CASE 2014

CEEDAR Center Presents at the CASE 2014 Spring Conference

This past week, just minutes away from Mickey Mouse’s house, Cinderella’s castle, and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, key stakeholders from all over the field of education met in Orlando. High school principals, researchers from non-profits, college professors, district special education directors, and many others were there, including a few technology folks checking audio levels and tapping away at their keyboards, tweeting highlights from energetic presentations to followers around the world.

This was the Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE) Winter Hybrid Conference. Mary Brownell and Lynn Holheide represented CEEDAR at the conference, and dialogue about evaluating teacher effectiveness filled the first day. After a lively town hall discussion for local participants, the conference went live, broadcasting to more than 30 simulcast sites around the United States. After an hour-long presentation on measuring and evaluating teacher effectiveness (you can see the slides here), Mary and Lynn took questions not only from local participants in Orlando, but also from virtual participants around the United States.

It was sensational to see such a lively cross section of people deeply concerned with improving outcomes for students with disabilities; it was also exciting to see the role technology played in bringing these people together. People from California interacted in real time with people from Florida to discuss real issues and real solutions that are facing our teachers, leaders, and students today. Every student deserves a chance to succeed, and every teacher deserves a comprehensive, effective, and fair evaluation system. The CASE Winter Hybrid Conference surely moved us a step in the right direction.