|
|
|
|
New Team Member: Intervention Specialist
 The division of special populations and student support is pleased to welcome Kate Martin as the intervention specialist. Previously, Kate worked within Williamson County Schools as a school service specialist and in New York as a reading specialist. Her past experience includes coordinating special education services alongside school teams, creating and delivering professional development in the areas of literacy, memory, learning, and IAIEPs, and conducting reading evaluations, parent and advocate training, and resource purchase and management for intervention materials. As the intervention specialist, Kate will be providing support and professional development to districts regarding the most intensive levels of intervention in the areas of reading, math, and writing and collaborating with partners on the State Personnel Development Grant. She has a background in both reading and math and holds endorsements in early childhood education, elementary education, special education, and reading. Kate can be reached at (615) 829-9331 or Kate.B.Martin@tn.gov.
|
|
New Team Members: Office of Targeted District Support
The division of special populations and student support is pleased to introduce several new team members within the office of targeted district support. These team members will assist with the annual local determinations process, conduct file reviews as part of web-based monitoring, assist with administrative complaint investigations, and participate in IEP team meetings at either parent or district request. These individuals look forward to supporting you as your district works to improve outcomes for students with disabilities. You will be hearing from these new team members soon as they schedule in-person meetings with you so that they might get to know more about you and your district. In the meantime, here is some information about each specialist:
Southwest/South Central
LaTres e Watson originally hails from Mississippi and brings 14 years of experience to her position. This experience includes work in residential hospitals, alternative schools, behavior intervention classrooms, inclusive settings, and work as a behavior specialist. Most recently, LaTrese served as the special education department chair for LaVergne Middle School in Rutherford County. She can be reached by email at LaTrese.Watson@tn.gov or by phone at (615) 486-8022.
Northwest/Mid Cumberland
Kendra Broome is a Nashville native who brings over 10 years of experience to her position. Within this time, Kendra has served as a life-skills teacher, a resource teacher, and an inclusion teacher. Kendra leaves Maplewood High School in Metro Nashville Public Schools where she served as special education department chair and RTI² coordinator. She can be reached by email at Kendra.Broome@tn.gov or by phone at (615) 486-8937.
Upper Cumberland/Southeast
Martina Stu mp currently lives with her family in Putnam County and brings 20 years of experience to her position, which includes work as a speech therapist, special education behavior teacher, inclusion teacher, and special education department chair for Cookeville High School. Most recently, Martina served as the transition coordinator for Cookeville High School where she was responsible for scheduling, transition planning, occupational diplomas, work-based learning, and supervision of the Cookeville High School job coaches. She can be reached by email at Martina.Stump@tn.gov or by phone at (615) 486-8029.
East TN/First TN:
Dr. Karen Davis-Beggs is in her 23rd year as a special educator. She started her career as a special educ ation teacher and behavior trainer in Hawkins County, and later moved into a central office position at Sullivan County where she served as special education coordinator, child find coordinator, 619 pre-K coordinator, EasyIEP site administrator, and general compliance monitor. She was also an IAIEP trainer for the division of special populations during the summer of 2014. Karen can be reached by email at Karen.Beggs@tn.gov or by phone at (615) 486-8941.
Please reach out to Nathan Travis at Nathan.Travis@tn.gov with questions.
|
|
Seeking Applicants: Superintendent Positions for State Special Schools
The department is seeking applications for two superintendent positions: one to serve as superintendent of Tennessee School for the Blind (TSB) and one to serve as superintendent of Tennessee School for the Deaf (TSD) and West Tennessee School for the Deaf (WTSD). Applicants should email a cover letter, resume, and contact information for three professional references to Kathleen.Airhart@tn.gov by March 17. For additional information about these positions, click here.
|
|
MSAA Updates
Thank you for your continued patience and efforts to ensure all users and students are correctly entered into the MSAA platform. At this time, all department student uploads are complete. At this time, districts should review the MSAA student lists to check for the following:
- State Identification Number: All student must be correctly identified by the state identification number. This number may be found in the district’s EIS system and/or the IEP under state identification.
- Grade: Only students enrolled in grades 3-8 and 11 should be included for testing in the MSAA system. Please verify the student’s correct grade is indicated in the platform.
- Demographic information: Check the birthday, ethnicity, gender, etc. for all students.
Districts may now begin to upload additional students not currently listed in the platform. The Test Coordinator user guide has instructions for adding students. All students must be entered by March 3 to ensure the test form assignment. Users should be entered by March 10. Training modules will be available on March 13. The test window is March 27 through May 12.
If you have any questions, please contact Lori.Nixon@tn.gov.
|
|
2017-18 Special Course Application
Applications are now being accepted from districts who wish to offer special courses during the 2017-18 school year. Special course applications are required for all elective courses intended to meet the unique needs of a school or district that cannot be met using the courses and standards included in the Approved High School Courses Policy and listed in the 2017-18 correlation of course codes.The 2017-18 special course applications will be submitted electronically through this form. The 2017-18 Special Course Application Package (here) provides guidance for gathering all information and supporting documentation required for a complete application submission. For special courses intended to start fall semester 2017, the deadline for application submission is May 5, 2017. For special courses intended to start spring semester 2018, the deadline for application submission is Sept. 15, 2017.
As shared in an earlier Update, the State Board of Education’s Special Courses Policy has been revised for 2017-18. For more information about these revisions, please review the 2017-18 Special Course Applications FAQ document or contact Charlotte.Woehler@tn.gov.
|
|
2017-18 Special Program of Study Application
Special program of study (SPOS) applications are required for districts offering CTE programs of study that are not included in the department's 2017-18 Programs of Study. Approved special programs of study are entered in eTIGER and are valid for three school years.
The 2017-18 SPOS applications should be submitted electronically through this form. The 2017-18 Special Program of Study Application Package (here) provides guidance for gathering all required information and supporting documentation. The deadline for 2017-18 SPOS applications is May 5, 2017. For more information, contact Steven.Gass@tn.gov .
|
|
2016-17 TRIAD Professional Development and Training Opportunities
Vanderbilt Kennedy Center’s Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders (TRIAD), in partnership with the Tennessee Department of Education have a full list of professional development opportunities for the 2016-17 academic school year. These professional development opportunities are designed for LEA personnel who work with students with autism and other disabilities in early childhood settings through high school. We have both live and online professional development opportunities available as well as some new information regarding student specific behavior consults available. For additional information regarding TRIAD events and consultation, please click here or visit the TRIAD website (here).
|
|
|
Sign-Up Links for All Department Newsletters
The department publishes nearly forty newsletters geared toward the interests and work responsibilities of various district and school stakeholder groups. All department newsletters are opt-in, so any interested individual can sign up to receive any of our newsletters. Please click here for a comprehensive list of newsletter sign-up links and feel free to share these links with your district and school teams.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
