Learn the legal foundation that guides special education decision-making, including FAPE, IDEA, Section 504, key federal guidance, and important Supreme Court decisions. You’ll also learn how to navigate the special education process, understand what should guide decisions at each stage, and locate the state and district resources you need to advocate effectively.

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Learn how to gather the right information to build a complete picture of a student’s strengths, needs, and educational impact. Participants will learn how to identify existing data, recognize gaps, and determine what additional evaluation or baseline information may be needed before making educational decisions.

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Learn how special education eligibility decisions are made and how to apply eligibility criteria for students with a Specific Learning Disability to their complete profile. Participants will examine whether the available data supports eligibility and identify missing information that may affect the team’s decision.

Learn how services, specially designed instruction, and accommodations should be selected based on the student’s individualized needs. Participants will examine instructional intensity, frequency, duration, setting, methodology, and supports to determine whether the IEP provides meaningful access and appropriate instruction.

Learn how to translate student data, identified needs, and recommendations into clear, specific special education language. Participants will practice drafting language that accurately communicates concerns, proposed changes, requests, and recommendations for use throughout the IEP process.

In this module, participants will build a practical understanding of dyslexia, including how reading and spelling develop, how dyslexia may present across different students, and the academic, functional, behavioral, and emotional impact it can have. They will also learn to recognize related conditions and student strengths so they can begin building a clearer, more complete profile of the student they serve.

Learn how to interpret cognitive, academic, processing, behavioral, and intervention data to identify meaningful patterns across multiple sources. Participants will build a clear educational profile that identifies the student’s strengths, specific areas of need, current performance, and educational impact, creating the foundation for eligibility and IEP decisions.

Learn how to connect present levels, baseline data, and identified needs to individualized, measurable IEP goals. Participants will examine whether goals address the right skills, reflect meaningful intervention, and provide a clear way to measure student progress.

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Learn how progress should be measured, reported, and used to determine whether instruction and the IEP are working. Participants will examine progress-monitoring data, recognize patterns of insufficient progress, and determine when changes to goals, services, or instruction should be considered.

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Bring the entire CDIS framework together through realistic special education scenarios. Participants will apply what they have learned to interpret student data, prepare for eligibility discussions, evaluate IEPs, develop recommendations, draft effective language, and determine appropriate next steps.