace Readiness Rubric could be used as an informal transition assessment for developing annual transition goals in Employment. Some of the skill categories are also relevant to Independent Living and Community Participation.
The Special Education Resolution Center (SERC) has been collaborating with the Oklahoma State Department of Education for nearly 20 years to help families and school districts resolve conflicts at the earliest stage possible. SERC provides services for children from birth to age 3 in SoonerStart and for students ages 3 through 21 in public schools.
Please view the March 2024 SERC Newsletter.
The Transition program provides services to prepare students with disabilities for employment and life after high school. Services may include career counseling, vocational evaluation, work adjustment training, on-the-job training, work-study, and job development and placement. The Vocational Rehabilitation and Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired divisions jointly run the Transition program so the youth can easily move into adult services when it is time.
Please view the April 2024: Check Out the Transition Resources and Services
Special Education Services
Oklahoma State Department of Education
2500 North Lincoln Boulevard, Suite 412
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
P: (405) 521-3351 F: (405) 522-2380
SDESpecialEducation@sde.ok.gov
Categories: specialed
OSDE - SES - April 9, 2024 - Internal
The 2023-2024 Vision Screening Report is now open on Single Sign-On. Each year, the Oklahoma State Department of Education requires schools to report the vision screening results of Kindergarten, first grade, and third grade students, in response to state law 70 O.S. § 1210.284. The Vision Screening report is due June 14, 2024.
If you have questions or concerns, contact Kellie Carter, Manager of School Nursing Programs.
If your district is serving students with special educational needs who are currently receiving instruction in detention facilities, group homes, or hospitals, the OSDE-SES is offering web-based curricula at no cost to the district. The OSDE-SES has partnered with Edmentum to provide free access to Courseware, Exact Path, and Study Island to special education students who receive their educational services in alternative placements such as detention facilities, group homes, or hospital settings. If you're interested, have questions, or need more information, please contact Elana Grissom.
The Oklahoma State Department of Education hereby notifies all interested parties of its intent to make available and provide information about P.L. 108-446 IDEA Parts B and C, FFY 2025 grant application, for early intervention [infants and toddlers with disabilities, ages birth to three (0-3)], and children and youth with disabilities ages three through twenty-one (3-21) in Oklahoma.
The first draft of the P.L. 108-446 FFY 2024 grant application has been developed for public review and comment prior to the final draft being submitted to the United States Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. The P.L. 108-446 FFY 2025 grant application includes provisions for assuring the state has policies and procedures in effect to meet the eligibility requirements of parts B and C of the act, as well as funds under parts B and C of the act.
For information on how to submit a public comment, please view the attached notice.
End of Year Trainings
Register now for the Open Door Assistance in May.
The Special Education Data Team is also available to answer questions and review data concerns at (405) 521-3351.
FY25 Assurances
The FY2025 Assurances are now available online. Assurances must be completed prior to July 1st.
You can access the Assurances through your Single Sign On.
- Sign into your Single Sign On
- Select: Grants Management/Expenditure Reporting
- Select: Page on the GMS Access
- Change Fiscal Year: 2025
- Proceed: Create your Assurances
If assistance is needed please contact your finance specialist.
New memorandum regarding changes and updates to the application for High Needs, Tier I and Tier II. Please contact your finance specialist for any assistance
**NEW** OAAP Update
You can find the most updated OAAP information for the 2023-2024 school year in the OAAP Memo. Find and access information regarding No Test Management Access, DLM TIP Sheets, Manuals for Testing, Spring Testing Reminders, and more in the memo.
**NEW** Feedback Opportunities: Alternate Diploma Collaborative and Lessons Learned & Future Focus
Information from these two short surveys will be used to plan for future Alternate Diploma Collaborative activities. Please take this opportunity and spend a few minutes to provide feedback to guide the future of the Alternate Diploma Collaborative (Zoom) meetings and to share your district’s Lessons Learned and Future Focus related to the implementation of the Alternate Diploma and 18-22 Extended Transition Programs/Programming/Services. Some information gleaned from the Lessons Learned & Future Focus survey will be shared at the final Alternate Diploma Collaborative on May 23, 2024. Thank you in advance for you time and valuable feedback!!!
- Alternate Diploma Collaborative Feedback.
- Share feedback for Alternate Diploma & 18-22 ETPs: Lessons Learned & Future Focus.
OSDE-SES is providing Transition Technical Assistance through a temporary, part-time Secondary Transition Program Specialist. Assistance to schools/districts will be available through various formats to include e-mail, phone, virtual (via Microsoft Teams) and/or in-person. Please use this link to complete a Transition Technical Assistance Request for your school/district regarding Secondary Transition topics, including the new Alternate Diploma and 18-22 Transition Programs. For brief questions and/or more information about Transition Technical Assistance, please contact Claudia Beckner or Lori Chesnut.
The Oklahoma State Department of Education, Office of Special Education Services will continue to hold Secondary Transition/Alternate Diploma Collaborative meetings monthly beginning in August.
Zoom meetings will typically be held on the 4th Thursday of each month at 3:00 p.m., except for holidays/school vacation weeks.
The schedule of monthly sessions and known topics are listed below:
-
April 25, 2024
- - Resources for Career Readiness & Career Exploration - Nathan Brubaker, OK Career Guide & Theresa Shaklee, OK College Start
-
May 23, 2024
- Alternate Diploma & 18-22 Extended Transition Programs: Lessons Learned & Future Focus – OSDE-SES, Districts & Transition Partners
Join us via Zoom for all sessions scheduled.
Meeting ID: 160 702 2023 Passcode: 393839Indicator 14: Post-School Outcomes Survey and Informational Webinar
Indicator 14: Post-School Outcomes Survey is the “Percent of youth who had IEPs, are no longer in secondary school and who have been competitively employed, enrolled in some type of postsecondary school, or both, within one year of leaving high school.” The Oklahoma State Department of Education, Special Education Services (OSDE-SES) annually surveys exiters (students who exit the IDEA) aged 16 and up a year after they graduate, drop out, or age out. The results are reflected on the annual District Determination Profile (DDP). It is important to have a high percentage of exiters participate in the Post-School Outcomes (PSO) Survey to ensure that the data are representative of the State and districts and useful in improving effective transition programs and services. Districts may opt-in to Survey their former students to reconnect and raise PSO response rates.
Watch the OSDE-SES and Data-Driven Enterprises Indicator 14: Post-School Outcomes Informational Webinar to learn more about opting in to survey your former students to raise your response rates and to find out what they have been doing since leaving high school!
Check out the updated the updated PSO Guidance Briefs.
The Office of Special Education Services at the Oklahoma State Department has developed a state-systemic improvement plan (SSIP) to support educators who serve kindergarten through third grade students, with a focus on students with special needs and early literacy outcomes.
We are excited to offer an opportunity for the coming school year for school sites who educate students K-3, within the State of Oklahoma, who have scored 0% proficiency for third-grade reading based on state testing proficiency for students with IEPs.
We are hosting informative virtual meetings to answer your questions and provide insight into this program! The informative meetings will be the same session but offered at different times to accommodate your schedule:
Register in advance:
What is the State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP)?
The program features three tiers of participation:
- Tier 1:
- Universal Supports: Access to templates and protocols for early literacy interventions and evidence-based practices. You can access the Universal Supports through OK Multi-Tiered System of Supports | Oklahoma State Department of Education.
- Sequenced Professional Development: Access to a professional development sequence, intended to support educators with early literacy outcomes.
- Tier 2:
- Strategic Leadership Coaching: To support development of a site MTSS leadership team, aide in implementing MTSS for K-3 early literacy, continuous coaching. Application due June 1, 2024.
- Tier 3:
- Instructional Coaching: Application to access direct, individual support for educators working with K-3 students, supporting early literacy. Educators must be concurrently participating in the professional development sequence. Application due June 1, 2024.
The application for participation has been included in the email as links. On-time deadline is June 1, 2024, and late-acceptance will continue until August 1, 2024, or until the capacity for the program has been reached.
For more information to determine if this program is right for your school site, please email Alexa Hudak to set up a phone conversation to answer any questions you might have.
We are eager for your participation!
OSDE is offering a FREE intervention management tool for all districts. This tool is intended to support district and site level intervention tracking that schools are already completing. Weekly sessions regarding how to use the OKMTSS on EDPlan data management system's intervention platform are open for all educators to attend. We will have two sessions in February, three sessions in March and five sessions in April. These training sessions will provide time for general education teachers to learn how to create a group of students for interventions, how to create an individual student intervention plan targeted to evidence-based intervention protocols provided within the platform, and to see how the progress monitoring data is graphed to provide the visual story necessary to determine if a student is or is not responding to the intervention.
OSDE invites general education teacher to access OKMTSS on EDPlan to learn the function of the system this spring, so that when the system is integrated with all of the district's Student Information System (SIS) across the state starting in the 2024-2025 school year, teachers will have a good understand of how to utilize OKMTSS on EDPlan. Below are the registration links for the training sessions. Please consider sending as many general education teachers as possible to these sessions. OSDE seeks to ensure the platform is accessible for all educators so they can practice this spring, in order to prepare for the coming school year use of the OKMTSS on EDPlan system.
- April 10, 2024 at 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
- April 17, 2024 at 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
- April 24, 2024 at 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
These rescheduled training sessions will focus on using assessment results to develop meaningful transition plans for students with significant support needs (severe/profound) who participate in the OAAP and for students with Mild/Moderate disabilities.
Participants will:
- Learn to incorporate transition assessment results into the IEP
- Review case studies
- Analyze transition assessment results
- Use assessment results to identify specific transition strengths and needs and develop postsecondary goals, annual transition goals, services, coordinated activities, and courses of study.
OSDE-SES recommends that participants complete the Secondary Transition for Students with Disabilities self-paced course in OSDE Connect before attending this training. This course is recommended for teachers/providers who are new to secondary transition and as a refresher for experienced staff.
Since the trainings were not full, registration for both sessions is still open!
If you wish to attend, please register for your preferred session below. Sessions are from 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM:
- Secondary Transition: Using Assessment Results to Develop Meaningful Transition Plans (OAAP), May 1, 2024
- Secondary Transition: Using Assessment Results to Develop Meaningful Transition Plans (Mild/Moderate), May 2, 2024
Questions about Indicator 7 results? Join us for an in-depth discussion of this indicator including targets, calculations, and responding to results.
Thursday, May 9, 2024 from 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Open Door for Early Childhood Outcomes data.
OSDE presents a one-day, opportunity for districts to participate in a hands-on
Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) Fidelity of Implementation
Rubric self-assessment. The self-assessment requires a district-level
MTSS Leadership team to assess the district’s implementation level of
the specific essential components necessary to have an MTSS framework
for academics and behavior.
Please see the OKMTSS Fidelity of Implementation Flyer for more information and registration.
Certified Trainer for CPI
Beginning with the incoming 2024-2025 school year districts requesting training in Nonviolent Crisis Intervention or Nonviolent Crisis Intervention With Advanced Physical Skills are encouraged to send an employee to become a Certified Trainer for CPI. Once certified to become a trainer the said employee will be certified to train others in their place of employment. Beginning with the forthcoming school year OSDE will be transitioning to Verbal Interventions only and will not train individuals in the disengagements or restraints in CPI. Please note the dates, locations, and the information for contacting the CPI Senior Territory Manager for Oklahoma below.
Location and Date:- Oklahoma City
- May 29, 2024-May 31, 2024
- August 20, 2024-August 22, 2024
- December 10, 2024-December 12, 2024
- Oklahoma City - APS (Advanced)
- June 4, 2024-June 7, 2024
- Tulsa
- May 14, 2024-May 16, 2024
- August 6, 2024-August 8, 2024
- October 15, 2024-October 17, 2024
Jaime Schroeder, Schedule a Call
Senior Territory Account Manager at CPI for Kansas, Oklahoma & Nebraska
Crisis Prevention Institute
10850 W. Park Place, Suite 250 • Milwaukee, WI 53224
Direct 414.441.1750 • crisisprevention.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jaime-schroeder
The Oklahoma State Department of Education, Office of Special Education Services will be holding their CPI 2-day Regional Trainings for you to send 4 employees to get blue card certified.
- April 11-12, 2024 - Guymon, Oklahoma - Guymon Jr. High *Email Megan Salisbury if you would like send any staff to this training.
CPI is approved through Project 613 for substitutes, travel, and lodging. Keep in mind lodging must be at least 60 miles one way. Questions about Project 613 can be directed to Abby Johnson.
Educational Interpreter Registry
If your district employs educational interpreters, please verify that they are on the OSDE Educational Interpreter Registry. All interpreters in an educational setting are required to be on the registry and are required to obtain yearly CEUs.
Special Education Services
Oklahoma State Department of Education
2500 North Lincoln Boulevard, Suite 412
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
P: (405) 521-3351 F: (405) 522-2380
SDESpecialEducation@sde.ok.gov
Categories: specialed
OSDE - SES - April 4, 2024 - External
The Office of Special Education Services at the Oklahoma State Department has developed a state-systemic improvement plan (SSIP) to support educators who serve kindergarten through third grade students, with a focus on students with special needs and early literacy outcomes.
We are excited to offer an opportunity for the coming school year for school sites who educate students K-3, within the State of Oklahoma, who have scored 0% proficiency for third-grade reading based on state testing proficiency for students with IEPs.
We are hosting informative virtual meetings to answer your questions and provide insight into this program! The informative meetings will be the same session but offered at different times to accommodate your schedule:
- April 19th, 12-1 PM - Register in Advance!
- April 30th, 3-4 PM - Register in Advance!
- May 8th, 8-9 AM - Register in Advance!
What is the State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP)?
The program features three tiers of participation:
- Tier 1:
- Universal Supports: Access to templates and protocols for early literacy interventions and evidence-based practices. You can access the Universal Supports through OK Multi-Tiered System of Supports | Oklahoma State Department of Education.
- Sequenced Professional Development: Access to a professional development sequence, intended to support educators with early literacy outcomes.
- Tier 2:
- Strategic Leadership Coaching: To support development of a site MTSS leadership team, aide in implementing MTSS for K-3 early literacy, continuous coaching. Application due June 1, 2024.
- Tier 3:
- Instructional Coaching: Application to access direct, individual support for educators working with K-3 students, supporting early literacy. Educators must be concurrently participating in the professional development sequence. Application due June 1, 2024.
The application for participation has been included in the email as links. On-time deadline is June 1, 2024, and late-acceptance will continue until August 1, 2024, or until the capacity for the program has been reached.
For more information to determine if this program is right for your school site, please contact Alexa Hudak to set up a phone conversation to answer any questions you might have.
We are eager for your participation!Developed from current research in the field, individual stories, and assessment data, the CVI Protocol provides a new framework for understanding CVI. The protocol outlines 16 visual behaviors and associated compensatory strategies that describe how individuals with CVI can be impacted.
This presentation will:
- Define each area of the protocol
- Outline potential implications
- Describe ideas for accommodations and strategies
- Include stories from individuals with CVI
To find out more information about the webinar series in April, see the CVI Protocol Flyer.
The Oklahoma Deaf Blind Technical Assistance Program in partnership with the University of Oklahoma, will be hosting a webinar discussing Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) on April 18, 2024 at 3:00 PM via Zoom. In the session, Maurice Belote will guide participants in learning about evidence-based auditory strategies that support students with CAPD.
Registration is now open. A Zoom link for the webinar will be emailed to you a week prior to the session.
The Center on Transition Innovations at Virginia Commonwealth University has announced the transition theme for the month of April! This month’s focus is Workplace Readiness Skills! The first resource for this month is a Workplace Readiness Rubric. Check out this amazing resource! Even through the rubric is based on Virginia’s 21st Century Workplace Readiness Skills, the skill categories found in the rubric are personal qualities, people skills, and professional traits that are necessary for employment success anywhere! The Workplace Readiness Rubric could be used as an informal transition assessment for developing annual transition goals in Employment. Some of the skill categories are also relevant to Independent Living and Community Participation.
Family Perspective Conference that will provide information to help you navigate available programs and resources for children with special needs.
Come join us on April 24, 2024 at 9:00 AM.
Fore more information and for registration, please see the On the Road Flyer.
- “Supporting CTE Special Populations Grant Application 2024-2026” is now available. Check it out and begin planning in advance for an opportunity to be awarded a two-year grant (up to $50,000/year) aimed at helping schools implement transition programs and/or other support strategies to assist in the provision of transferable skill sets to students regarding the attainment of meaningful employment and becoming productive members of society!!!
- The Supporting CTE Special Populations Overview (oklahoma.gov) outlines the requirements for the 2024-2026 grant application and required goal priorities.
- Special Populations include the following: Individuals with Disabilities, Individuals from Economically Disadvantaged Families, Individuals Preparing for Non-Traditional Fields, Single Parents, Including Single Pregnant Women, Out Of Workforce Individuals, English Learners, Homeless Individuals, Youth In or Aged Out of Foster Care System, and Youth with a Parent who is a member of the Armed Forces and on Active Duty.
- Perkins LEAs or consortia meeting the $15,000 requirement OR technology centers, technology center co-ops, postsecondary institutions, or consortia meeting the $50,000 requirement are eligible to complete the grant application.
- Application deadline is currently listed as May 3, 2024 (subject to change)
SW OK Caregiver Retreat at Quartz Mountain Lodge
Free to caregivers raising a child/adult with Developmental/Intellectual Disabilities living in Beckham, Caddo, Greer, Harmon and Kiowa Counties.
Join us on May 3rd and 4th.
Visit SoonerSUCCESS for more information.
The Oklahoma School for the Deaf is pleased to present the 2024 statewide Deaf Education Conference.
Professionals in the field of deaf education will come together, engage in dynamic workshops, connect with colleagues, and identify pathways to empowering students through access, language, and literacy. Attendees will include early interventionists, early childhood specialists, teachers of the deaf, and educational interpreters.
The pre-conference will be held June 3-4, 2024.
The conference will be held June 5-6, 2024.
Registration is now open.
The BEST-STEP program includes a week-long employment program for youth to build their employment skills, followed by a 4 week-paid internship in their community. We are seeking work skills trainers to work with our youth to help develop jobs and serve as job coaches.
This is an excellent opportunity for educational professionals looking to earn some money this summer including teachers, paraprofessionals, classroom assistants, etc.
Applicants need their own transportation, be able to pass a background check, and be prepared to work with our awesome youth with disabilities.
Training is provided and there are several camps in the OKC metro and across the state for which they could apply.
Here are some of the tasks the BEST STEP Skills Trainers (BSST) will be doing with our students:- Employer of record will be OU (University of Oklahoma)
- Hourly rate is $19 to $22 per hour depending on certification.
- Working in April and May, up to 8 hours a week.
- Estimated working at 20-25 hours a week, for up to 6 weeks in June and July.
- Mileage reimbursement is available.
- Collaboration and communication with all team members.
- Participate in student interviews to determine student support needs, skill level and job interests.
- Participate in job development to identify community job placements for student paid work experiences.
- After the first week of employment, visit student worksite at least one-hour, one-time per week, during the remaining 3-week program period.
- Provide technical assistance and/or guidance to employers, co-workers and/or students as needed to increase learning and to maintain employment success.
- Facilitate assistance to employers, co-workers and/or students to complete timesheets and progress reports on a weekly basis.
- Must have a reliable vehicle and required vehicle insurance. Staff will not transport students.
- Must successfully complete the University's background screening requirements, Working with Minors training, and eligible to work in the U.S.
- Must turn in a Direct Service Verification form filled out and signed by the student and turned into the team lead.
Please see the 2024 BEST STEP Skill Trainer Flyer and the 2024 BEST STEP Skill Trainer Questionnaire for more information.
TechNow STEM Camp is open to Oklahoma students with disabilities, ages 14-19 who are on an IEP or 504 Plan or who have other documented physical, mental, or cognitive disabilities. At STEM Camp, students will learn different ways to interact with computers, software, and related technologies to design and create: Power Racer dragster, HT Racer, full color patches for jackets, pants and shirts.
They'll get to make shirts, hats, mouse pads, pin back buttons, and bracelets. Students will develop new skills while interacting with peers and making memories that will last a lifetime. The camp is held from 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. over three days. Below are the dates and locations of the currently planned STEM Camps for Summer 2024.
For more information and to register, please see STEM Camp 2024.
Special Education Paraeducator Assessment and Evaluation Toolkit from CEC
The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) provides this toolkit as a resource for school district administrators, teachers and paraeducators who work with students with disabilities. This toolkit provides ongoing mentoring and professional development.
The Oklahoma Autism Center is offering Professional Development Opportunities for 2023-2024 including:
- Autism: Foundation Training
- Reducing Challenging Behaviors
- Conducting FBA and Writing BIP's
Please see the OAC Professional Development Opportunities for more information.
**NEW** SERC SCOOP
What is SERC?
The Special Education Resolution Center (SERC) has been collaborating with the Oklahoma State Department of Education for nearly 20 years to help families and school districts resolve conflicts at the earliest stage possible. SERC provides services for children from birth to age 3 in SoonerStart and for students ages 3 through 21 in public schools.
Please view the March 2024 SERC Newsletter.
The Transition program provides services to prepare students with disabilities for employment and life after high school. Services may include career counseling, vocational evaluation, work adjustment training, on-the-job training, work-study, and job development and placement. The Vocational Rehabilitation and Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired divisions jointly run the Transition program so the youth can easily move into adult services when it is time.
Please view the April 2024: Check Out the Transition Resources and Services
Special Education Services
Oklahoma State Department of Education
2500 North Lincoln Boulevard, Suite 412
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
P: (405) 521-3351 F: (405) 522-2380
SDESpecialEducation@sde.ok.gov
Categories: specialed
OSDE - SES - April 2, 2024 - Internal
If your district is serving students with special educational needs who are currently receiving instruction in detention facilities, group homes, or hospitals, the OSDE-SES is offering web-based curricula at no cost to the district. The OSDE-SES has partnered with Edmentum to provide free access to Courseware, Exact Path, and Study Island to special education students who receive their educational services in alternative placements such as detention facilities, group homes, or hospital settings. If you're interested, have questions, or need more information, please contact Elana Grissom.
The Oklahoma State Department of Education hereby notifies all interested parties of its intent to make available and provide information about P.L. 108-446 IDEA Parts B and C, FFY 2025 grant application, for early intervention [infants and toddlers with disabilities, ages birth to three (0-3)], and children and youth with disabilities ages three through twenty-one (3-21) in Oklahoma.
The first draft of the P.L. 108-446 FFY 2024 grant application has been developed for public review and comment prior to the final draft being submitted to the United States Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. The P.L. 108-446 FFY 2025 grant application includes provisions for assuring the state has policies and procedures in effect to meet the eligibility requirements of parts B and C of the act, as well as funds under parts B and C of the act.
For information on how to submit a public comment, please view the attached notice.
End of Year Trainings
Register now for the Open Door Assistance in May.
The Special Education Data Team is also available to answer questions and review data concerns at (405) 521-3351.
FY25 Assurances
The FY2025 Assurances are now available online. Assurances must be completed prior to July 1st.
You can access the Assurances through your Single Sign On.
- Sign into your Single Sign On
- Select: Grants Management/Expenditure Reporting
- Select: Page on the GMS Access
- Change Fiscal Year: 2025
- Proceed: Create your Assurances
If assistance is needed please contact your finance specialist.
New memorandum regarding changes and updates to the application for High Needs, Tier I and Tier II. Please contact your finance specialist for any assistance
Alternate Diploma Collaborative Feedback
Please take a minute to complete the Alternate Diploma Collaborative Feedback Form. Information from this short survey will be used to plan for future Alternate Diploma Collaborative activities.
OSDE-SES is providing Transition Technical Assistance through a temporary, part-time Secondary Transition Program Specialist. Assistance to schools/districts will be available through various formats to include e-mail, phone, virtual (via Microsoft Teams) and/or in-person. Please use this link to complete a Transition Technical Assistance Request for your school/district regarding Secondary Transition topics, including the new Alternate Diploma and 18-22 Transition Programs. For brief questions and/or more information about Transition Technical Assistance, please contact Claudia Beckner or Lori Chesnut.
The Oklahoma State Department of Education, Office of Special Education Services will continue to hold Secondary Transition/Alternate Diploma Collaborative meetings monthly beginning in August.
Zoom meetings will typically be held on the 4th Thursday of each month at 3:00 p.m., except for holidays/school vacation weeks.
The schedule of monthly sessions and known topics are listed below:
-
April 25, 2024
- - Resources for Career Readiness & Career Exploration - Nathan Brubaker, OK Career Guide & Theresa Shaklee, OK College Start
-
May 23, 2024
- Alternate Diploma & 18-22 Extended Transition Programs: Lessons Learned & Future Focus – OSDE-SES, Districts & Transition Partners
Join us via Zoom for all sessions scheduled.
Meeting ID: 160 702 2023 Passcode: 393839**NEW** Indicator 14: Post-School Outcomes Survey and Informational Webinar
Indicator 14: Post-School Outcomes Survey is the “Percent of youth who had IEPs, are no longer in secondary school and who have been competitively employed, enrolled in some type of postsecondary school, or both, within one year of leaving high school.” The Oklahoma State Department of Education, Special Education Services (OSDE-SES) annually surveys exiters (students who exit the IDEA) aged 16 and up a year after they graduate, drop out, or age out. The results are reflected on the annual District Determination Profile (DDP). It is important to have a high percentage of exiters participate in the Post-School Outcomes (PSO) Survey to ensure that the data are representative of the State and districts and useful in improving effective transition programs and services. Districts may opt-in to Survey their former students to reconnect and raise PSO response rates.
Watch the OSDE-SES and Data-Driven Enterprises Indicator 14: Post-School Outcomes Informational Webinar to learn more about opting in to survey your former students to raise your response rates and to find out what they have been doing since leaving high school!
Check out the updated the updated PSO Guidance Briefs.
The Office of Special Education Services at the Oklahoma State Department has developed a state-systemic improvement plan (SSIP) to support educators who serve kindergarten through third grade students, with a focus on students with special needs and early literacy outcomes.
We are excited to offer an opportunity for the coming school year for school sites who educate students K-3, within the State of Oklahoma, who have scored 0% proficiency for third-grade reading based on state testing proficiency for students with IEPs.
We are hosting informative virtual meetings to answer your questions and provide insight into this program! The informative meetings will be the same session but offered at different times to accommodate your schedule:
Register in advance:
What is the State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP)?
The program features three tiers of participation:
- Tier 1:
- Universal Supports: Access to templates and protocols for early literacy interventions and evidence-based practices. You can access the Universal Supports through OK Multi-Tiered System of Supports | Oklahoma State Department of Education.
- Sequenced Professional Development: Access to a professional development sequence, intended to support educators with early literacy outcomes.
- Tier 2:
- Strategic Leadership Coaching: To support development of a site MTSS leadership team, aide in implementing MTSS for K-3 early literacy, continuous coaching. Application due June 1, 2024.
- Tier 3:
- Instructional Coaching: Application to access direct, individual support for educators working with K-3 students, supporting early literacy. Educators must be concurrently participating in the professional development sequence. Application due June 1, 2024.
The application for participation has been included in the email as links. On-time deadline is June 1, 2024, and late-acceptance will continue until August 1, 2024, or until the capacity for the program has been reached.
For more information to determine if this program is right for your school site, please email Alexa Hudak to set up a phone conversation to answer any questions you might have.
We are eager for your participation!
OSDE is offering a FREE intervention management tool for all districts. This tool is intended to support district and site level intervention tracking that schools are already completing. Weekly sessions regarding how to use the OKMTSS on EDPlan data management system's intervention platform are open for all educators to attend. We will have two sessions in February, three sessions in March and five sessions in April. These training sessions will provide time for general education teachers to learn how to create a group of students for interventions, how to create an individual student intervention plan targeted to evidence-based intervention protocols provided within the platform, and to see how the progress monitoring data is graphed to provide the visual story necessary to determine if a student is or is not responding to the intervention.
OSDE invites general education teacher to access OKMTSS on EDPlan to learn the function of the system this spring, so that when the system is integrated with all of the district's Student Information System (SIS) across the state starting in the 2024-2025 school year, teachers will have a good understand of how to utilize OKMTSS on EDPlan. Below are the registration links for the training sessions. Please consider sending as many general education teachers as possible to these sessions. OSDE seeks to ensure the platform is accessible for all educators so they can practice this spring, in order to prepare for the coming school year use of the OKMTSS on EDPlan system.
- April 3, 2024 at 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
- April 10, 2024 at 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
- April 17, 2024 at 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
- April 24, 2024 at 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Thursday May 9, 2024 from 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Open Door for Early Childhood Outcomes data.
OSDE presents a one-day, opportunity for districts to participate in a hands-on
Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) Fidelity of Implementation
Rubric self-assessment. The self-assessment requires a district-level
MTSS Leadership team to assess the district’s implementation level of
the specific essential components necessary to have an MTSS framework
for academics and behavior.
Please see the OKMTSS Fidelity of Implementation Flyer for more information and registration.
**NEW** Certified Trainer for CPI
Beginning with the incoming 2024-2025 school year districts requesting training in Nonviolent Crisis Intervention or Nonviolent Crisis Intervention With Advanced Physical Skills are encouraged to send an employee to become a Certified Trainer for CPI. Once certified to become a trainer the said employee will be certified to train others in their place of employment. Beginning with the forthcoming school year OSDE will be transitioning to Verbal Interventions only and will not train individuals in the disengagements or restraints in CPI. Please note the dates, locations, and the information for contacting the CPI Senior Territory Manager for Oklahoma below.
Location and Date:- Oklahoma City
- April 2, 2024-April 4, 2024
- May 29, 2024-May 31, 2024
- August 20, 2024-August 22, 2024
- December 10, 2024-December 12, 2024
- Oklahoma City - APS (Advanced)
- June 4, 2024-June 7, 2024
- Tulsa
- May 14, 2024-May 16, 2024
- August 6, 2024-August 8, 2024
- October 15, 2024-October 17, 2024
Jaime Schroeder, Schedule a Call
Senior Territory Account Manager at CPI for Kansas, Oklahoma & Nebraska
Crisis Prevention Institute
10850 W. Park Place, Suite 250 • Milwaukee, WI 53224
Direct 414.441.1750 • crisisprevention.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jaime-schroeder
The Oklahoma State Department of Education, Office of Special Education Services will be holding their CPI 2-day Regional Trainings for you to send 4 employees to get blue card certified.
- April 11-12, 2024 - Guymon, Oklahoma - Guymon Jr. High *8 spots left*
CPI is approved through Project 613 for substitutes, travel, and lodging. Keep in mind lodging must be at least 60 miles one way. Questions about Project 613 can be directed to Abby Johnson.
Educational Interpreter Registry
If your district employs educational interpreters, please verify that they are on the OSDE Educational Interpreter Registry. All interpreters in an educational setting are required to be on the registry and are required to obtain yearly CEUs.
Special Education Services
Oklahoma State Department of Education
2500 North Lincoln Boulevard, Suite 412
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
P: (405) 521-3351 F: (405) 522-2380
SDESpecialEducation@sde.ok.gov
Categories: specialed
Oklahoma ABLE Tech - Vol. 2, Issue 3
We are proud to report the following rankings for FFY23 (October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023) as compared to the other 55 state or territory Assistive Technology (AT) Act Programs:
State Level AT Act Programs
April is Occupational Therapy Month, intended to honor the vital work of OTs. Check out these AT devices chosen by our Occupational Therapy Assistant, Amy Woods, from the Learning, Cognition, and Development and Daily Living categories that can be used to help people regain independence in all areas of their lives.
- Cosmo Explore Bundle - These buttons help teach cause and effect, amongst other skills. The activities were designed by teachers and occupational, physical, and speech & language therapists.
- Guided Hands - This device enables people with limited fine motor skills to write, draw, and paint as well as type and scroll on a tablet or a computer.
- Active Hands - These gloves gently, yet firmly hold an individual's hand into a gripping shape, enabling a tight grip.
- Liftware Level- This device is designed to counteract the effects of tremors and shaky hands that may be related to conditions like Parkinson's, allowing individuals to pick up food independently.
Liftware Level not pictured
Budgeting is an important tool that can help manage your money. A budget is a plan that estimates income and expenses over a period of time, typically monthly. Preparing a monthly budget can help you know what you must spend your money on during the month and what funds you have left over for other things. It can also be a great tool to help you to meet financial goals. If you're not sure where to get started, check out the following resources:
- Read or listen to the Federal Trade Commission's Making A Budget article
- Check out myFICO's blog on 4 Easy Budgeting Systems
- Explore the resources in the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's Money Smart Game
Do you have questions about financial education resources or need to purchase Assistive Technology (AT) or Durable Medical Equipment (DME)? Oklahoma ABLE Tech’s low-interest Financial Loan Program can assist. To apply for a loan, go to the Financial Loan Program webpage or visit the Oklahoma Assistive Technology Foundation website.
ABLE Tech has several partner drop-off locations across the state! Please give these organizations a call before dropping by. Their contact information can be found on the Device Drop-Off Locations webpage:
- Entrusted Hearts in Tulsa
- COEDD Area Agency on Aging in Shawnee
- Christ for Humanity in Tulsa
- Special Education Resolution Center in Tulsa
- The Children’s Center Rehabilitation Hospital in Bethany
- KEDDO Area Agency on Aging in Wilburton
- Lawton Public Library in Lawton
- Larry’s Home Oxygen in Enid
These partners help us by “holding” equipment in their facilities in between regularly scheduled pick-ups.
Other ways to donate are:
- Complete the online donation form
- Text “Donate” to 833-751-9128
- Call us at 800-257-1705
- Drop an item off at either of our ABLE Tech locations in Stillwater or Oklahoma City
We want to make donating items to the program as easy as possible, as the Device Reutilization Program is 100% donation-based. Visit the Device Reutilization Program webpage to learn more about the program and how it impacts Oklahomans.
We just wrapped up our annual TechAccess Oklahoma conference, and now we're editing the video recordings so we can post them for you all to view! Video editing includes things like trimming excess content and merging multiple feeds, but it also includes making sure the videos are accurately described (when necessary) and captioned. We thought this was a good opportunity to share a few resources you can use to learn to make your videos accessible!
Lyssa recently recorded a webinar with our partner, The AT3 Center, called Making Accessible Videos. During the webinar, she gives tips on recording video content, describing the video, and captioning the video. Brent also wrote a great blog article on captioning videos that will help you learn how to caption your videos appropriately. Join us in making sure the video content you produce is inclusive to all!
Due Process is one of multiple options for dispute resolution in special education, but most people do not realize the complexities involved in such a filing. While it might seem easy to file a due process request (it's only a couple of pages to fill out, what could be so hard?!), what follows the filing often feels daunting, overwhelming, and just plain exhausting for all parties involved. In order to better prepare those considering due process, SERC has plenty of guidance on things to know before you file, including alternate dispute resolution options, and a recent webinar series on due process. SERC is always here to help schools or families discuss considerations for dispute resolution and ensure everyone is fully informed to make the best choice for their situation.
The webinar series is broken into three parts, intended to help prepare those who may be considering filing this particular complaint request: (1.) initial considerations; (2.) preparing for the hearing; and (3.) the hearing itself. Visit the archived section of our Wisdom Wednesdays webpage to watch this series, and make sure to use SERC as your "phone a friend" option when you have questions about special education dispute resolution!
SERC’s mission is to help school districts and parents resolve disputes at the earliest stage possible. To learn more about SERC, visit their website.
Special Education Services
Oklahoma State Department of Education
2500 North Lincoln Boulevard, Suite 412
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
P: (405) 521-3351 F: (405) 522-3503
SDESpecialEducation@sde.ok.gov
Categories: specialed
OSDE - SES - March 26, 2024 - Internal
If your district is serving students with special educational needs who are currently receiving instruction in detention facilities, group homes, or hospitals, the OSDE-SES is offering web-based curricula at no cost to the district. The OSDE-SES has partnered with Edmentum to provide free access to Courseware, Exact Path, and Study Island to special education students who receive their educational services in alternative placements such as detention facilities, group homes, or hospital settings. If you're interested, have questions, or need more information, please contact Elana Grissom.
The Oklahoma State Department of Education hereby notifies all interested parties of its intent to make available and provide information about P.L. 108-446 IDEA Parts B and C, FFY 2025 grant application, for early intervention [infants and toddlers with disabilities, ages birth to three (0-3)], and children and youth with disabilities ages three through twenty-one (3-21) in Oklahoma.
The first draft of the P.L. 108-446 FFY 2024 grant application has been developed for public review and comment prior to the final draft being submitted to the United States Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. The P.L. 108-446 FFY 2025 grant application includes provisions for assuring the state has policies and procedures in effect to meet the eligibility requirements of parts B and C of the act, as well as funds under parts B and C of the act.
For information on how to submit a public comment, please view the attached notice.
End of Year Trainings
Register now for the Open Door Assistance in May.
The Special Education Data Team is also available to answer questions and review data concerns at (405) 521-3351.
FY25 Assurances
The FY2025 Assurances are now available online. Assurances must be completed prior to July 1st.
You can access the Assurances through your Single Sign On.
- Sign into your Single Sign On
- Select: Grants Management/Expenditure Reporting
- Select: Page on the GMS Access
- Change Fiscal Year: 2025
- Proceed: Create your Assurances
If assistance is needed please contact your finance specialist.
For those districts that received funding for Project 618, Age 18–22-Year-Old Transition Development Program, your budget must be submitted by April 1, 2024, or those funds will be forfeited.
If assistance is needed, please contact your finance specialist.
New memorandum regarding changes and updates to the application for High Needs, Tier I and Tier II. Please contact your finance specialist for any assistance
Alternate Diploma Collaborative Feedback
Please take a minute to complete the Alternate Diploma Collaborative Feedback Form. Information from this short survey will be used to plan for future Alternate Diploma Collaborative activities.
OSDE-SES is providing Transition Technical Assistance through a temporary, part-time Secondary Transition Program Specialist. Assistance to schools/districts will be available through various formats to include e-mail, phone, virtual (via Microsoft Teams) and/or in-person. Please use this link to complete a Transition Technical Assistance Request for your school/district regarding Secondary Transition topics, including the new Alternate Diploma and 18-22 Transition Programs. For brief questions and/or more information about Transition Technical Assistance, please contact Claudia Beckner or Lori Chesnut.
The Oklahoma State Department of Education, Office of Special Education Services will continue to hold Secondary Transition/Alternate Diploma Collaborative meetings monthly beginning in August.
Zoom meetings will typically be held on the 4th Thursday of each month at 3:00 p.m., except for holidays/school vacation weeks.
The schedule of monthly sessions and known topics are listed below:
-
March 28, 2024
- Special Olympics Unified Sports – Meg Corn, Special Olympics Oklahoma & Mustang Public Schools
-
April 25, 2024
- - Resources for Career Readiness & Career Exploration - Nathan Brubaker, OK Career Guide & Theresa Shaklee, OK College Start
-
May 23, 2024
- Alternate Diploma & 18-22 Extended Transition Programs: Lessons Learned & Future Focus – OSDE-SES, Districts & Transition Partners
Join us via Zoom for all sessions scheduled.
Meeting ID: 160 702 2023 Passcode: 393839Session 3: "The Writing Rope" by Joan Seditia
Support with building district, site, and classroom infrastructure Discussion of chapters 9-11 from the book . Open discussion and connection to educators. You do not need to have attended the previous sessions.
March 27, 2024 at 4:00 PM
To register for this session, please see Session 3 with The Writing Rope.
Connect your MTSS implementation efforts with the OKMTSS training sequence. Network and problem solve with districts at every stage of implementation.
March Focus: Developing Decision Rules
March 28, 2024 at 9:00 AM
For registration information please see the OKMTSS March Flyer.
Join OSDE-SES and Data-Driven Enterprises to learn more about opting in to survey your former students to raise your response rates and to find out what they have been doing since leaving high school.
Indicator 14: Post-School Outcomes Survey Friday, March 29 at 1:30 PMJoin Zoom Meeting (no registration required)
Meeting ID: 824 7581 7554 Passcode: 244520 Find your local number.The Office of Special Education Services at the Oklahoma State Department has developed a state-systemic improvement plan (SSIP) to support educators who serve kindergarten through third grade students, with a focus on students with special needs and early literacy outcomes.
We are excited to offer an opportunity for the coming school year for school sites who educate students K-3, within the State of Oklahoma, who have scored 0% proficiency for third-grade reading based on state testing proficiency for students with IEPs.
We are hosting informative virtual meetings to answer your questions and provide insight into this program! The informative meetings will be the same session but offered at different times to accommodate your schedule:
Register in advance:
What is the State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP)?
The program features three tiers of participation:
- Tier 1:
- Universal Supports: Access to templates and protocols for early literacy interventions and evidence-based practices. You can access the Universal Supports through OK Multi-Tiered System of Supports | Oklahoma State Department of Education.
- Sequenced Professional Development: Access to a professional development sequence, intended to support educators with early literacy outcomes.
- Tier 2:
- Strategic Leadership Coaching: To support development of a site MTSS leadership team, aide in implementing MTSS for K-3 early literacy, continuous coaching. Application due June 1, 2024.
- Tier 3:
- Instructional Coaching: Application to access direct, individual support for educators working with K-3 students, supporting early literacy. Educators must be concurrently participating in the professional development sequence. Application due June 1, 2024.
The application for participation has been included in the email as links. On-time deadline is June 1, 2024, and late-acceptance will continue until August 1, 2024, or until the capacity for the program has been reached.
For more information to determine if this program is right for your school site, please email Alexa Hudak to set up a phone conversation to answer any questions you might have.
We are eager for your participation!
OSDE is offering a FREE intervention management tool for all districts. This tool is intended to support district and site level intervention tracking that schools are already completing. Weekly sessions regarding how to use the OKMTSS on EDPlan data management system's intervention platform are open for all educators to attend. We will have two sessions in February, three sessions in March and five sessions in April. These training sessions will provide time for general education teachers to learn how to create a group of students for interventions, how to create an individual student intervention plan targeted to evidence-based intervention protocols provided within the platform, and to see how the progress monitoring data is graphed to provide the visual story necessary to determine if a student is or is not responding to the intervention.
OSDE invites general education teacher to access OKMTSS on EDPlan to learn the function of the system this spring, so that when the system is integrated with all of the district's Student Information System (SIS) across the state starting in the 2024-2025 school year, teachers will have a good understand of how to utilize OKMTSS on EDPlan. Below are the registration links for the training sessions. Please consider sending as many general education teachers as possible to these sessions. OSDE seeks to ensure the platform is accessible for all educators so they can practice this spring, in order to prepare for the coming school year use of the OKMTSS on EDPlan system.
- April 3, 2024 at 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
- April 10, 2024 at 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
- April 17, 2024 at 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
- April 24, 2024 at 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
The Oklahoma School for the Deaf is pleased to present the 2024 statewide Deaf Education Conference.
Professionals in the field of deaf education will come together, engage in dynamic workshops, connect with colleagues, and identify pathways to empowering students through access, language, and literacy. Attendees will include early interventionists, early childhood specialists, teachers of the deaf, and educational interpreters.
The pre-conference will be held June 3-4, 2024. The conference will be held June 5-6, 2024.Registration is now open.
OSDE presents a one-day, opportunity for districts to participate in a hands-on
Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) Fidelity of Implementation
Rubric self-assessment. The self-assessment requires a district-level
MTSS Leadership team to assess the district’s implementation level of
the specific essential components necessary to have an MTSS framework
for academics and behavior.
Please see the OKMTSS Fidelity of Implementation Flyer for more information and registration.
**NEW** Certified Trainer for CPI
Beginning with the incoming 2023-2024 school year districts requesting training in Nonviolent Crisis Intervention or Nonviolent Crisis Intervention With Advanced Physical Skills are encouraged to send an employee to become a Certified Trainer for CPI. Once certified to become a trainer the said employee will be certified to train others in their place of employment. Beginning with the forthcoming school year OSDE will be transitioning to Verbal Interventions only and will not train individuals in the disengagements or restraints in CPI. Please note the dates, locations, and the information for contacting the CPI Senior Territory Manager for Oklahoma below.
Location and Date:- Oklahoma City
- April 2, 2024-April 4, 2024
- May 29, 2024-May 31, 2024
- Tulsa
- May 14, 2024-May 16, 2024
Jaime Schroeder, Schedule a Call
Senior Territory Account Manager at CPI for Kansas, Oklahoma & Nebraska
Crisis Prevention Institute
10850 W. Park Place, Suite 250 • Milwaukee, WI 53224
Direct 414.441.1750 • crisisprevention.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jaime-schroeder
The Oklahoma State Department of Education, Office of Special Education Services will be holding their CPI 2-day Regional Trainings for you to send 4 employees to get blue card certified.
ONLY 40 people will be able to attend each session, so make sure you register ASAP! Waiting lists have been opened for spots that are sold out.NOTE: A waitlist has opened for the sessions, if the session is full follow the link to join the waitlist.
- April 11-12, 2024 - Guymon, Oklahoma - Guymon Jr. High *10 spots left*
CPI is approved through Project 613 for substitutes, travel, and lodging. Keep in mind lodging must be at least 60 miles one way. Questions about Project 613 can be directed to Abby Johnson.
Educational Interpreter Registry
If your district employs educational interpreters, please verify that they are on the OSDE Educational Interpreter Registry. All interpreters in an educational setting are required to be on the registry and are required to obtain yearly CEUs.
Special Education Services
Oklahoma State Department of Education
2500 North Lincoln Boulevard, Suite 412
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
P: (405) 521-3351 F: (405) 522-2380
SDESpecialEducation@sde.ok.gov
Categories: specialed
OSDE - SES - March 21, 2024 - External
The Office of Special Education Services at the Oklahoma State Department has developed a state-systemic improvement plan (SSIP) to support educators who serve kindergarten through third grade students, with a focus on students with special needs and early literacy outcomes.
We are excited to offer an opportunity for the coming school year for school sites who educate students K-3, within the State of Oklahoma, who have scored 0% proficiency for third-grade reading based on state testing proficiency for students with IEPs.
We are hosting informative virtual meetings to answer your questions and provide insight into this program! The informative meetings will be the same session but offered at different times to accommodate your schedule:
- March 26th, 2:30-3:30 PM - Register in Advance!
- April 3rd, 4-5 PM - Register in Advance!
- April 19th, 12-1 PM - Register in Advance!
- April 30th, 3-4 PM - Register in Advance!
- May 8th, 8-9 AM - Register in Advance!
What is the State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP)?
The program features three tiers of participation:
- Tier 1:
- Universal Supports: Access to templates and protocols for early literacy interventions and evidence-based practices. You can access the Universal Supports through OK Multi-Tiered System of Supports | Oklahoma State Department of Education.
- Sequenced Professional Development: Access to a professional development sequence, intended to support educators with early literacy outcomes.
- Tier 2:
- Strategic Leadership Coaching: To support development of a site MTSS leadership team, aide in implementing MTSS for K-3 early literacy, continuous coaching. Application due June 1, 2024.
- Tier 3:
- Instructional Coaching: Application to access direct, individual support for educators working with K-3 students, supporting early literacy. Educators must be concurrently participating in the professional development sequence. Application due June 1, 2024.
The application for participation has been included in the email as links. On-time deadline is June 1, 2024, and late-acceptance will continue until August 1, 2024, or until the capacity for the program has been reached.
For more information to determine if this program is right for your school site, please contact Alexa Hudak to set up a phone conversation to answer any questions you might have.
We are eager for your participation!Developed from current research in the field, individual stories, and assessment data, the CVI Protocol provides a new framework for understanding CVI. The protocol outlines 16 visual behaviors and associated compensatory strategies that describe how individuals with CVI can be impacted.
This presentation will:
- Define each area of the protocol
- Outline potential implications
- Describe ideas for accommodations and strategies
- Include stories from individuals with CVI
To find out more information about the webinar series in April, see the CVI Protocol Flyer.
The Oklahoma Deaf Blind Technical Assistance Program in partnership with the University of Oklahoma, will be hosting a webinar discussing Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) on April 18, 2024 at 3:00 PM via Zoom. In the session, Maurice Belote will guide participants in learning about evidence-based auditory strategies that support students with CAPD.
Registration is now open. A Zoom link for the webinar will be emailed to you a week prior to the session.
The Center on Transition Innovations at Virginia Commonwealth University is offering a FREE self-paced 9-lesson course aligned with their theme for March, Transition Planning. The Fundamentals of Transition Planning course is packed with guidance, information, evidence-based practices, and practical application tips for creating effective, high quality transition plans resulting in seamless transition planning. An overview of the course, the content of each lesson, and the registration link are available on the Fundamentals of Transition Planning course page. Check out this overview video on Fundamentals of Transition Planning course here.
- “Supporting CTE Special Populations Grant Application 2024-2026” is now available. Check it out and begin planning in advance for an opportunity to be awarded a two-year grant (up to $50,000/year) aimed at helping schools implement transition programs and/or other support strategies to assist in the provision of transferable skill sets to students regarding the attainment of meaningful employment and becoming productive members of society!!!
- The Supporting CTE Special Populations Overview (oklahoma.gov) outlines the requirements for the 2024-2026 grant application and required goal priorities.
- Perkins LEAs or consortia meeting the $15,000 requirement OR technology centers, technology center co-ops, postsecondary institutions, or consortia meeting the $50,000 requirement are eligible to complete the grant application.
- Application deadline is currently listed as May 3, 2024 (subject to change).
The BEST-STEP program includes a week-long employment program for youth to build their employment skills, followed by a 4 week-paid internship in their community. We are seeking work skills trainers to work with our youth to help develop jobs and serve as job coaches.
This is an excellent opportunity for educational professionals looking to earn some money this summer including teachers, paraprofessionals, classroom assistants, etc.
Applicants need their own transportation, be able to pass a background check, and be prepared to work with our awesome youth with disabilities.
Training is provided and there are several camps in the OKC metro and across the state for which they could apply.
Here are some of the tasks the BEST STEP Skills Trainers (BSST) will be doing with our students:- Employer of record will be OU (University of Oklahoma)
- Hourly rate is $19 to $22 per hour depending on certification.
- Working in April and May, up to 8 hours a week.
- Estimated working at 20-25 hours a week, for up to 6 weeks in June and July.
- Mileage reimbursement is available.
- Collaboration and communication with all team members.
- Participate in student interviews to determine student support needs, skill level and job interests.
- Participate in job development to identify community job placements for student paid work experiences.
- After the first week of employment, visit student worksite at least one-hour, one-time per week, during the remaining 3-week program period.
- Provide technical assistance and/or guidance to employers, co-workers and/or students as needed to increase learning and to maintain employment success.
- Facilitate assistance to employers, co-workers and/or students to complete timesheets and progress reports on a weekly basis.
- Must have a reliable vehicle and required vehicle insurance. Staff will not transport students.
- Must successfully complete the University's background screening requirements, Working with Minors training, and eligible to work in the U.S.
- Must turn in a Direct Service Verification form filled out and signed by the student and turned into the team lead.
Please see the 2024 BEST STEP Skill Trainer Flyer and the 2024 BEST STEP Skill Trainer Questionnaire for more information.
TechNow STEM Camp is open to Oklahoma students with disabilities, ages 14-19 who are on an IEP or 504 Plan or who have other documented physical, mental, or cognitive disabilities. At STEM Camp, students will learn different ways to interact with computers, software, and related technologies to design and create: Power Racer dragster, HT Racer, full color patches for jackets, pants and shirts.
They'll get to make shirts, hats, mouse pads, pin back buttons, and bracelets. Students will develop new skills while interacting with peers and making memories that will last a lifetime. The camp is held from 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. over three days. Below are the dates and locations of the currently planned STEM Camps for Summer 2024.
For more information and to register, please see STEM Camp 2024.
Special Education Paraeducator Assessment and Evaluation Toolkit from CEC
The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) provides this toolkit as a resource for school district administrators, teachers and paraeducators who work with students with disabilities. This toolkit provides ongoing mentoring and professional development.
The Oklahoma Autism Center is offering Professional Development Opportunities for 2023-2024 including:
- Autism: Foundation Training
- Reducing Challenging Behaviors
- Conducting FBA and Writing BIP's
Please see the OAC Professional Development Opportunities for more information.
Special Education Services
Oklahoma State Department of Education
2500 North Lincoln Boulevard, Suite 412
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
P: (405) 521-3351 F: (405) 522-2380
SDESpecialEducation@sde.ok.gov
Categories: specialed
OSDE - SES - March 19, 2024 - Internal
If your district is serving students with special educational needs who are currently receiving instruction in detention facilities, group homes, or hospitals, the OSDE-SES is offering web-based curricula at no cost to the district. The OSDE-SES has partnered with Edmentum to provide free access to Courseware, Exact Path, and Study Island to special education students who receive their educational services in alternative placements such as detention facilities, group homes, or hospital settings. If you're interested, have questions, or need more information, please contact Elana Grissom.
The Oklahoma State Department of Education hereby notifies all interested parties of its intent to make available and provide information about P.L. 108-446 IDEA Parts B and C, FFY 2025 grant application, for early intervention [infants and toddlers with disabilities, ages birth to three (0-3)], and children and youth with disabilities ages three through twenty-one (3-21) in Oklahoma.
The first draft of the P.L. 108-446 FFY 2024 grant application has been developed for public review and comment prior to the final draft being submitted to the United States Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. The P.L. 108-446 FFY 2025 grant application includes provisions for assuring the state has policies and procedures in effect to meet the eligibility requirements of parts B and C of the act, as well as funds under parts B and C of the act.
For information on how to submit a public comment, please view the attached notice.
Indicator 14: Post-School Outcomes Survey is the “Percent of youth who had IEPs, are no longer in secondary school and who have been competitively employed, enrolled in some type of postsecondary school, or both, within one year of leaving high school.” The Oklahoma State Department of Education, Special Education Services (OSDE-SES) annually surveys exiters (students who exit the IDEA) aged 16 and up a year after they graduate, drop out, or age out. The results are reflected on the annual District Determination Profile (DDP). It is important to have a high percentage of exiters participate in the Post-School Outcomes (PSO) Survey to ensure that the data are representative of the State and districts and useful in improving effective transition programs and services. Survey is available for districts to survey their former students.
Check out the updated PSO Guidance Brief for Students and Families with your students and families.
Paraprofessional or Personal Care AssistantThis guidance brief offers guidance for discussion questions IEP teams may use to consider whether or not a student with disabilities needs individualized support from a paraprofessional or personal care assistant. This document addresses instrumental activities of daily living, health-related functions, redirection of behavior, and other tasks as identified in an Individualized Education Program (IEP), Section 504 Plan, or health plan for assigned students.
OSDE-SES continues its partnership with PCG-Medicaid billing services and Presence this year. Presence is the leading provider of live, online therapy and evaluation services in pre–K–12 schools and has delivered over 6 million sessions to students around the country.
You may contract directly with Presence to meet any of their evaluation and/or therapy needs.
However, if your district signs up to bill Medicaid through PCG, your district may be eligible to access free evaluations through Presence.
- Jeni Robison for more information about Medicaid billing
- Kelly Wright for more information about services through Presence
OAAP
You can find the most updated OAAP information for the 2023-2024 school year in the OAAP Memo. Find and access information regarding the Kite Educator Portal Data Clean-Up, DLM TIP Sheets, how to pull the Training Status Report, Spring Testing Reminders, and more in the memo.
End of Year Trainings
Register now for the annual training for the end of year data collection. Webinars will be held in March with Open Doors in May. Please plan to attend one or more. More information and the registration links are available here. Please contact a member of the Data Team with questions.
**NEW** FY25 Assurances
The FY2025 Assurances are now available online. Assurances must be completed prior to July 1st.
You can access the Assurances through your Single Sign On.
- Sign into your Single Sign On
- Select: Grants Management/Expenditure Reporting
- Select: Page on the GMS Access
- Change Fiscal Year: 2025
- Proceed: Create your Assurances
If assistance is needed please contact your finance specialist.
For those districts that received funding for Project 618, Age 18–22-Year-Old Transition Development Program, your budget must be submitted by April 1, 2024, or those funds will be forfeited.
If assistance is needed, please contact your finance specialist.
New memorandum regarding changes and updates to the application for High Needs, Tier I and Tier II. Please contact your finance specialist for any assistance
**NEW** Alternate Diploma Collaborative Feedback
Please take a minute to complete the Alternate Diploma Collaborative Feedback Form. Information from this short survey will be used to plan for future Alternate Diploma Collaborative activities.
OSDE-SES is providing Transition Technical Assistance through a temporary, part-time Secondary Transition Program Specialist. Assistance to schools/districts will be available through various formats to include e-mail, phone, virtual (via Microsoft Teams) and/or in-person. Please use this link to complete a Transition Technical Assistance Request for your school/district regarding Secondary Transition topics, including the new Alternate Diploma and 18-22 Transition Programs. For brief questions and/or more information about Transition Technical Assistance, please contact Claudia Beckner or Lori Chesnut.
The Oklahoma State Department of Education, Office of Special Education Services will continue to hold Secondary Transition/Alternate Diploma Collaborative meetings monthly beginning in August.
Zoom meetings will typically be held on the 4th Thursday of each month at 3:00 p.m., except for holidays/school vacation weeks.
The schedule of monthly sessions and known topics are listed below:
-
March 28, 2024
- Special Olympics Unified Sports – Meg Corn, Special Olympics Oklahoma & Mustang Public Schools
-
April 25, 2024
- - Resources for Career Readiness & Career Exploration - Nathan Brubaker, OK Career Guide & Theresa Shaklee, OK College Start
-
May 23, 2024
- Alternate Diploma & 18-22 Extended Transition Programs: Lessons Learned & Future Focus – OSDE-SES, Districts & Transition Partners
Join us via Zoom for all sessions scheduled.
Meeting ID: 160 702 2023 Passcode: 393839State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP)
The Office of Special Education Services at the Oklahoma State Department has developed a state-systemic improvement plan (SSIP) to support educators who serve kindergarten through third grade students, with a focus on students with special needs and early literacy outcomes.
We are excited to offer an opportunity for the coming school year for school sites who educate students K-3, within the State of Oklahoma, who have scored 0% proficiency for third-grade reading based on state testing proficiency for students with IEPs.
We are hosting informative virtual meetings to answer your questions and provide insight into this program! The informative meetings will be the same session but offered at different times to accommodate your schedule:
Register in advance:
What is the State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP)?
The program features three tiers of participation:
- Tier 1:
- Universal Supports: Access to templates and protocols for early literacy interventions and evidence-based practices. You can access the Universal Supports through OK Multi-Tiered System of Supports | Oklahoma State Department of Education.
- Sequenced Professional Development: Access to a professional development sequence, intended to support educators with early literacy outcomes.
- Tier 2:
- Strategic Leadership Coaching: To support development of a site MTSS leadership team, aide in implementing MTSS for K-3 early literacy, continuous coaching. Application due June 1, 2024.
- Tier 3:
- Instructional Coaching: Application to access direct, individual support for educators working with K-3 students, supporting early literacy. Educators must be concurrently participating in the professional development sequence. Application due June 1, 2024.
The application for participation has been included in the email as links. On-time deadline is June 1, 2024, and late-acceptance will continue until August 1, 2024, or until the capacity for the program has been reached.
For more information to determine if this program is right for your school site, please email Alexa Hudak to set up a phone conversation to answer any questions you might have.
We are eager for your participation!
OSDE is offering a FREE intervention management tool for all districts. This tool is intended to support district and site level intervention tracking that schools are already completing. Weekly sessions regarding how to use the OKMTSS on EDPlan data management system's intervention platform are open for all educators to attend. We will have two sessions in February, three sessions in March and five sessions in April. These training sessions will provide time for general education teachers to learn how to create a group of students for interventions, how to create an individual student intervention plan targeted to evidence-based intervention protocols provided within the platform, and to see how the progress monitoring data is graphed to provide the visual story necessary to determine if a student is or is not responding to the intervention.
OSDE invites general education teacher to access OKMTSS on EDPlan to learn the function of the system this spring, so that when the system is integrated with all of the district's Student Information System (SIS) across the state starting in the 2024-2025 school year, teachers will have a good understand of how to utilize OKMTSS on EDPlan. Below are the registration links for the training sessions. Please consider sending as many general education teachers as possible to these sessions. OSDE seeks to ensure the platform is accessible for all educators so they can practice this spring, in order to prepare for the coming school year use of the OKMTSS on EDPlan system.
- March 26, 2024 at 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
- April 3, 2024 at 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
- April 10, 2024 at 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
- April 17, 2024 at 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
- April 24, 2024 at 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Support with building district, site, and classroom infrastructure Discussion of chapters 9-11 from the book . Open discussion and connection to educators. You do not need to have attended the previous sessions.
March 27, 2024 at 4:00 PM
To register for this session, please see Session 3 with The Writing Rope.
Connect your MTSS implementation efforts with the OKMTSS training sequence. Network and problem solve with districts at every stage of implementation.
March Focus: Developing Decision Rules
March 28, 2024 at 9:00 AM
For registration information please see the OKMTSS March Flyer.
This training will focus on using assessment results to develop meaningful transition plans for students with mild/moderate disabilities.
Participants will:
- Learn to incorporate transition assessment results into the IEP
- Review case studies
- Analyze transition assessment results
- Use assessment results to identify specific transition strengths and needs and develop postsecondary goals, annual transition goals, services, coordinated activities, and courses of study.
- May 7 from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm (check-in begins at 8:30 am) at Central Technology Center, Sapulpa
This training will focus on using assessment results to develop meaningful transition plans for students with severve/profound disabilities.
Participants will:
- Learn to incorporate transition assessment results into the IEP
- Review case studies
- Analyze transition assessment results
- Use assessment results to identify specific transition strengths and needs and develop postsecondary goals, annual transition goals, services, coordinated activities, and courses of study.
- May 8 from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm (check-in begins at 8:30 am) at Central Technology Center, Sapulpa
The Oklahoma School for the Deaf is pleased to present the 2024 statewide Deaf Education Conference.
Professionals in the field of deaf education will come together, engage in dynamic workshops, connect with colleagues, and identify pathways to empowering students through access, language, and literacy. Attendees will include early interventionists, early childhood specialists, teachers of the deaf, and educational interpreters.
The pre-conference will be held June 3-4, 2024. The conference will be held June 5-6, 2024.Registration is now open.
OSDE presents a one-day, opportunity for districts to participate in a hands-on
Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) Fidelity of Implementation
Rubric self-assessment. The self-assessment requires a district-level
MTSS Leadership team to assess the district’s implementation level of
the specific essential components necessary to have an MTSS framework
for academics and behavior.
Please see the OKMTSS Fidelity of Implementation Flyer for more information and registration.
**UPDATED** CPI Trainings for 2023-2024 SY
The Oklahoma State Department of Education, Office of Special Education Services will be holding their CPI 2-day Regional Trainings for you to send 4 employees to get blue card certified.
ONLY 40 people will be able to attend each session, so make sure you register ASAP! Waiting lists have been opened for spots that are sold out.NOTE: A waitlist has opened for the sessions, if the session is full follow the link to join the waitlist.
- April 11-12, 2024 - Guymon, Oklahoma - Guymon Jr. High *9 spots left*
CPI is approved through Project 613 for substitutes, travel, and lodging. Keep in mind lodging must be at least 60 miles one way. Questions about Project 613 can be directed to Abby Johnson.
Educational Interpreter Registry
If your district employs educational interpreters, please verify that they are on the OSDE Educational Interpreter Registry. All interpreters in an educational setting are required to be on the registry and are required to obtain yearly CEUs.
Special Education Services
Oklahoma State Department of Education
2500 North Lincoln Boulevard, Suite 412
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
P: (405) 521-3351 F: (405) 522-2380
SDESpecialEducation@sde.ok.gov
Categories: specialed
OSDE - SES - March 14, 2024 - External
The Center on Transition Innovations at Virginia Commonwealth University is offering a FREE self-paced 9-lesson course aligned with their theme for March, Transition Planning. The Fundamentals of Transition Planning course is packed with guidance, information, evidence-based practices, and practical application tips for creating effective, high quality transition plans resulting in seamless transition planning. An overview of the course, the content of each lesson, and the registration link are available on the Fundamentals of Transition Planning course page. Check out this overview video on Fundamentals of Transition Planning course here.
- “Supporting CTE Special Populations Grant Application 2024-2026” is now available. Check it out and begin planning in advance for an opportunity to be awarded a two-year grant (up to $50,000/year) aimed at helping schools implement transition programs and/or other support strategies to assist in the provision of transferable skill sets to students regarding the attainment of meaningful employment and becoming productive members of society!!!
- The Supporting CTE Special Populations Overview (oklahoma.gov) outlines the requirements for the 2024-2026 grant application and required goal priorities.
- Perkins LEAs or consortia meeting the $15,000 requirement OR technology centers, technology center co-ops, postsecondary institutions, or consortia meeting the $50,000 requirement are eligible to complete the grant application.
- Application deadline is currently listed as May 3, 2024 (subject to change).
The Office of Special Education Services at the Oklahoma State Department has developed a state-systemic improvement plan (SSIP) to support educators who serve kindergarten through third grade students, with a focus on students with special needs and early literacy outcomes.
We are excited to offer an opportunity for the coming school year for school sites who educate students K-3, within the State of Oklahoma, who have scored 0% proficiency for third-grade reading based on state testing proficiency for students with IEPs.
We are hosting informative virtual meetings to answer your questions and provide insight into this program! The informative meetings will be the same session but offered at different times to accommodate your schedule:
- March 26th, 2:30-3:30 PM - Register in Advance!
- April 3rd, 4-5 PM - Register in Advance!
- April 19th, 12-1 PM - Register in Advance!
- April 30th, 3-4 PM - Register in Advance!
- May 8th, 8-9 AM - Register in Advance!
What is the State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP)?
The program features three tiers of participation:
- Tier 1:
- Universal Supports: Access to templates and protocols for early literacy interventions and evidence-based practices. You can access the Universal Supports through OK Multi-Tiered System of Supports | Oklahoma State Department of Education.
- Sequenced Professional Development: Access to a professional development sequence, intended to support educators with early literacy outcomes.
- Tier 2:
- Strategic Leadership Coaching: To support development of a site MTSS leadership team, aide in implementing MTSS for K-3 early literacy, continuous coaching. Application due June 1, 2024.
- Tier 3:
- Instructional Coaching: Application to access direct, individual support for educators working with K-3 students, supporting early literacy. Educators must be concurrently participating in the professional development sequence. Application due June 1, 2024.
The application for participation has been included in the email as links. On-time deadline is June 1, 2024, and late-acceptance will continue until August 1, 2024, or until the capacity for the program has been reached.
For more information to determine if this program is right for your school site, please contact Alexa Hudak to set up a phone conversation to answer any questions you might have.
We are eager for your participation!Developed from current research in the field, individual stories, and assessment data, the CVI Protocol provides a new framework for understanding CVI. The protocol outlines 16 visual behaviors and associated compensatory strategies that describe how individuals with CVI can be impacted.
This presentation will:
- Define each area of the protocol
- Outline potential implications
- Describe ideas for accommodations and strategies
- Include stories from individuals with CVI
To find out more information about the webinar series in April, see the CVI Protocol Flyer.
The BEST-STEP program includes a week-long employment program for youth to build their employment skills, followed by a 4 week-paid internship in their community. We are seeking work skills trainers to work with our youth to help develop jobs and serve as job coaches.
This is an excellent opportunity for educational professionals looking to earn some money this summer including teachers, paraprofessionals, classroom assistants, etc.
Applicants need their own transportation, be able to pass a background check, and be prepared to work with our awesome youth with disabilities.
Training is provided and there are several camps in the OKC metro and across the state for which they could apply.
Here are some of the tasks the BEST STEP Skills Trainers (BSST) will be doing with our students:- Employer of record will be OU (University of Oklahoma)
- Hourly rate is $19 to $22 per hour depending on certification.
- Working in April and May, up to 8 hours a week.
- Estimated working at 20-25 hours a week, for up to 6 weeks in June and July.
- Mileage reimbursement is available.
- Collaboration and communication with all team members.
- Participate in student interviews to determine student support needs, skill level and job interests.
- Participate in job development to identify community job placements for student paid work experiences.
- After the first week of employment, visit student worksite at least one-hour, one-time per week, during the remaining 3-week program period.
- Provide technical assistance and/or guidance to employers, co-workers and/or students as needed to increase learning and to maintain employment success.
- Facilitate assistance to employers, co-workers and/or students to complete timesheets and progress reports on a weekly basis.
- Must have a reliable vehicle and required vehicle insurance. Staff will not transport students.
- Must successfully complete the University's background screening requirements, Working with Minors training, and eligible to work in the U.S.
- Must turn in a Direct Service Verification form filled out and signed by the student and turned into the team lead.
Please see the 2024 BEST STEP Skill Trainer Flyer and the 2024 BEST STEP Skill Trainer Questionnaire for more information.
TechNow STEM Camp is open to Oklahoma students with disabilities, ages 14-19 who are on an IEP or 504 Plan or who have other documented physical, mental, or cognitive disabilities. At STEM Camp, students will learn different ways to interact with computers, software, and related technologies to design and create: Power Racer dragster, HT Racer, full color patches for jackets, pants and shirts.
They'll get to make shirts, hats, mouse pads, pin back buttons, and bracelets. Students will develop new skills while interacting with peers and making memories that will last a lifetime. The camp is held from 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. over three days. Below are the dates and locations of the currently planned STEM Camps for Summer 2024.
For more information and to register, please see STEM Camp 2024.
Special Education Paraeducator Assessment and Evaluation Toolkit from CEC
The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) provides this toolkit as a resource for school district administrators, teachers and paraeducators who work with students with disabilities. This toolkit provides ongoing mentoring and professional development.
The Oklahoma Autism Center is offering Professional Development Opportunities for 2023-2024 including:
- Autism: Foundation Training
- Reducing Challenging Behaviors
- Conducting FBA and Writing BIP's
Please see the OAC Professional Development Opportunities for more information.
Special Education Services
Oklahoma State Department of Education
2500 North Lincoln Boulevard, Suite 412
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
P: (405) 521-3351 F: (405) 522-2380
SDESpecialEducation@sde.ok.gov
Categories: specialed
OSDE - SES - March 12, 2024 - Internal
Indicator 14: Post-School Outcomes Survey is the “Percent of youth who had IEPs, are no longer in secondary school and who have been competitively employed, enrolled in some type of postsecondary school, or both, within one year of leaving high school.” The Oklahoma State Department of Education, Special Education Services (OSDE-SES) annually surveys exiters (students who exit the IDEA) aged 16 and up a year after they graduate, drop out, or age out. The results are reflected on the annual District Determination Profile (DDP). It is important to have a high percentage of exiters participate in the Post-School Outcomes (PSO) Survey to ensure that the data are representative of the State and districts and useful in improving effective transition programs and services. Survey is available for districts to survey their former students.
Check out the updated PSO Guidance Brief for Students and Families with your students and families.
Paraprofessional or Personal Care AssistantThis guidance brief offers guidance for discussion questions IEP teams may use to consider whether or not a student with disabilities needs individualized support from a paraprofessional or personal care assistant. This document addresses instrumental activities of daily living, health-related functions, redirection of behavior, and other tasks as identified in an Individualized Education Program (IEP), Section 504 Plan, or health plan for assigned students.
OSDE-SES continues its partnership with PCG-Medicaid billing services and Presence this year. Presence is the leading provider of live, online therapy and evaluation services in pre–K–12 schools and has delivered over 6 million sessions to students around the country.
You may contract directly with Presence to meet any of their evaluation and/or therapy needs.
However, if your district signs up to bill Medicaid through PCG, your district may be eligible to access free evaluations through Presence.
- Jeni Robison for more information about Medicaid billing
- Kelly Wright for more information about services through Presence
**NEW** OAAP
You can find the most updated OAAP information for the 2023-2024 school year in the OAAP Memo. Find and access information regarding the Kite Educator Portal Data Clean-Up, DLM TIP Sheets, how to pull the Training Status Report, Spring Testing Reminders, and more in the memo.
*UPDATED* End of Year Trainings
Register now for the annual training for the end of year data collection. Webinars will be held in March with Open Doors in May. Please plan to attend one or more. More information and the registration links are available here. Please contact a member of the Data Team with questions.
Project 613
OSDE sponsored events, professional development, and conferences are beneficial to special education teachers and staff. Information about upcoming events can be found on the Project 613 list.
Additional information or questions about Project 613 can be directed to Abby Johnson
The IDEA Part B Flowthrough Allocation Adjustment has now been uploaded in the Grant Management System (GMS). Districts must create a budget amendment for the IDEA Consolidated Application in order to view and budget those funds. To access the Grants Management System (GMS), go to the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) website and scroll down to the Oklahoma State Department of Education Single Sign-On and click to access the site.
- Login by using your username and password.
- Click the Grants Management and Expenditure Reporting button
- Scroll down to IDEA Consolidated Application
- Click the amend button.
For questions or additional information, please contact your Finance Specialist. The budget amendment should be completed by March 15, 2024.
For those districts that received funding for Project 618, Age 18–22-Year-Old Transition Development Program, your budget must be submitted by April 1, 2024, or those funds will be forfeited.
If assistance is needed, please contact your finance specialist.
New memorandum regarding changes and updates to the application for High Needs, Tier I and Tier II. Please contact your finance specialist for any assistance
Secondary Technical Assistance
OSDE-SES is providing Transition Technical Assistance through a temporary, part-time Secondary Transition Program Specialist. Assistance to schools/districts will be available through various formats to include e-mail, phone, virtual (via Microsoft Teams) and/or in-person. Please use this link to complete a Transition Technical Assistance Request for your school/district regarding Secondary Transition topics, including the new Alternate Diploma and 18-22 Transition Programs. For brief questions and/or more information about Transition Technical Assistance, please contact Claudia Beckner or Lori Chesnut.
The Oklahoma State Department of Education, Office of Special Education Services will continue to hold Secondary Transition/Alternate Diploma Collaborative meetings monthly beginning in August.
Zoom meetings will typically be held on the 4th Thursday of each month at 3:00 p.m., except for holidays/school vacation weeks.
The schedule of monthly sessions and known topics are listed below:
-
March 28, 2024
- Special Olympics Unified Sports – Meg Corn, Special Olympics Oklahoma & Mustang Public Schools
-
April 25, 2024
- - Resources for Career Readiness & Career Exploration - Nathan Brubaker, OK Career Guide & Theresa Shaklee, OK College Start
-
May 23, 2024
- Alternate Diploma & 18-22 Extended Transition Programs: Lessons Learned & Future Focus – OSDE-SES, Districts & Transition Partners
Join us via Zoom for all sessions scheduled.
Meeting ID: 160 702 2023 Passcode: 393839State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP)
The Office of Special Education Services at the Oklahoma State Department has developed a state-systemic improvement plan (SSIP) to support educators who serve kindergarten through third grade students, with a focus on students with special needs and early literacy outcomes.
We are excited to offer an opportunity for the coming school year for school sites who educate students K-3, within the State of Oklahoma, who have scored 0% proficiency for third-grade reading based on state testing proficiency for students with IEPs.
We are hosting informative virtual meetings to answer your questions and provide insight into this program! The informative meetings will be the same session but offered at different times to accommodate your schedule:
Register in advance:
- March 13th, 12-1 PM
- March 26th, 2:30-3:30 PM
- April 3rd, 4-5 PM
- April 19th, 12-1 PM
- April 30th, 3-4 PM
- May 8th, 8-9 AM
What is the State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP)?
The program features three tiers of participation:
- Tier 1:
- Universal Supports: Access to templates and protocols for early literacy interventions and evidence-based practices. You can access the Universal Supports through OK Multi-Tiered System of Supports | Oklahoma State Department of Education.
- Sequenced Professional Development: Access to a professional development sequence, intended to support educators with early literacy outcomes.
- Tier 2:
- Strategic Leadership Coaching: To support development of a site MTSS leadership team, aide in implementing MTSS for K-3 early literacy, continuous coaching. Application due June 1, 2024.
- Tier 3:
- Instructional Coaching: Application to access direct, individual support for educators working with K-3 students, supporting early literacy. Educators must be concurrently participating in the professional development sequence. Application due June 1, 2024.
The application for participation has been included in the email as links. On-time deadline is June 1, 2024, and late-acceptance will continue until August 1, 2024, or until the capacity for the program has been reached.
For more information to determine if this program is right for your school site, please email Alexa Hudak to set up a phone conversation to answer any questions you might have.
We are eager for your participation!
OSDE is offering a FREE intervention management tool for all districts, this is a different aspect of EDPlan that is different than EasyIEP. This tool is intended to support district and site level intervention tracking that schools are already completing. Weekly sessions regarding how to use the OKMTSS on EDPlan data management system's intervention platform are open for all educators to attend. We will have two sessions in February, three sessions in March and five sessions in April. These training sessions will provide time for general education teachers to learn how to create a group of students for interventions, how to create an individual student intervention plan targeted to evidence-based intervention protocols provided within the platform, and to see how the progress monitoring data is graphed to provide the visual story necessary to determine if a student is or is not responding to the intervention.
OSDE invites general education teacher to access OKMTSS on EDPlan to learn the function of the system this spring, so that when the system is integrated with all of the district's Student Information System (SIS) across the state starting in the 2024-2025 school year, teachers will have a good understand of how to utilize OKMTSS on EDPlan.
Below are the registration links for the February training sessions. Please consider sending as many general education teachers as possible to these sessions. OSDE seeks to ensure the platform is accessible for all educators so they can practice this spring, in order to prepare for the coming school year use of the OKMTSS on EDPlan system.
- March 26, 2024 at 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
- April 3, 2024 at 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
- April 10, 2024 at 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
- April 17, 2024 at 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
- April 24, 2024 at 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
This training will focus on using assessment results to develop meaningful transition plans for students with mild/moderate disabilities.
Participants will:
- Learn to incorporate transition assessment results into the IEP
- Review case studies
- Analyze transition assessment results
- Use assessment results to identify specific transition strengths and needs and develop postsecondary goals, annual transition goals, services, coordinated activities, and courses of study.
- May 7 from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm (check-in begins at 8:30 am) at Central Technology Center, Sapulpa
This training will focus on using assessment results to develop meaningful transition plans for students with severve/profound disabilities.
Participants will:
- Learn to incorporate transition assessment results into the IEP
- Review case studies
- Analyze transition assessment results
- Use assessment results to identify specific transition strengths and needs and develop postsecondary goals, annual transition goals, services, coordinated activities, and courses of study.
- May 8 from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm (check-in begins at 8:30 am) at Central Technology Center, Sapulpa
The Oklahoma School for the Deaf is pleased to present the 2024 statewide Deaf Education Conference.
Professionals in the field of deaf education will come together, engage in dynamic workshops, connect with colleagues, and identify pathways to empowering students through access, language, and literacy. Attendees will include early interventionists, early childhood specialists, teachers of the deaf, and educational interpreters.
The pre-conference will be held June 3-4, 2024. The conference will be held June 5-6, 2024.Registration is now open.
**UPDATED** CPI Trainings for 2023-2024 SY
The Oklahoma State Department of Education, Office of Special Education Services will be holding their CPI 2-day Regional Trainings for you to send 4 employees to get blue card certified.
ONLY 40 people will be able to attend each session, so make sure you register ASAP! Waiting lists have been opened for spots that are sold out.NOTE: A waitlist has opened for the sessions, if the session is full follow the link to join the waitlist.
- March 14-15, 2024 - Afton, Oklahoma - Northeast Technology - Afton Campus, we have 7 spots available. Contact Megan Salisbury if you would like to have a spot!
- April 11-12, 2024 - Guymon, Oklahoma - Guymon Jr. High
CPI is approved through Project 613 for substitutes, travel, and lodging. Keep in mind lodging must be at least 60 miles one way. Questions about Project 613 can be directed to Abby Johnson.
Educational Interpreter Registry
If your district employs educational interpreters, please verify that they are on the OSDE Educational Interpreter Registry. All interpreters in an educational setting are required to be on the registry and are required to obtain yearly CEUs.
Special Education Services
Oklahoma State Department of Education
2500 North Lincoln Boulevard, Suite 412
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
P: (405) 521-3351 F: (405) 522-2380
SDESpecialEducation@sde.ok.gov
Categories: specialed
OSDE - SES - March 7, 2024 - External
- “Supporting CTE Special Populations Grant Application 2024-2026” is now available. Check it out and begin planning in advance for an opportunity to be awarded a two-year grant (up to $50,000/year) aimed at helping schools implement transition programs and/or other support strategies to assist in the provision of transferable skill sets to students regarding the attainment of meaningful employment and becoming productive members of society!!!
- The Supporting CTE Special Populations Overview (oklahoma.gov) outlines the requirements for the 2024-2026 grant application and required goal priorities.
- Perkins LEAs or consortia meeting the $15,000 requirement OR technology centers, technology center co-ops, postsecondary institutions, or consortia meeting the $50,000 requirement are eligible to complete the grant application.
- Application deadline is currently listed as May 3, 2024 (subject to change).
Language is the foundation for the development of reading and writing. Learn about what the intersection of reading and writing instruction look like for young students, older students, and bilingual students. We invite you to attend AIM's 12th Annual Research to Practice Symposium to discover the intersection of reading and writing.
When: March 11, 2024, 8:30 am - 3:30 pm ET
Where: Live Stream Access - In-Person Attendance Has Reached Capacity
Cost: FREE Online Attendance Options
CEUs Available: ALTA, IMSLEC, IDA and Wilson® Professional Learning Credits
Register: 12th Annual Research to Practice Symposium - The Intersection of Reading and Writing
Social Media: Hashtag: #AIMSymposium2024 @aimtolearn (X) and @aiminstitutepa (Facebook)
The Office of Special Education Services at the Oklahoma State Department has developed a state-systemic improvement plan (SSIP) to support educators who serve kindergarten through third grade students, with a focus on students with special needs and early literacy outcomes.
We are excited to offer an opportunity for the coming school year for school sites who educate students K-3, within the State of Oklahoma, who have scored 0% proficiency for third-grade reading based on state testing proficiency for students with IEPs.
We are hosting informative virtual meetings to answer your questions and provide insight into this program! The informative meetings will be the same session but offered at different times to accommodate your schedule:
- March 13th, 12-1 PM - Register in Advance!
- March 26th, 2:30-3:30 PM - Register in Advance!
- April 3rd, 4-5 PM - Register in Advance!
- April 19th, 12-1 PM - Register in Advance!
- April 30th, 3-4 PM - Register in Advance!
- May 8th, 8-9 AM - Register in Advance!
What is the State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP)?
The program features three tiers of participation:
- Tier 1:
- Universal Supports: Access to templates and protocols for early literacy interventions and evidence-based practices. You can access the Universal Supports through OK Multi-Tiered System of Supports | Oklahoma State Department of Education.
- Sequenced Professional Development: Access to a professional development sequence, intended to support educators with early literacy outcomes.
- Tier 2:
- Strategic Leadership Coaching: To support development of a site MTSS leadership team, aide in implementing MTSS for K-3 early literacy, continuous coaching. Application due June 1, 2024.
- Tier 3:
- Instructional Coaching: Application to access direct, individual support for educators working with K-3 students, supporting early literacy. Educators must be concurrently participating in the professional development sequence. Application due June 1, 2024.
The application for participation has been included in the email as links. On-time deadline is June 1, 2024, and late-acceptance will continue until August 1, 2024, or until the capacity for the program has been reached.
For more information to determine if this program is right for your school site, please contact Alexa Hudak to set up a phone conversation to answer any questions you might have.
We are eager for your participation!Developed from current research in the field, individual stories, and assessment data, the CVI Protocol provides a new framework for understanding CVI. The protocol outlines 16 visual behaviors and associated compensatory strategies that describe how individuals with CVI can be impacted.
This presentation will:
- Define each area of the protocol
- Outline potential implications
- Describe ideas for accommodations and strategies
- Include stories from individuals with CVI
To find out more information about the webinar series in April, see the CVI Protocol Flyer.
The BEST-STEP program includes a week-long employment program for youth to build their employment skills, followed by a 4 week-paid internship in their community. We are seeking work skills trainers to work with our youth to help develop jobs and serve as job coaches.
This is an excellent opportunity for educational professionals looking to earn some money this summer including teachers, paraprofessionals, classroom assistants, etc.
Applicants need their own transportation, be able to pass a background check, and be prepared to work with our awesome youth with disabilities.
Training is provided and there are several camps in the OKC metro and across the state for which they could apply.
Here are some of the tasks the BEST STEP Skills Trainers (BSST) will be doing with our students:- Employer of record will be OU (University of Oklahoma)
- Hourly rate is $19 to $22 per hour depending on certification.
- Working in April and May, up to 8 hours a week.
- Estimated working at 20-25 hours a week, for up to 6 weeks in June and July.
- Mileage reimbursement is available.
- Collaboration and communication with all team members.
- Participate in student interviews to determine student support needs, skill level and job interests.
- Participate in job development to identify community job placements for student paid work experiences.
- After the first week of employment, visit student worksite at least one-hour, one-time per week, during the remaining 3-week program period.
- Provide technical assistance and/or guidance to employers, co-workers and/or students as needed to increase learning and to maintain employment success.
- Facilitate assistance to employers, co-workers and/or students to complete timesheets and progress reports on a weekly basis.
- Must have a reliable vehicle and required vehicle insurance. Staff will not transport students.
- Must successfully complete the University's background screening requirements, Working with Minors training, and eligible to work in the U.S.
- Must turn in a Direct Service Verification form filled out and signed by the student and turned into the team lead.
Please see the 2024 BEST STEP Skill Trainer Flyer and the 2024 BEST STEP Skill Trainer Questionnaire for more information.
Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) 2024 Special Education Convention & Expo
Each year at the CEC Convention & Expo, thousands of special education professionals from around the world come together to learn, share, grow, and connect. With hundreds of sessions on just about every topic in the field, the CEC Convention & Expo is THE professional development event for special educators to find research, tips, and strategies to support students with disabilities and/or gifts and talents.
Please join us March 13-16, 2024. For more information, view the CEC 2024 Convention & Expo Website.
The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) provides this toolkit as a resource for school district administrators, teachers and paraeducators who work with students with disabilities. This toolkit provides ongoing mentoring and professional development.
The Oklahoma Autism Center is offering Professional Development Opportunities for 2023-2024 including:
- Autism: Foundation Training
- Reducing Challenging Behaviors
- Conducting FBA and Writing BIP's
Please see the OAC Professional Development Opportunities for more information.
Special Education Services
Oklahoma State Department of Education
2500 North Lincoln Boulevard, Suite 412
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
P: (405) 521-3351 F: (405) 522-2380
SDESpecialEducation@sde.ok.gov
Categories: specialed
Oklahoma ABLE Tech - Vol. 2, Issue 2
Happy March from Oklahoma ABLE Tech! We're excited to update you about what's been happening over the last month and give you some sneak peeks of what's coming soon.
March is Brain Injury Awareness Month! Check out these AT devices chosen by our AT specialists from the Learning, Cognition, and Development category that can be used to help people with brain injuries complete everyday tasks. These devices can help with memory and recall, sequencing, and completing tasks.
As you plan for next school year, remember all curricular materials must be created, or adapted, so they are accessible to all students. If your school district is planning on purchasing materials, contract language should be included that speaks to the publisher’s obligation to provide the materials in an accessible format. Contracts should request curriculum files be placed in the NIMAC at the time of purchase. This ensures the materials are available to all students promptly. Visit the NIMAC website for more information.
Note: Any materials a school district purchases that are on the state-approved textbook adoption list must be available in an accessible digital format for students. This is because the Oklahoma State Department of Education requires publishers to submit the book files to the National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC), making them available to Accessible Media Producers (AMPs) such as Bookshare.
“Bookshare makes reading easier. People with dyslexia, blindness, cerebral palsy, and other reading barriers can customize their experience to suit their learning style and find virtually any book they need for school, work, and the joy of reading," according to the Bookshare website.
Bookshare is an excellent resource for teachers and administrators when considering accessible educational materials (AEM).
- Search over 1 million titles.
- Read anywhere.
- Get unlimited access FREE for students and schools.
Search Bookshare for available titles and fill out a book request if you don’t see what you need. ABLE Tech can assist with searching the NIMAC and other repositories to request accessible files from publishers when necessary. Email Dr. Joshua Hawkins for assistance.
We had a great time at the Stillwater Smart Home Open House on February 13! Thank you to everyone who stopped by to visit, contributed to, and supported this event!
If you or someone you know is interested in learning more about the Smart Home assistive technology (AT) we have available, visit our Smart Home Demonstrations webpage. Virtual and in-person tours and consultations are available, call our office to schedule!!
Recently, there's been more talk about keeping an eye on your health at home, especially when it comes to checking your blood pressure. Checking blood pressure at home can help at-risk individuals detect high blood pressure early. Self-monitoring also helps healthcare providers make the best treatment plans. Monitoring blood pressure at home also leads to healthcare cost savings for those who need to check their numbers regularly. When you check your blood pressure at home, you might get a more accurate picture of your numbers when you're not at the doctor's office.
Because of this, Oklahoma ABLE Tech is receiving more requests for home blood pressure monitors than ever. Right now, over 200 people are waiting to get wrist or arm blood pressure monitors.
If you're reading this, we ask you to consider donating a blood pressure monitor (or several) to help us support Oklahomans in need. To find out more about donating DME, visit the Oklahoma ABLE Tech Device Reutilization Program's How to Donate page.
Identity theft is increasing, and attackers may gain access to your personal information by:
- Dumpster diving for documents containing personal information
- Emails, calls, or texts from individuals pretending to be a bank or someone you trust to request your personal information
- Hacking your computers or mobile devices
- Data breaches at other organizations that store information, like banks
Here are some actions you can take to protect yourself:
- Shred documents that contain personal information
- Password protect your devices and use strong passwords for your accounts
- Don't use public Wi-Fi
- Monitor your credit and bank accounts closely
Do you want to learn more about identity theft and what to do if you are a victim? Go to myFICO to learn more about this topic. Do you have questions about financial education resources or need to purchase AT? Oklahoma ABLE Tech’s low-interest financial loan program can assist. To apply for a loan, go to the Financial Loan webpage or visit OkAT's website.
Thank you to everyone who made the 2024 TechAccess Oklahoma conference a smashing success! We heard from speakers who have experience in all levels of accessibility, from developers to leaders, about things like content development, burnout, personas, leadership's role in supporting accessibility programs, and everything in between! We know our brains are full, and we're excited to put some of the things we learned into practice. We enjoyed meeting you all and continuing to build a stronger digital accessibility community in Oklahoma!
We'd like to thank our sponsors once again, the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services and the Oklahoma State Department of Education. Without their support, events like TechAccess Oklahoma would not be possible. Next year's conference will be held sometime in February 2025. We hope to see you all back then!
On February 15, Oklahoma ABLE Tech staff conducted the second session of our recurring, three-part workshop series designed to develop participants’ knowledge, skills, and competencies related to assistive technology (AT). In Part 2 of the series, workshop attendees examined the process of conducting an AT assessment. Staff were thrilled to offer Part 2 in a hybrid format, allowing participants to join virtually and in person in Stillwater. Participants who joined in person enjoyed hands-on experience with multiple AT devices.
Enthusiasm was high as attendees explored various AT devices and began bridging theory with practical application. Among them, a speech therapist shared a transformative insight gained during the workshop: one student of hers has difficulty speaking quietly due to a medical condition. The student uses a wheelchair and has difficulty with his breath support. He has come a long way with speech and language and continues to work on his posture for breath support; however, he continues to have difficulty speaking loudly enough for people to hear and understand him. The workshop attendee had never considered recommending a device with voice amplification until coming to ABLE Tech’s workshop in person in Stillwater. She decided to use ABLE Tech’s Short-Term Loan Program to borrow the technology to help her make an informed decision about what assistive technology could best support her student.
We invite you to join us for future AT trainings and explore how assistive technology can enhance learning and accessibility for all individuals.
Part 3 of the AT workshop will be offered virtually on Thursday, March 28, 2024. Register today!
Empowering Voices: Effective AAC Evaluations RecapRecent estimates indicate that 5 million Americans and 97 million people in the world may benefit from Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) (Beukelman and Light (2020.)
Oklahoma ABLE Tech staff have taken a proactive approach to address this need through their Empowering Voices: Effective AAC Evaluations Workshops designed for speech therapists, educators, and other professionals who work with individuals of all ages with communication difficulties. These workshops aim to empower professionals with the necessary knowledge and confidence to conduct thorough AAC assessments and acquire AAC tools for individuals in need.
It’s not too late to register for the Empowering Voices: Effective AAC Evaluations Workshop on Saturday, April 6, in Stillwater.
The Oklahoma Rehabilitation Council (ORC) would like to invite you to the 2024 DRS Business Summit.
The Disability at Work: Thrive Forum 2024 Business Summit is a crucial event highlighting the substantial benefits and Return on Investment tied to disability employment. Through storytelling from successful people with disabilities, employment professionals, partners, and businesses, the business community in Oklahoma will learn how embracing a broader variety of populations into their workforce positively impacts both their bottom line and the communities they provide goods and services to.
The summit also serves as a comprehensive platform for businesses to explore Workforce Services tailored to diverse populations in Oklahoma, offering a clear understanding of the organizational structure. Importantly, it sheds light on the collaborative efforts of workforce partners, emphasizing the shared commitment to fostering inclusive work environments for people with disabilities.
ORC's mission is to facilitate consumer education and empowerment, to assure services are of high quality and lead to the employment of individuals with disabilities within Oklahoma. To learn more about ORC, visit their website.
The United States Department of Education (USDE) recently released guidance regarding IDEA's requirements for assistive technology (AT). This January 2024 PDF document provides specific information on the provision of AT as part of IDEA Part C (0-2 years of age) and Part B (3-22 years of age), as well as myths and facts about devices, services, and funding for AT. Parents, early intervention providers, and school district employees might be especially interested in reading through this document to better understand the federal requirements for individuals with disabilities.
SERC’s mission is to help school districts and parents resolve disputes at the earliest stage possible. To learn more about SERC, visit their website.
Special Education Services
Oklahoma State Department of Education
2500 North Lincoln Boulevard, Suite 412
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
P: (405) 521-3351 F: (405) 522-3503
SDESpecialEducation@sde.ok.gov
Categories: specialed
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