Educator Training Opportunities 2023-24

Academic Engagement Webinar Series for Administrators
The purpose of this two-part webinar series is to provide building or district-level administrators with additional information, professional discussion, and resources about instruction for autistic learners across various educational environments. The content includes didactic information about evidence-based strategies for teaching autistic learners, checklists for administrators to use during observations, and tip sheets explaining the roles and responsibilities of educational team members when planning and delivering academic instruction to autistic learners.
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Academic Engagement Webinar Series for Educators
The purpose of this two-part webinar series is to provide general and special education teachers with additional information, professional discussion, and resources about instruction for autistic learners across various educational environments. Content includes didactic information about evidence-based strategies for teaching autistic learners, prompting sequences, and checklists for instructional adaptations.
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Increasing Academic Engagement for All: High Quality Education [In-person workshop]
This in-person professional development opportunity offers a chance to interact with other educators and TRIAD consultants about strategies to keep students engaged and learning in academic environments. The focus will be on evidence-based practices like direct instruction, modeling, and prompting.
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TRIAD School Leadership Academy (TSLA)
TRIAD will provide a one-day workshop designed specifically for School Leaders. The purpose of the workshop is to provide administrators (i.e., superintendents, directors of school, special education directors/coordinators/supervisors, principals, assistant principals, etc.) with information on evidence-based practices for students with autism so that school leaders may evaluate programs to provide teacher, parent, and student support.
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A Leader's Guide to Increasing Engagement for Autistic Learners: An Asynchronous Course
This course aims to increase administrator capacity to support educators as they meet students' needs in their learning environments, including autistic students. This course will cover topics including evidence-based strategies, engaging learning environments, and behavioral topics pertaining to FAPE. This course is for LEA administrators in Tennessee who support educators who directly serve autistic students in a Pre-K-12 setting.
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Academic Engagement Webinar Series for Administrators
The purpose of this two-part webinar series is to provide building or district-level administrators with additional information, professional discussion, and resources about instruction for autistic learners across various educational environments. The content includes didactic information about evidence-based strategies for teaching autistic learners, checklists for administrators to use during observations, and tip sheets explaining the roles and responsibilities of educational team members when planning and delivering academic instruction to autistic learners.
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Professional Development Leaders’ Library of Evidence-Based Practices Trainings
The purpose of this library is to provide school leaders (e.g., building-level administrators, coaches, special education supervisors) modules, tip sheets, and materials that can be utilized to lead brief professional developments for school staff. This library caters to school leaders who will provide professional development to educators directly serving autistic students in a K-12 setting.
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TRIAD Para Online Pathways (POP)-Administrator/Train the Trainer [Virtual]
TRIAD consultants will use online learning tools and remote coaching to help school-district teams plan and coach para-educators in evidence-based practices for working with students diagnosed with autism.
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Behavior Services [Virtual]
Do you work with a school-age student who engages in behavior threatening student or staff safety, interfering with learning, and/or limiting the student’s access to educational and social opportunities? Has student behavior been unresponsive to tier 1 and 2 behavior supports? Are you and your fellow educators eager to engage in professional development and consultation that would make it easier for you to help this kind of student to be more engaged, safe, included, and independent? Vanderbilt’s Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders (TRIAD) will provide coaching and consultation service for teams of school personnel designed to build the team’s capacity to support students with this profile.
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Communication and Autism Online Course (Asynchronous)
A set of online modules focused on supporting and teaching communication skills. A flexible opportunity for educators to build capacity at their own pace.
Click here to learn more about the online course

Communication Webinars
An hour or less, these webinars share information and ideas for promoting and supporting communication. A convenient way to earn professional development.
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Virtual Community of Practice Series: Autism and Communication
A professional development opportunity for those interested in connecting with other professionals while developing shared practices related to autism and communication.
Click here to learn more about the community of practice series

Communication Resources
A variety of resources designed to provide information on demand.

• Short videos
• Printable tip sheets

Early Childhood Inclusionary Practices Webinar Series [Virtual]
Early childhood educators are tasked with educating students of various ages and diverse learning needs. Our early childhood webinar series is aimed at supporting those working in inclusive early childhood settings. We want to support the implementation of evidence-based practices throughout the school day to increase student engagement and success.
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Early Childhood Coaching Support [Virtual]
Early childhood educators are tasked with educating students of various ages and diverse learning needs. Our early childhood coaching support is aimed at supporting early childhood educators in their implementation of evidence-based practices to support the unique needs of their students and promote student engagement. We want to help early childhood educators increase their own capacity for strategy implementation and be a partner for problem-solving and planning.
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Myth Busters: Autism Edition Webinar
This webinar is sponsored by the Tennessee Department of education and is intended for general or special education teachers, paraeducators, school administrators, and school staff in the state of Tennessee who teach students with autism. The webinar will contain didactic information and interactive activities to build participants’ knowledge about autism and its impacts on students in their learning environments.
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Live Workshop: Autism, Evidence-Based Practices, and Setting the Stage for School Success
This is an in-person, live professional development opportunity for educators to learn with other educational professionals and TRIAD consultants. The focus will be on evidence-based practices that can be implemented in a variety of learning environments. Participants will receive didactic information, tip sheets, and other resources to help them plan for implementation.
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The Engaged Student: A Virtual Article Study about Evidence-Based Practices for Autistic Learners
The purpose of this four-part virtual article study is to provide educators with additional information, professional discussion, and resources to implement evidence-based practices in their learning environments. The article study will be conducted monthly from November to February and will feature breakout rooms for article discussion, resources, and didactic information about task analyses, token systems, direct instruction, and video modeling.
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Evidence-Based Practices Asynchronous Course
The purpose of this course is to enhance educators’ capacity to meet the needs of students in their learning environments, including autistic students, using evidence-based strategies. The course is self-paced, enabling educators to progress through the material at their own pace. It is specifically designed for faculty and staff of LEAs in Tennessee who directly serve autistic students in a K-12 setting.
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Professional Development Leaders’ Library of Evidence-Based Practices Trainings
The purpose of this library is to provide school leaders (e.g., building-level administrators, coaches, special education supervisors) modules, tip sheets, and materials that can be utilized to lead brief professional developments for school staff. This library caters to school leaders who will provide professional development to educators directly serving autistic students in a K-12 setting.
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Transition Facilitator Asynchronous Learning Course [Virtual]
This course is an online module series that will help participants with transition planning for middle and high school students. The curriculum includes seven interactive lessons, each focusing on a transition-related topic and including a video interview with a topical expert sharing additional insight and guidance. Participants are encouraged to download the Implementation Planning Guide to create an individualized plan for incorporating these tools and strategies into their transition work.
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Getting Started: Tips for Starting the Transition Planning Process Webinar
This one-hour webinar will provide participants with foundational information about how to begin the transition planning process with their students. Designed for middle school teachers, this training will incorporate information about the first steps of transition planning, including student assessment, person-centered planning, and goal setting.
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TRIAD Para Online Pathways (POP)-Administrator/Train the Trainer [Virtual]
TRIAD consultants will use online learning tools and remote coaching to help school-district teams plan and coach para-educators in evidence-based practices for working with students diagnosed with autism.
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Paraeducator Community of Practice [Virtual]
TRIAD consultants will use online learning tools and remote coaching to help paraeducators plan use evidence-based practices when working with students diagnosed with autism.
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ParaEducator Asynchronous Learning Course [Virtual]
A set of online modules designed specifically for paraeducators who serve students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in kindergarten through high school settings to work through at their own pace.
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Paraeducator Live-East, Middle, & West
Join us for a one-day workshop designed specifically for paraeducators! This workshop outlines the characteristics of autism spectrum disorder, describes how these characteristics impact behavior and learning, and trains paraeducators on a number of evidence-based practices for teaching autistic learners.
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School Psychology and Related Service Provider Support
This program is designed to provide curated professional development opportunities for the unique roles that school psychologists and related service providers play in buildings and districts across the state of Tennessee. School psychologists and related service providers bring unique and invaluable skillsets to the students, educators, and families they support, and therefore, have a need for unique professional learning opportunities designed for their distinctive and varied roles and responsibilities. Our professional learning opportunities are specifically designed to support school psychologists and related service providers build collaborative opportunities between themselves and the other team members they support to meet the unique needs of students with disabilities, including those with autism.
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Social and Personal Competencies (SPC) [Virtual]
Social and Personal Competencies services support the social and emotional engagement of all students through learning opportunities designed to refine and expand the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and practices of educators, families, and students. SPC provides learning opportunities that are grounded in research, easily accessible, and customizable. Learning opportunities span from brief videos and tip sheets to topic-specific webinars, workshops, and curated online courses.

SPC Service Options including Descriptions, Participant Requirements, Training Topics, and Format:

• Online resources
• Webinars and trainings
• Partnerships

TRIAD offers Brief Online Training Sessions (BOTS) to provide information on evidence-based practices for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Check our online learning portal to access these free trainings and resources.

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Webinars are intended to create a professional learning community that engages participants in interactive learning opportunities through live video training. Each year our webinars include a variety of topics that will enhance professional knowledge in serving individuals with ASD. Participants receive a certificate of completion after attending our webinars and are provided the opportunity to engage with TRIAD consultants for coaching and feedback during the online events.

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