Download Our August & September Event Syllabus | Email professional development inquiries to specialpops@nyccharterschools.org.
Our Leadership Cohort on Special Populations (LCSP) offers special education and MLL/ELL leads a unique opportunity to network with fellow special populations leaders to connect, share, and grow together. Engage in insightful discussions about the latest trends in special education and MLL/ELL education, exchange best practices with fellow schools on ways to lead and advocate, […]
Two teachers in a room doesn't automatically mean better outcomes for students with disabilities, but with the right structures and coaching in place, it can produce incredible results: intentional student grouping, specially designed instruction, parity and equity for students and teachers. If they're not planning for it, it's not going to happen. This virtual session […]
Differentiating for multilingual learners/English language learners isn't about creating separate supports, but rather building intentional language access and development opportunities into what you're already teaching. This session explores high-leverage, research-based methods for differentiating by content, process, and product to support students' language development across proficiency levels and content areas. You'll have dedicated work time to […]
In this follow up Part 2 session*, you will learn how to plan lessons that intentionally teach both content and the academic language students need to access it with a WIDA lens. Using a backward planning approach, you will break down an upcoming lesson to identify the vocabulary, sentence structures, and discourse patterns students must […]
New York State's transition from NYSITELL/NYSESLAT to WIDA assessments is underway, with WIDA ACCESS and Alternate ACCESS launching in Spring 2027 — and the planning work needs to start now. This session gives school leaders, administrators, and MLL/ELL educators the latest NYSED updates on the transition. You'll leave knowing where your school should be in […]
Could assistive technology (AT) be a "missing ingredient" for increasing the independent learning skills of your elementary students? It’s highly likely. The tools to support student independence and productivity may already be sitting on your students' devices — you just need to know where to look and how to use them intentionally. This session explores […]
When students explain their reasoning, restate a classmate's strategy, and defend their answers, they learn more math — research backs this up consistently. But purposeful math discussion does double duty: every exchange is also building the oral language skills all students need, especially multilingual learners. This session explores how to make math talk work harder […]
Kick off the semester by joining our Leadership Cohort on Special Populations, an ongoing learning community for special education leads. In this group, we will provide a supportive space for special education coordinators and directors to connect, share, and grow together. Engage in insightful discussions about the latest trends in special education, exchange best practices […]
Knowing whether a young student's communication differences reflect typical development or a genuine impairment can be one of the trickiest calls early elementary teachers make. This session walks you through the signs of speech and language impairments in K–2 students, including early literacy impairments and the connection between language and literacy, for both monolingual and […]
In this virtual preview session designed exclusively for leaders, you will learn how visual thinking strategies can be used across classrooms to increase student engagement, support inquiry-based learning, and make student thinking more visible. In particular, you will get a preview of three high-impact approaches — Project Zero's Artful Thinking Routines, sketchnoting, and thinking maps […]
Who Can Participate?: Our CPI Nonviolent Crisis Intervention (NCI) trainings are ONLY available to Enhanced and Premier Collaborative members. As you consider the appropriate staff members to send, please be aware that the physical holds part of the training requires close contact and highly physical interaction. Additionally, we encourage schools to prioritize non-instructional staff when […]
As a strong complement and extension to our foundational Intro to Differentiation for MLLs/ELLs workshop, this session explores the dual responsibility all teachers of language learners have: teaching academic content and language development simultaneously. The facilitator will model the SWIRL (Speaking, Writing, Interacting, Reading, Listening) framework as a means to promote both content mastery and […]
As NYSED rolls out its new Portrait of a Graduate high school exit requirements, make sure your high school is up to date on the timeline and key action items to begin in Fall 2026. In Part 1 of this two-part SEAT-FREE series for high school leadership team members, we'll review what we know so […]
In this highly interactive session, you will learn how to use visual thinking strategies to increase student engagement, access, and deeper understanding across content areas. You will move beyond simply using visuals in instruction and instead design learning experiences where students actively observe, think, discuss, and represent their thinking in multiple ways. Through hands-on practice, […]
Nationally, multilingual learners make up 30% of children ages 0–5 and 10% of the K–12 population. These numbers are significant, and research is clear that embedding their home language and culture into learning promotes English acquisition, academic achievement, and well-being. But what do you do when you don't speak their language? This session explores practical, […]
School teams are often tasked with making complex eligibility and support decisions for students whose academic, behavioral, social-emotional, or developmental needs may overlap across disability categories. This session provides school leaders with a practical framework for understanding the distinctions among Emotional Disability (ED), Other Health Impairment (OHI), and Autism, while emphasizing that disability classification should […]
Some students are "porcupines," struggling with relationships, self-regulation, and engagement. Punitive responses don't just fail with these kids; they make things worse. In this full day, in-person session, author Mike Anderson draws on his recent book Hugging Porcupines to explore why certain students struggle so intensely and what actually works: approaches that are warm, demanding, […]
As New York prepares to transition from the NYSITELL/NYSESLAT to WIDA, now is the time to start integrating WIDA into your unit planning. Planning with multilingual learners in mind from the start, not as an afterthought, maximizes support and academic language development. This session walks you through a structured process for using the WIDA Standards […]
In these SEAT-FREE special education office hours, we'll discuss mandates and best practices for tracking, timelines, and communication around MDRs. You'll also have dedicated Q&A time to address common questions and problems of practice related to exclusionary discipline and MDRs for students with disabilities. Facilitator: Angelica Maddox
If you are wondering what the latest research says about supporting students in mastering both academic language and content simultaneously, you're not alone! Join fellow NYC charter educators for a book study of the professional text, Academic Languaging: Engaging Multilingual Students in Content Area Learning by Dr. Gisela Ernst-Slavit and Dr. Margo Gottlieb (Corwin, 2025). Through […]
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