Applications are open for the Connecticut Youth Leadership Project, Inc. (CT-YLP) – 2023 CT Youth Leadership Forum (YLF), scheduled for July 31 – August 3, 2023, at the University of Connecticut, Storrs campus.  The CT-YLP Memorandum and 2023 CT YLF Student Application can be found on the CT-YLP Student Applications webpage. The application deadline has been extended to: March 25, 2023.

Questions can be directed to Stephanie Barksdale, Executive Director, by phone at 860-689-6868 or by email at execdir@ctylp.org.

The CSDE is pleased to sponsor an E-Learning Series on Attendance & Engagement for school teams.  An informational session for district leaders and local board members will be held on Thursday, December 1, from 1:30 – 3:30 pm. A 3-part series for school teams will begin in January. Please see the attached flyer (attached) for more information or contact kari.sullivan@ct.gov.

Looking for more ways to collect data for your IEP goals?  Please consider registering for the Connecticut Council for Exceptional Children’s FREE Virtual conference on progress monitoring, December 9, 2022 from 9:00am-1:30pm.

This session will be focused on sharing tools, strategies and resources for monitoring student progress in reading, writing, math, and behavior.  Also… there’s opportunities to win gift cards for attending! Not a member of CEC?  No worries!  The session is open to everyone… students, paras, service providers, and more! 

For conference and registration information, please see

Please visit the Connecticut State Department of Education’s Secondary Transition Professional Learning Opportunities webpage for information about all of the sessions offered during the 2022-23 school year.

CSDE/SERC Secondary Transition Professional Learning Opportunities

The Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE), in collaboration with the State Education Resource Center (SERC), is sponsoring several professional learning opportunities for secondary transition. All sessions are FREE of charge.

For additional information about these trainings and to register for one of the sessions, please see the CSDE/SERC Secondary Transition Professional Learning Opportunities page. Participants must register on SERC’s website. If you have questions regarding content, please contact: Missy Wrigley, SERC Consultant, by phone at 860-632-1485, ext. 397, or by email at wrigley@ctserc.org. If you have questions regarding registration or to request accommodations, please contact: Lauren Johns, SERC Project Specialist, by phone at 860-632-1485, ext. 256, or by email at johns@ctserc.org.

CSDE/RESC Alliance/SERC Person-Centered Planning: Introduction to Charting the LifeCourse and Implementation of Charting the LifeCourse

The Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE), in collaboration with the RESC Alliance and the State Education Resource Center (SERC), is offering several FREE, virtual sessions of Person-Centered Planning: Introduction to Charting the LifeCourse and Implementation of Charting the LifeCourse.

Introduction to Charting the LifeCourse

Person-Centered Planning (PCP) is a set of approaches to life-planning based on what a person considers most important. Charting the LifeCourse (CtLC), a universally-designed, PCP framework, is a tool to assist individuals and families of all abilities and ages to develop a vision of a good life. Participants in this session will understand the importance of PCP, become familiar with the CtLC tools, and how to use them to support the development of the Individualized Education Program (IEP) and Transition Planning.

Implementation of Charting the LifeCourse

In this session, we will take a deeper dive into Charting the LifeCourse (CtLC). Participants in this session will understand the various ways to utilize CtLC to support student outcomes and engage families, while developing individualized meaningful transition experiences and services that remain relevant to, and reflective of, the student’s/family’s social, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds; and promote self-determination and self- advocacy to ensure the development of student voice within the person-centered planning process.

For additional information about these trainings and to register for one of these virtual sessions, please see the CSDE/RESC Alliance/SERC Person-Centered Planning: Introduction to Charting the LifeCourse and Implementation of Charting the LifeCourse page. Please contact SERC or your local RESC, for questions or assistance with registration, or for in-district training and consultation (see the page linked above for contact information).

CSDE/RESC Alliance Introduction of Customized Employment

The Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE), in collaboration with the RESC Alliance, is sponsoring several FREE, virtual sessions of Introduction to Customized Employment (CE) in CT for special education teachers, providers, and administrators working with transition-age students with disabilities. These sessions are designed to increase capacity and a shared understanding of the CE process in CT, which may lead to competitive integrated employment, for students with the most significant disabilities. Participants will understand the components of CE (e.g., Foundational Knowledge, Job Discovery, Job Development, Post-Employment Support), become familiar with the job discovery process, and learn how special education transition services and activities, as identified on a student’s IEP, could be aligned to and support CE job discovery activities.

For additional information about these trainings and to register for one of these virtual sessions, please see the Introduction to Customized Employment in CT page. For content questions or assistance with registration, please contact one of the RESC CE Trainers (see the page linked above for contact information).

CT Transition Community of Practice (CoP) and Transition Tuesdays

The Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE), in collaboration with the RESC Alliance, the State Education Resource Center (SERC), and our CoP agency partners, is offering four FREE, virtual CT Transition Community of Practice (CoP) meetings and three FREE, virtual CT CoP Transition Tuesdays.

CT Transition Community of Practice (CoP)

The CT Transition Community of Practice (CoP) meetings bring stakeholders together to collaborate and share transition information, resources, and activities related to transition. For additional information about the CT Transition CoP and to register for one of these virtual meetings, please see the CT Transition Community of Practice (CoP) page. Participants must register on SERC’s website. If you have questions regarding content, please contact: Missy Wrigley, SERC Consultant, by phone at 860-632-1485, ext. 397, or by email at wrigley@ctserc.org. If you have questions regarding registration or to request accommodations, please contact: Lauren Johns, SERC Project Specialist, by phone at 860-632-1485, ext. 256, or by email at johns@ctserc.org.

CT CoP Transition Tuesdays

The CT CoP Transition Tuesdays are additional opportunities for stakeholders to learn more about transition resources, services, and activities. For additional information about these trainings and to register for one of these virtual sessions, please see the CT Transition CoP Transition Tuesdays page. Registration for CT CoP Transition Tuesdays cannot be found on the SERC website. For content questions or assistance with registration, please contact: Amy Norton, EASTCONN, by email at anorton@eastconn.org or by phone at 860-933-1826; or Missy Wrigley, SERC Consultant, by email at wrigley@ctserc.org or by phone at 860-632-1485, ext. 397.

SAVE THE DATE – CT 8^th Annual Secondary Transition Symposium

The CT Secondary Transition Symposium brings students and their families together with educators and other professionals to improve secondary transition programming and services for students with disabilities. The 8th Annual Symposium, with the theme of “My Goals, My Future, My Life!“, will continue to build the capacity of educators and other professionals, in partnership with middle and high school students with disabilities and their families, to help ensure successful post-school outcomes. This event is FREE of charge. The Symposium will be held virtually, over the course of three Tuesdays to break up the event. 

• Day 1: Tuesday, February 7, 2023: 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. – Keynote & Breakout Sessions
• Day 2: Tuesday, February 14, 2023: 12:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. – Breakout Sessions
• Day 3: Tuesday, February 28, 2023: 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. – Closing Keynote

Each of our breakouts offer sessions within three strands, based on the audience (i.e., youth, families, and educators/professionals). Youth voice and leadership are vital! Please make plans to have your students attend.

For additional information about this virtual event, please see the CT Annual Secondary Transition Symposium page. Stay tuned for more information as we get closer to the event. If you have questions, please contact: Missy Wrigley, Consultant at the State Education Resource Center, by phone at 860-632-1485, ext. 397, or by email at wrigley@ctserc.org.

TODAY (4/25) at 4PM – The Council for Exceptional Children presents “Increased Compensation: State and District Efforts to Stabilize and Strengthen the Educator Workforce”

TOMORROW (4/26) at 4PM – “Its Not Always About the Pay: Establishing Supportive Working Conditions and Environments”

WEDNESDAY (4/27) at 4PM – “Establishing Supportive Working Conditions: Developing Inclusive Leaders”

REGISTER NOW  for each of these important webinars

We are pleased to announce our annual Part C & Part B convening! The session will be led by Lindsey “Z” Briggs, Jim Henson Foundation Manager and professional puppeteer and is grounded in recent research by Yale University. 

See the attached flier and use the link below to register.  Registration deadline is May 4^th.  After registering you will receive a link to order a custom puppet free of charge.

https://serc.info/puppetry

The CSDE, Connecticut Association of Schools, and Connecticut Office of Early Childhood are hosting a virtual convening to be held on Tuesday, May 24, 2022, from 9:00-11:30 AM. During this convening, you will have the opportunity to learn with experts, teachers, and administrators as they share real-life examples and evidence-based best practices that they have found supported young children’s emotional well-being and skill development. You will leave with ideas, tools, and strategies that will assist you in planning for the transition of young children for the 2022-23 school year.

Click on the link to register: Webinar Registration – Zoom.