We are pleased to announce that CRAEA is offering PREPaRE Workshop 1 and PREPaRE Workshop 2 in Spring 2024.
PREPaRE Workshop 1: Comprehensive School Safety Planning – Prevention Through Recovery (3rd Edition) is a two-day, virtual course being offered on April 5 and April 11 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The PREPaRE model, developed by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), teaches participants how to establish and sustain comprehensive school safety efforts that attend to both physical and psychological safety. The workshop addresses critical components needed to develop, exercise, and evaluate safety and crisis teams and plans and conduct building vulnerability assessments. Additional topics addressed also include media/social media, communication, reunification, students with special needs, culture, and memorials. This workshop is for a multi-disciplinary team of mental health and educational professionals working at all grade levels in your district, such as administrators, security professionals, counselors, teachers, nurses and other staff involved in school safety/crisis prevention/crisis preparedness efforts.
PREPaRE Workshop 2: Mental Health Crisis Interventions – Responding to an Acute Traumatic Stressor in Schools (3rd Edition) is a two-day course being offered at Central Rivers AEA in Cedar Falls on April 30 and May 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. This workshop develops the knowledge and skills required to provide trauma informed and immediate mental health crisis interventions to the students, staff, and school community members who have been simultaneously exposed to an acute traumatic stressor. This workshop is for a multi-disciplinary team of mental health and educational professionals working at all grade levels in your district, such as administrators, security professionals, counselors, teachers, nurses and other staff involved in school safety/crisis prevention/crisis preparedness efforts.
Note that completion of Workshop 1 is not needed to attend Workshop 2. See the attached fliers for a more detailed description of this course.
Important Reminder: Free Access to uPAR and Read & Write for the School Year!
Please spread the word to school districts, that if they haven’t already taken advantage of the opportunity to use uPAR and Read & Write freely with their students, don’t miss out! Schools in Iowa can continue benefiting from these tools until the end of the school year without any cost.
To request access or learn more about how these tools can benefit your students, please get in touch with Jennifer Cline jcline@centralriversaea.org OR Abby Martin amartin@centralriversaea.org
Exciting Announcement: Free Lunch and Learn Sessions in January!
Thanks to the collaboration between the Department of Education, Iowa AEA, and TextHelp, FREE Lunch and Learn opportunities will be available throughout the month of January. As you can see in the flier, these sessions hosted by TextHelp will provide valuable insights and useful information.
To participate in the live sessions or receive a recording of the Lunch and Learns, simply click on the link provided in the flier to register. Don’t miss out on this excellent chance to enhance your professional skills and please share the flier.
In response to overwhelming interest, we are excited to announce that we have added a Clear Lake section and a Cedar Falls summer section to the Behavior SDI course!
In Clear Lake, the dates are:
The dates of the summer section which will be held in Cedar Falls are:
Course Description: This course is intended specifically for special education teachers who support students who have IEP goals in the area of SEBH. Team reps are encouraged to attend alongside their special education teachers.
This course is designed to equip participants with the tools and knowledge they need to effectively address challenging behaviors exhibited by students. Together we will uncover practical strategies to diagnose, design, and deliver high-quality specially designed instruction (SDI). Through a combination of evidence-based strategies and best practices, we will address the diverse needs of students with behavioral disabilities. By focusing on the underlying functions of behavior, participants will be equipped to develop strategies that promote positive behavioral changes.
Every Wednesday, Amy Knupp, Executive Director of Special Education meets with staff for a Q and A session. These Q and A sessions will resume in Jan of 2024. Also note the afternoon time will now be 3:30pm.
If you would like to stay up to date with all of the meetings, check out the recording on this document.
What Is LETRS Anyway?
There are currently over 400 educators in 27 districts in CRAEA participating in LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) or LETRS for Early Childhood during the 2023-24 school year, so there is a good chance that you may be hearing talk about this professional learning when you are out in schools. Our literacy team and early childhood consultants have been busy! Recently, we have learned that the Department of Education will also be offering LETRS training to teachers, so there may be more talk about it out in your schools. If you are wondering what this opportunity is all about, you can learn more from this blog post written by our CRAEA literacy team.
If you have questions about LETRS, please reach out to Heather Gould (hgould@centralriversaea.org).
Your CRAEA Math Team is offering the following upcoming learning opportunity.
Math Intervention for Responsive Teaching Elementary
The CRAEA Math Team is once again offering Math Intervention for Responsive Teaching on certain Wednesdays after school in January, February, March, and April. This course covers essential elementary math content and intervention best practice for those supporting struggling math learners such as Team Reps, Title Math Teachers, Special Education Teachers, Instructional Coaches, Interventionists, and Special Education Administrators. All sessions are held via Zoom.
Do you need help with the differences between Adaptive Behavior, Employability, and Social Emotional Behavior when considering needs for an IEP? Here are some tips.
