Concurrent Sessions of The 2025 CASE Conference—where ideas spark action, innovation meets experience, and leadership takes center stage. These sessions offer attendees the opportunity to dive deep into topics that matter most to today’s special education leaders, from legal updates and instructional best practices to mental health supports, inclusive programming for students with disabilities, and systems-level change. Whether you're looking to strengthen your strategic planning, enhance student outcomes, or build stronger teams, you’ll find thought-provoking content led by expert practitioners and dynamic presenters. Choose the sessions that align with your goals, engage with your peers, and leave inspired to lead with clarity, confidence, and compassion. 

Advancing Equity: Practices for All Learners

• Advancing Equity Through Inclusive Planning for Students with Complex Needs
• Beyond the Plan: A Leadership Blueprint for Equitable 504 Implementation and Sustainable Inclusion
• Closing the Least Restrictive Environment Gap: Addressing Racial Disproportionality in Placement
• Compliance Meets Compassion: Building Aligned, Trauma-Informed Systems for Dual-Identified Learners
• Compliance Support Has Shifted: Building the Internal Architecture Districts Need Now
• Ensuring Equitable and Compliant Disciplinary Decisions for Students with Disabilities
• High School Career and Technical Education Admissions Best Practices
• Leading Effective Co-Teaching Practical Tools for School and District Leaders
• Leading for Access, High Expectations, and Inclusion for Students with Disabilities
• Leading the Shift to Accessible Digital Learning in Your District
• Learning Disabilities and The School-to-Prison Pipeline: Breaking the Cycle Through Evidence-Based Literacy Instruction
• Simplify to Amplify: Reducing Cognitive Load for Students with Executive Function Challenges
• Teach It First: Managing Behavior For All Through Instructional Design
• Your Leadership Matters: Transforming Special Education for Boys with ADHD

Conflict Resolution: Resolving Challenges

• A Common Goal: Fostering Empathetic Relationships Within a Child's Team
• Building Your Early Dispute Resolution Capacity: Benefitting from CADRE's Ten-State Workgroup
• Conflict as Curriculum: Teaching Students How to Repair Harm
• Four Simple Questions: A Guide to Understanding Your Position in the Landscape of Change
• From Conflict to Collaboration: Family Engagement as the Secret Sauce for Preventing Special Education Showdowns
• From Conflict to Collaboration: Lessons from Oklahoma's CADRE Early Dispute Resolution Pilot
• From Tension to Trust: Leadership Approaches to Parent-School Conflict Resolution
• Grit, Grace, and the Courage to Cut: Navigating Accountability and Toxicity in High-Stakes Leadership
• How to Turn Tension into Trust: Resolution Strategies for Special Education Leaders
• Leading Effective IEP Partnerships: How Special Education Directors Support Principals in Reducing Conflict
• Leading Through Conflict: Navigating Due Process & State Complaints: What to Do When Your District is Challenged
• Navigating Due Process & State Complaints: What to Do When Your District Is Challenged
• Parent-Smart, Legally Grounded: De-Escalation & Documentation Systems for High-Conflict issues
• Say the Hard Thing: Leading Critical Conversations in Special Education
• The Doctor Is In (Your Face): When Outside Recommendations Collide with IDEA
• When Emotions Run High: Communicating with Clarity and Calm in Special Education Leadership
• When Student Leave-and Return: Supporting Students Before, During, and After Mental Health Placement

 Educational Leadership: Leading with Purpose

• Administrative Walkthroughs: How to Make Them Meaningful, Research-Aligned, and Actionable
• AI (Artificial Intelligence) for Special Education Leaders: Using AI to Strengthen IEP Quality, Reduce Staff Burnout, and Improve Student Outcomes
• Aligning the Quality Indicators for Students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities to Teacher Evaluation Rubrics
• Analyzing Data Together: Arkansas's Approach to Building LEA IDEA Data
• Before the Placement: Leadership Systems That Prevent High-Cost Special Education Decisions
• Beyond Compliance: Leveraging Local IDEA Data to Drive Student Success
• Beyond De Minimis: Scaling "Appropriately Ambitious" Progress Through Systemic Leadership
• Beyond Meetings, Emails, and Form Compliance: Leveraging Coordinator-Administrator Partnerships for Student Success
• Designing for Investment: The Essential Role of the Special Education Teacher in Collaborative Planning
• Developing Teacher Leaders through Strategic Leadership
• Effective Communication Strategies for Teams and Individuals in Compliance-Driven Environments
• Emergency Response Planning for the Needs of Students and Staff with Disabilities
• From Compliance to Collaboration: Strategic Family Engagement
• From National Trends to Local Practice: Strengthening Autism Identification Through Data-Based Systems
• From Paraprofessional to Teacher: Grow You K12 Apprenticeships in District-University Collaboration
• From Participation to Practice: Strategies Teachers Can Use Tomorrow
• From Silos to Systems: Building a District-Wide Architecture for Mental Health Wellness
• Lead with Purpose Using the Transforming Special Education Leadership (TSEL) Framework
• Leadership in Special Education is Hard to Find and Even Hard to Keep: Building Leadership Through Mentorship
• Leadership Matters: Empowering New Special Education Directors to Lead Through Coherence and Purpose
• Leadership Moves to Reduce Restraint, Eliminate Seclusion, and Foster Successful LRE (Least Restrictive Environment)
• Leading New Initiatives: Common Pitfalls and Critical Steps in the Early Stages of Development
• Leading with Both Hats: Viewing Special Education Through the Dual Lens of Director and Parent
• Leading with Intention: A Year Long Blueprint for Leadership Development
• New England State Special Education Association Coalition: Advancing Regional Advocacy and Workforce Solutions in Partnership with CASE
• Not in the Handbook: Growing and Leading with the Friends You Call When It Gets Messy
• Promoting Independence and Reducing the Reliance on 1:1 Paraeducators
• Purposeful Leadership: Supporting Speech-Language Pathologist's Workload Management to Strengthen School-Based Services
• Restorative Practices: Lessons from the Journey "Practical Insights, Barriers, and Strategies to Help Schools Plan and Sustain Restorative Initiatives"
• Rooted in Relationships: Bridging Generational Leadership to Strengthen Inclusive Education Systems
• Safety First Then Comes Culture: Shifting Mindsets Around Restraint and Seclusion
• Setting the Pace for a Great Year: A Month to Month Guide for Special Education Directors
• Shared Leadership: Enhancing Special Education Through Administrator-Teacher Collaboration
• Shark FINS Rising: Creating a Dynamically Inclusive, Welcoming Community!
• Stop Treating Symptoms: A Systems Framework for Special Education Redesign
• The ABCs of Special Education Leadership: Achievement, Building Relationships, and Compliance
• The Visionary Director: Mastering the Management-LeadershipDualism to Drive Staff Retention
• Your Staff is Already Using AI (Artificial Intelligence). Are You Leading It or Chasing It?

Exploring Hot Topics: Trends and Emerging Issues

• AI (Artificial Intelligence) Is Already in Your IEPs: What Special Education Leaders Need to Know
• Building the Bench: A Statewide Special Education Administrator Development Program
• From Avoidance to Attendance: A Collaborative Approach to School Refusal
• From Chaos to Clarity: Building a Unified Behavior Response System
• From Policy to Practice: Navigating the Wave of State Literacy Legislation as Special Education Leaders
• Making School-Based Medicaid Work For You
• Navigating the Federal Currents: Policy, Funding, and Advocacy in Special Education
• Section 504 Today: Trends, Challenges, and Practical Guidance for Schools
• Stop Chasing Behavior: Ending the Game of Behavioral "Whac-a-Mole" Through Use of Neuroscience-Aligned, Trauma-Informed FBAs/BIPs
• Supporting the General Educator Role in the Determination of a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in the Least Restrictive Environment: Strategies for Collaborative Success
• The Collaborative IEP: From Compliance to Collective Responsibility

Human Resources: Empowering teams

• Beyond the Silos: Aligning Human Resources and Program Leadership
• Building Better Training for Paraeducators: A Framework for Strategic Professional Learning
• Four Strategies to Improve Special Educator Retention and Job Satisfaction
• From Hiring to Thriving: How IAASE Supports Members in Building & Sustaining Special Education Teams
• From Vacancy to Workforce: Building Sustainable Special Education Talent Pipelines
• Making Effective Teletherapy Decisions for Students with Disabilities: Ensuring Benefit and Compliance
• Welcome Aboard...Now Let's Get Clear: Onboarding for Special Education Staff Success

Innovating for Success: Cutting Edge Practices

• A Behavior Team Approach for Responding to Behaviors District Wide in Fairbanks Alaska
• AI (Artificial Intelligence) & Automation for Special Education Leaders: Faster Compliance, Better Communication, Fewer Fires
• AI (Artificial Intelligence) in Special Education: What Administrators Need to Know About Innovation, Instruction, and the Law
• Building Flexible Pathways: Implementing a Hybrid Learning Center Within Tiered Systems of Support
• Collaboration to Provide Mentor Training for Pre-Service and Novice Educators
• Electricians Have Apprenticeships and Licenses—Paraeducators Get a Lanyard
• Explore, Integrate, Innovate: A Hands-On Science of Behavior Resource Lab
• From Silos to Success: Leveraging District Systemic Communication for Special Education Alignment
• Improving Student Outcomes While Reducing Costs: Strategic Staffing and Scheduling in Special Education
• MTSS²: Moving From Intervention Framework to Systems Architecture for Inclusive Leadership
• Power in Partnerships: Supporting Complex Communicators in the Classroom
• Practical Tools for Identifying Learning Disabilities Using an MTSS Approach
• Quest for Independence: XR + VR Edition
• Supercharging the School Day Through Effective Teaming with Transportation
• Teaching at the Intersection: Designing Professional Development for Teachers of Deaf Students with Additional Disabilities
• Temporary by Design: A Strategic Intervention Model That Protects LRE (Least Restrictive Environment) and Builds School Capacity
• Think Inside the District: Designing Programs That Work For Students From The Inside Out
• Tiers Without Tears: Strengthening MTSS Frameworks and Interventions with AI (Artificial Intelligence)
• Using AI (Artificial Intelligence) to Make IDEA Data Understandable: Practical Prompt Strategies for Accessible Data Reporting

Instructional Excellence: Achieving Success

• Beyond Training: Building Special Educators' Capacity to Deliver Structured Literacy
• Building Excellent Special Education Teachers When There Are No Applicants
• Building Foundational Skills Early to Support Lifelong Success for Students with Significant Needs
• Creative Connections: Moving Minds Through Movement & Technology
• Ensuring Every Student Graduates a Reader, Instructional Excellence in Action
• From Gaps to Growth: Cracking the Code on Secondary Math for Students with Disabilities
• If Tier 1 Isn't Working, Special Education Will Feel It: Bringing Special Education to the Core Instruction Table
• If You Want to Move Your School, You've Got to Move Your Students with Disabilities
• It's Not About More: Unlocking the Underutilized Continuum of Related Services
• Literacy Without Limits: Rethinking Reading Instruction for Student with Complex Cognitive and Communication Disabilities
• Motivation Matters: using Authentic Strategic Incentives to Drive Instructional Excellence in Special Education
• Special Education is Not the Next Tier
• Specially Designed Instruction in the General Education Classroom for Students with Significant Intellectual Disabilities
• Structured Literacy for Neurodiverse Learners: Building Pathways, Not Lowering Expectations
• Translating Research Into Practice: Empowering Administrators to Implement Evidence-Based and High-Leverage Practices in Special Education
• Using Data to Drive Early Childhood Instruction and Services

Legal Issues: Navigating Special Education

• Addressing Anxiety Under the IDEA and Section 504: Identifying Legally-Defensible Accommodations, Specially-Designed Instruction, and Measurable Goals that Actually Work
• Back for More: Section 504
• Clarity is Compliance: Strengthening Legal and Procedural Fidelity Through Systems Design
• From Innovation to Integration: Building a Legally Sound Framework for AI (Artificial Intelligence) in Special Education
• Navigating Due Process and Litagation with Clarity and Strength
• On the Road to Equity: Transportation and IEPs
• Placement Decisions Under the Microscope: What Directors Need to Know About Nonpublic Agencies
• Request and You Shall Receive? Navigating IEE (Independent Education Evaluation) Requests
• Special Education Discipline: Ten "Must Knows" for Administrators
• Top Tips to Prevent & Learn From Special Education Litigation
• Turning Manifestation Reviews and FBAs (Functional Behavior Assessments) Into Legally Sound, Actionable BIPs (Behavior Intervention Plans)
• Words Matter, Especially These Ones: Drafting Defensible PWNs (Prior Written Notices)

Putting Research Into Practice: Evidence for Impact

• 1+1+1 Equals More Than 3 for Students Struggling with Math: Effective Instruction, New Legislation, and the Latest Research Are Improving Results for PreK-12 Students with Dyscalculia and Other Math Struggles
• Calm is Contagious: The Neuroscience of Adult Regulation in Special Education Leadership
• From Data to Direction: Advancing Leadership Through General and Special Education Administrators' and Educators' Perspectives by Comparing Results of The State of Special Education Profession Surveys (3rd Edition)
• From Implementation to Impact: Sustainable Literacy Practices
• From Initiative to Impact: Applied Implementation Science for Special Education Leaders
• From Programs to People: Operationalizing a Student Needs-Based Model and Unsiloing Special Education
• Keeping Your Paraeducator Workforce Strong: 7 Guidelines for Administrators
• Research in Your Pocket: A Practical Toolkit for Special Education Leaders
• The Inclusion Impact: Translating Evidence into School Practice

Staff Wellness: Fostering Resilience

• Burnout is Not a Badge of Honor: Practical Strategies to Support Special Education Leaders and Teams
• Creating a Culture of Feedback in Special Education Settings
• Creating a Trauma-Informed Workplace: Supporting the Well-Being of Special Educators
• From Solitude to Support: Professional Networks as a Remedy for Educator Isolation
• Just Look Up! A Radical Experiment in Human Connection
• Strong Enough to Break: Recognizing and Reducing High-Functioning Burnout in Special Education Leadership
• Sustaining the Educator: Practical Wellness Strategies to Address Teacher Burnout
• Two Perspectives, One Goal: Building Resilient Systems Through Compassionate Leadership

Student Wellness: Prioritizing Balance for Success

• From Crisis to Connection: Trauma-Informed Support for Students with Emotional Disabilities
• The Strength Advantage: Using Positive Psychology to Unlock Student Potential

Transition: Supporting Pathways to Independence

• Beyond Compliance: Building Student-Centered Transition Plans with Life Centered Education 2.0
• From Compliance to Career Readiness: Leading Systemic Change Through 'Future Ready Labs'
• Reimagining the Self-Contained Model: Strategic Scheduling for Middle School Success
• Transforming Transition Services Through Program Redesign