Summer Professional Learning Retreat

Below is a snapshot of the sessions offered. Please scroll below to register and to find full session descriptions.

Each of these sessions will qualify for professional development credit hours. Participants will complete a survey that will allow them to generate and print a certificate for documentation.

Attendees can choose from the following courses. To register for any of the sessions, select the corresponding ticket below and then proceed to checkout. Please note that there is a fee for some of the onsite sessions on Thursday for non-members. Members can waive this fee by entering the appropriate coupon code during checkout. If you need assistance with registering, please call (501) 492-4300 or email webmaster@apsrc.net.

Day 1 – Tuesday, June 28 (Virtual)
Theme: Personalizing the Learning

8:30 am to 10:30 am

• Option 1
  Lincoln Learning Digital Resources
  Presenter: Casey Sadler and Sheena Donovan, Lincoln Learning Solutions
  Join the Lincoln Learning Team for in-depth training on Lincoln Learning’s digital content. Topics will include BUZZ LMS platform navigation; auto-graded vs. traditional courses; functionality and customization; digital library resources; accessing and utilizing auto-graded content via digital library; use of communication tools. This session will also include a resource that can be accessed after the session.
• Option 2
  Creating a Culture of Growth
  Jeana Williams and Melody Morgan, APSRC Co-Directors of Teaching & Learning
  Come learn about strategies to promote student agency in the classroom. Students become owners of their learning through analysis of formative data and learning how to establish personalized goals and growth targets and then synthesizing their outcomes during student-led conferences.

10:30 am to 12:30 pm

• Supporting Learner Agency with OIE and Arkansas Educators
  Presenter: Crystal Maree Beshears and Marsha Hash, Office of Innovation for Education
  Join OIE and innovative leaders from across the state to learn how leaders and teachers create the supportive culture and learning environments that build learner agency. Whether you support in-person, virtual, or hybrid learning your students need the environment and skills to become owners of their learning. Learn from Arkansas educators ways you can support learner agency in your own learning environment.

12:30 to 3:30 pm

• • • ALA Reach Summer Workshop Series – Leading an Equitable Rebound: Excellence in Core Instruction
      Presenter: Dr. Dominique Smith
      In partnership with the APSRC Summer Learning Retreat and the Arkansas Leadership Academy, ALA Reach is offering a three-hour virtual workshop led by Dr. Dominique Smith focusing on equitable tier-1 core instruction with plenty of strategies to support new and veteran teachers, instructional leaders, and curriculum coordinators in their post-pandemic rebound to finding a new, better normal. Participants will leave with strategies, skills, and tools to face the upcoming school year with a revived outlook and eagerness.

Click here to register for ALA Reach Summer Workshop Series

Day 2 – Wednesday, June 29 (Virtual)
Theme: Supporting Special Populations

8:30 am to 10:30 am

• Dyslexia Requirements for Arkansas Schools
  Presenter: Vicki King, Dyslexia Specialist, ADE-DESE
  In this session, Vicki King will address requirements for meeting the needs of students with dyslexia in Arkansas schools and answer questions about the topic. To submit your questions beforehand, please use the Google form link below:
  • Submit your questions for this session

10:45 am to 12:45 pm

• Incorporating the G.U.I.D.E. for Life into Daily Instruction
  Presenter: Tammy Friend, G.U.I.D.E. for Life Specialist, ADE-DESE
  This session provides strategies for teaching the personal competency skills outlined in the G.U.I.D.E. for Life (self-management, self-awareness, relationship-building, decision-making and social awareness) into daily practices and provides an overview of the G.U.I.D.E. for Life resources available to equip students for personal and academic success in college, career, and in the community today and in the future.

12:45 pm to 1:30 pm

• Lunch & Learn: What Does ESSA Identification Mean for Your School in 2022?
  Presenter: Dr. Denise Airola, Director, Office of Innovation for Education
  2022 is an identification year for ESSA accountability. It will be the second time Arkansas will identify schools for Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) and Additional Targeted Support and Improvement (ATSI) since 2018. Why might this matter to you and your school? Join a short session on ESSA identification and the possible implications for your school.

1:30 pm to 3:30 pm

• Inclusive Practices Overview
  Presenter: Yvonne Green, Administrator for Monitoring and Program Effectiveness, ADE-DESE
  “Inclusive education is a schoolwide culture and practice of valuing each student as a learner across general education classrooms, rather than a particular program or place.” This session will provide participants a brief overview of inclusive practices, exploring the current reality and the direction we as a state are moving.

Day 3 – Thursday, June 30
Theme: Focusing on Literacy & Math

These sessions will be held at APSRC in the Victory Building, which is located at 1401 W. Capitol Ave., Little Rock, AR 72201. Parking is available in a garage located on 6th Street, which runs parallel to Capitol Avenue. The garage is connected to the Victory Building via a second-floor walkway. You will need $6 to cover all-day parking or $2 per hour for hourly parking. Metered parking is also available.

8:30 am to 10:30 am

• Option 1
  Students Struggling in Literacy? Learn How to Move Students from Multisensory to Automaticity (On-site only)
  Presenters: Karla Jones and Brandi Hardcastle, Literacy Specialists
  Strategies will be provided to support K-6 students in foundational literacy skills with best practices based on the Science of Reading. Participants will walk away with multisensory practices for their students.
• Option 2
  Secondary Literacy Strategies for All Content Areas (On-site only)
  Amber Pirnique, ADE Program Administrator, ADE-DESE
  Developing literacy skills is the shared responsibility across all content areas. Secondary Literacy in All Content Areas is a deep dive into how each teacher can support this vital work.

10:45 am to 11:15 am

• A Move Toward Coherence: An Introduction to Arkansas’s New Assessment System (Also Available Virtually)
  Presenter: Hope Worsham, ADE-DESE
  Educational assessment comes in a variety of forms each with a specific purpose. As we transition away from ACT Aspire, Arkansas will partner with Cambium Assessment Incorporated to create a state-specific assessment system. Participants will receive an overview of the new state assessment system for 3-10 and an introduction to its role in a district’s overall assessment system.

12:15 pm to 1:15 pm

• Connecting the DOTs (Data Optimization Tools) (On-site Only)
  Presenters: Ben Janelle, APSRC Technology Director; Melody Morgan and Jeana Williams, APSRC Co-Directors of Teaching & Learning
  Experience the newly engineered DOTs tool designed to assist educators with the analysis of multiple measures of student-level data. Learn how to make connections with real-time actionable data to inform student-level intervention and needs throughout the school year.

1:30 pm to 3:30 pm

• Option 1
  Students Struggling in Literacy? Learn How to Move Students from Multisensory to Automaticity (On-site Only)
  Presenters: Karla Jones and Brandi Hardcastle, Literacy Specialists
  Strategies will be provided to support K-6 students in foundational literacy skills with best practices based on the Science of Reading. Participants will walk away with multisensory practices for their students.
• Option 2
  Prepping for Secondary Math (On-site Only)
  Presenter: Cheryl Windberry, APSRC
  This session will be all about how to design a coherent lesson in math that will connect necessary prior knowledge to the progression of the concepts.