The New York Council of Administrators of Special Education (NYCASE) will host its annual Summer Institute from July 22 to July 24, 2019 at the Albany Capital Center. This year’s theme is Supportive Practice: New Horizons for All. PCG is committed to supporting the success of students.  We are pleased to work with NYCASE to sponsor keynote speaker Dr. David Kirkland as well as three breakout sessions during the 2019 Institute. PCG is also the executive sponsor of the President’s Reception. We look forward to connecting with special education professionals from across New York. You can still register for the event at www.nycase.org.

Here is what you need to know about the speakers and sessions we are sponsoring:

Sponsored Keynote

Dr. David Kirkland
Advancing Equity in Special Education
Tuesday, July 23rd at 8:45 AM

Dr. David E. Kirkland is the Executive Director of The NYU Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and The Transformation of Schools. He has also been described as an activist and educator, cultural critic and author. A leading national scholar and advocate for educational justice, Dr. Kirkland's transdisciplinary scholarship explores a variety of equity related topics: school climate and discipline; school integration and choice; culture and education; vulnerable learners; and intersections among race, gender, and education. His publications address the cultures, languages, and texts of urban youth; using quantitative, critical literary, ethnographic, and sociolinguistic research methods to answer complex questions at the center of equity and social justice in education.

Sponsored Breakout Sessions

Early Warning Signs and Intervention Management | July 22nd at 11:00 AM

Presenter: Mollye Kiss, Former Special Education Director, Martin County School District (FL) and Senior Consultant, PCG

About the session: Proactively identifying students at-risk and providing individualized support is essential to ensuring equity and appropriate grade-level progress. However, as many districts use home-grown solutions, they often struggle to easily and longitudinally analyze some of the most critical indicators to assess student risk, including student-level assessments, attendance, and other academic or student behavior data. A highly effective strategy for monitoring these indicators is to employ an early warning and intervention management system that facilitates both an ease in evaluating key risk indicators and consistently guides educators through the following three phases: (1) the identification of at-risk students; (2) the documentation of student interventions conducted for at-risk students; and (3) the longitudinal analysis of student intervention data, at both the student and aggregate levels. Mollye will provide districts with strategies in how to effectively support a district’s early warning and intervention management solutions.

More information about Mollye is available here.

Demystifying Disproportionality – Understanding your Risk Ratio | July 22nd at 2:30 PM

Presenter: Sue Gamm, Former Chief Specialized Services Officer for the Chicago Public Schools and Former Attorney and Division Director for the Office of Civil Rights (OCR), U.S. Department of Education

About the session: This breakout session will review state and federal definitions around disproportionality and how they impact district policies and practices. In particular, it will address changes happening at the federal level and in the courts related to disproportionality as they relate to pertinent findings from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (OCR) and relevance to New York school districts.

Speaker bio: Sue Gamm, Esq., has blended her 46 years of unique experiences as the chief specialized services officer for the Chicago Public Schools, attorney and division director for the Office for Civil Rights (US Department of Education) and special educator to become a national consultant, author, presenter, and evaluator. She and has worked in 30 states and the District of Columbia with more than 60 school districts and five state educational agencies to assess/improve instruction and support for students with low achievement and students with disabilities. She has written standard operating procedure manuals for MTSS and special education practices for more than 10 school districts, and has shared her knowledge of the IDEA, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act and related issues at more than 80 national, state, and local conferences.

Sue has also authored/co-authored numerous periodicals and publications, including: Online Guide to RTI-Based LD Identification Toolkit and Cautions When Using an RTI-Based SLD Identification Process (National Center for Learning Disabilities); Common Core State Standards and Diverse Urban Students; Using Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (Council of the Great City Schools) and Disproportionality in Special Education: Identifying Where and Why Overidentification of Students Occurs (LRP Publications). She also testified before Congressional and Illinois legislative committees and participated in the preparation of U.S. Supreme Court Amicus Curiae briefs for the Council of Great City Schools in Support of Plaintiffs in Board of Education of the City School District of the City of New York v Tom F., On Behalf of Gilbert F., A Minor Child [special education placement] and in Forest Grove School District v TA (2007, 2009). Sue has also been recognized for her legal expertise in special education through her engagement as an expert witness or consultant involving 10 special education federal class action or systemic cases.

Social Emotional Learning and the Identification of Students with Disabilities | July 23rd at 11:00AM

Presenter: Dr. David Kirkland, Executive Director of The NYU Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and The Transformation of Schools

About the session: This breakout will address social emotional learning as a matter of equity as it relates to the identification of students with disabilities.

Speaker bio: Dr. David E. Kirkland is the Executive Director of The NYU Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and The Transformation of Schools. He has also been described as an activist and educator, cultural critic and author. A leading national scholar and advocate for educational justice, Dr. Kirkland holds a PhD and JD. A Detroit native, his transdisciplinary scholarship explores a variety of equity related topics: school climate and discipline; school integration and choice; culture and education; vulnerable learners; and intersections among race, gender, and education. With many groundbreaking publications to his credit, he has analyzed the cultures, languages, and texts of urban youth, using quantitative, critical literary, ethnographic, and sociolinguistic research methods to answer complex questions at the center of equity and social justice in education. Dr. Kirkland taught middle and high school for several years in Michigan. He’s also organized youth empowerment and youth mentoring programs for over a decade in major U.S. cities such as Detroit, Chicago and New York. He currently leads efforts to enhance education options for vulnerable youth throughout New York City, and beyond.

Dr. Kirkland has received many awards for his research and educational advocacy work, including NYU’s Distinguished Teaching Medal for 2017-2018, the 2016 AERA Division G Mid-Career Scholars Award, the 2008 AERA Division G Outstanding Dissertation Award. He was a 2009-10 Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow, a 2011-12 NAEd/Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow, and is a former fellow of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Research Foundation's “Cultivating New Voices among Scholars of Color” program. In addition to several other boards, he currently serves as a trustee for the Research Foundation of the National Council of Teachers of English. A Search Past Silence: The Literacy of Black Males, the fifth book that Dr. Kirkland has authored, is a TC Press bestseller and winner of the 2015 Daniel E. Griffiths Research Award, the 2014 AESA Critics Choice Award, and the 2014 NCTE David H. Russell Award for Distinguished Research in the Teaching of English. He is also co-editor of the newly released Students Right to Their Own Language, a critical sourcebook published by Bedford/St. Martins Press. Named by Ebony magazine as one of the most brilliant scholars in the U.S., Dr. Kirkland has been a pivotal intellectual voice promoting educational justice in the U.S. and abroad.

PCG is also the executive sponsor of the President’s Reception on Monday, July 22nd at 5:00 PM.

Hope to see you at the 2019 NYCASE Summer Institute in July!

For questions about PCG or sponsored speakers:
866-912-2974 x3
nyschools@pcgus.com