April 24, 2006	Volume 5, Number 13

UW offers assessment training opportunities

The University of Wisconsin’s School of Education, Office of Education Outreach, is sponsoring two professional development opportunities for K-12 teachers and administrators May 1-2 at the Pyle Center in Madison. The first workshop will guide K-12 educators in how to interpret and use test results to improve student learning and meet adequate yearly progress (AYP) goals. The second program will introduce teachers and administrators to a new tool to assist in ensuring the success of students with disabilities in the general education classroom. Regular and special education teachers, directors of instruction, administrators, psychologists, directors of pupil services, and counselors are encouraged to attend these workshops.

On May 1,Using Test Data to Define and Improve Adequate Yearly Progress will explore how Wisconsin uses WKCE test data to define AYP under No Child Left Behind, and how to use the data to enhance instruction and student learning. Particular attention will be given to school and grade-level strategic planning to improve student learning. Participants should bring their most recent WKCE data to the session.

On May 2, Response to Intervention (RTI): Ensuring a Reliable, Valid, and Unbiased Process will introduce new aspects of the Individuals with Disabilities Educational Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEIA-04) that allows local education agencies to use a new approach in identifying learning disabilities (LD). This workshop will address threats to reliability, validity, and unfairness in the RTI assessment. RTI is a promising alternative to traditional, wait-to-fail identification models. Furthermore, RTI approaches are compatible with the notion of helping, rather than simply diagnosing students, improving outcomes for all students, and other provisions in IDEIA-04.

Instructor Jeffrey Braden, Ph.D., is a professor of psychology and director of the School Psychology Program at North Carolina State University, and a former professor in the school psychology programs at UW-Madison. He will review the policy and scientific foundations of RTI to set the context for its application to LD identification. Participants will then explore how practitioners can identify, select, and implement scientific, research-based interventions required in RTI. Critical issues and challenges in RTI implementation will be discussed to identify threats to reliability, validity, and unfairness in the assessment process. The workshop concludes with time for participants to apply principles identified to their own schools, and opportunities for feedback and discussion.

All participants will receive materials to support learning and extension of concepts beyond the workshop setting. Lunch is included with program registration. For more information about these important opportunities, contact Sue Schroeder, sueschroeder@education.wisc.edu, or 608-263-0951. To register for the workshops, call 608/262-0810; or register on-line at http://www.education.wisc.edu/outreach.

Last updated on 4/24/2006