Below is a list of currently available courses.
This course enables educators to develop, increase and demonstrate knowledge and skills in identifying the purposes, legal and ethical principles, appropriate formal and informal instruments, and alternate strategies for the assessment and evaluation of students with disabilities. Course emphasis includes interpretation and application of assessment results.
ObjectivesThis course enables educators to develop, increase and demonstrate knowledge about using the guidelines for differentiation and strategies that support differentiation to improve instruction for all students, especially students with persistent or significant reading difficulties. Emphasis is on the instructional design principles and teacher delivery methods that can be applied at appropriate levels of intensity and duration to increase the explicitness and intensity of language arts instruction in order to achieve optimal results for students who are challenged by learning to read or reading to learn. Conspicuous strategies, strategically integrated skills, and judicious review, delivered with appropriate pacing and precise monitoring, are all part of carefully scaffolded instruction to ensure that each learner is able to comprehend increasingly complex text. This course aligns with current Florida reading initiatives and awards credit for competency four of the Florida Reading Endorsement.
ObjectivesThis course enables educators to develop, increase and demonstrate knowledge and skills about students with disabilities as related to state and federal legislation and case law. The course provides information about appropriate legal and ethical practices and different disability categories. The course content includes information on how to create a successful learning environment, the components and team members of the individualized education process and using models of support for students with disabilities to ensure success with the general education curriculum.
ObjectivesThis course enables educators to develop, increase and demonstrate knowledge about how to select instructional practices which incorporate specific learning strategies and specialized materials to meet individual learner needs. Participants will also learn about analyzing educational activities to assist in the development and implementation of accommodations and modifications that allow students with disabilities to participate in the general curriculum in a meaningful way. Course content includes effective methods of communication, consultation, and collaboration with other educators, related services professionals and with families.
ObjectivesThis course enables educators to develop, increase and demonstrate knowledge and skills in the sequence of receptive and expressive language development/communication and appropriate interventions. Information is provided on the sequence of typical reading development and strategies to address reading difficulties. Content includes ways to integrate communication instruction into educational settings, and how to select appropriate assistive technology and alternative communication systems.
ObjectivesThis course was formerly titled Positive Behavior Support. This course enables educators to develop, increase and demonstrate knowledge and skills in assessing and designing behavioral supports and identifying the legal and ethical issues pertaining to behavioral strategies. Activities focus on identifying data collection strategies as well as on identifying and interpreting elements of a functional behavior assessment and functional behavioral plan. Information is included on how to recognize and use various models of positive behavior management.
ObjectivesThis course enables educators to develop, increase and demonstrate knowledge and skills in identifying the stages of career development and in identifying the essential domains of transition planning for students with disabilities. Content and activities emphasize how to identify resources to assist students with functioning effectively in environments to which they are transitioning. Emphasis is on transition planning that incorporates student and family preferences to develop desired post school outcomes.
ObjectivesThe Exploring Structured Literacy course was designed in response to the 2017 Florida Statute 1012.585(3), which requires that Florida K-6 educators participate in a minimum of two college credits, or 40 in-service hours of professional learning related to the use of explicit, systematic, and sequential approaches to reading instruction, developing phonemic awareness, and implementing multisensory intervention strategies. In order to appropriately meet the literacy needs of all students in the academic environment, this professional learning opportunity emphasizes reading instruction that builds a strong, cumulative, and logical foundation of structured literacy. Components of structured literacy include phonology, sound-symbol correspondences, syllables, morphology, syntax, and semantics.
ObjectivesThis course enables educators to develop, increase and demonstrate knowledge about how to apply the guidelines of differentiating instruction to mathematics instruction. Emphasis is on evidence-based practices structured by a responsive decision-making framework in order for all students to achieve at the highest possible level. Content includes how to use pre-assessment, continuous assessment, and summative assessments to design and deliver effective lessons for initial instruction in mathematics and how to effectively use flexible small group instruction to respond to individual learner needs.
ObjectivesThis course enables educators to develop, increase and demonstrate knowledge about applying the guidelines of differentiation to science instruction for the purposes of increasing student achievement for all learners. Content and activities emphasize how to use pre-assessment, continuous assessment, and summative assessments to design and deliver effective science lessons for whole group initial instruction and how to effectively use flexible small group instruction and individualized instruction, when needed, to respond to each student's needs.
ObjectivesThis course was formerly titled Formative Assessment Process for Differentiating Instruction. Participants will learn and apply each step of the formative assessment process to increase student achievement. Participants will develop skills for using data-based decision making to be responsive to each student’s needs.
ObjectivesThis course enables educators to develop, increase and demonstrate knowledge about proactively providing a universally designed and differentiated environment in order to maximize student achievement for all students. Emphasis is on the importance of having clarity about the learning targets and proactively adjusting instruction utilizing a data-based decision making process that considers students' readiness for the content, interests, and learning preferences. Content and activities emphasize how to proactively provide important, engaging, and appropriately challenging work via flexible grouping methods and utilizing a variety of instructional strategies and supports.
ObjectivesThis course enables educators to develop, increase and demonstrate knowledge about instructional technology, assistive technology, accessible instructional materials, and Universal Design for Learning. Content and activities include how to determine appropriate tools to meet student needs and identify available resources to support district/school use of instructional technology, assistive technology, accessible instructional materials, and Universal Design for Learning.
ObjectivesThis course enables educators to develop, increase and demonstrate knowledge about assistive technology devices and services and the process of helping students with disabilities select, obtain, and use assistive technology. Content includes information about the impact of identified areas of disability including: vision, auditory, physical, communication, intellectual, and cognitive processing and how assistive technology devices and services provide support.
ObjectivesThis course enables educators to develop, increase and demonstrate knowledge about variety of technology tools that can be used by students to scaffold, support, and augment some of the cognitive processing that leads to reading comprehension. This course is not designed to provide guidance in how to teach reading skills.
This course enables educators to develop, increase and demonstrate knowledge about the Matrix of Services. Content and activities examine the requirements for matrix completion and provide the opportunity to accurately complete a matrix for students with disabilities. The course identifies how student educational needs and services impact the matrix funding document.
ObjectivesThis course enables participants to develop, increase and demonstrate knowledge about the requirements and steps involved in becoming a surrogate parent, from application through completion of services. This course also provides an opportunity for participants to become acquainted with background information on the district's responsibility in recruiting, training, appointing and terminating surrogate parents. The course reviews which students are eligible for a surrogate parent and why the need exists for such services.
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