LEArn & LEAd Training for LEA Representatives with Julie Weatherly, Esq. and Dr. Timothy Havard
Long-time special education legal expert Julie Weatherly, Esq. and long-time educational leader Dr. Timothy S. Havard co-developed LEArn & LEAd in 2014. This one-day training program was initially designed to train IEP Team “LEA Representatives,” including local school building administrators, on their important legal and professional job duties as an IEP meeting’s “process leader.” Over time, the program has been attended by many educators who find themselves sitting at an IEP Team meeting table.
This interactive, information-packed training day provides LEA Representatives (and other IEP Team members) with suggested meeting aids and strategies, including a video demonstration of their use. The strategies will assist LEA Reps to effectively:
• Fulfill their roles and responsibilities as the IEP meeting’s “process leader” in support of the Team’s “content leaders;”
• Ensure that all IEP Team members, including parents, are provided the opportunity for meaningful participation and input into decision-making;
• Use visual aids, checklists and other strategies to help prepare for and guide IEP meeting process, keeping it on track, and ensuring that it remains properly focused on relevant data regarding the individual student’s educational needs;
• Use communication and conflict prevention and management strategies to respond to difficult behaviors and conversations that may occur during meetings;
• Assist IEP Teams in reaching consensus in decision-making and to appropriately respond when consensus cannot be reached; and
• Ensure that organized, efficient and legally compliant IEP Team meetings occur.
It is the LEArn & LEAd goal that participants walk away with immediate strategies for improving their IEP meetings with the knowledge and skills to support collaboration between parents and school staff in making legally defensible decisions, while also avoiding misunderstandings, distrust and anxiety that can often lead to special education legal disputes.
Data Collection and Analysis
Before and after the training, participants are surveyed to assess how they view their skills and knowledge as LEA Representatives, and the data is subsequently analyzed. Data from hundreds of sessions conducted since 2014 reflect that over 95% of participants report a significant increase in their knowledge and feel more confident and satisfied with their ability to appropriately serve as the IEP meeting’s process leader after having been trained. Data collection and evaluation results are provided after each training session.
Program Logistics
· The LEArn & LEAd program is a full-day session from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
· Location: Metro RESA Campus, 1870 Teasley Drive, Smyrna, GA 30080
Whether in-person or virtual, participants should expect to be actively engaged and prepared to interact with others in the session’s activities.
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