PCG Education Partners with Dr. Frances Stetson to Bring Inclusive Professional Development Course Online
NEW YORK, Feb. 14, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- To empower all educators to master inclusivity allowing all students to flourish, PCG Education (PCG), a leading provider of research-based, online professional learning for districts and educators today at the AASA National Conference on Education announced a new partnership with Dr. Frances Stetson of Stetson & Associates, Inc., to develop Inclusive Education: Success for All Learners. Through this partnership, Stetson, a nationally renowned authority in classroom inclusivity will lead the eight-unit online professional learning program. The program will be available to districts nationwide in spring 2019.
Historically, districts focused their efforts on addressing accountability to federal policy. Today, successful schools place an increased focus on improving outcomes for all students in inclusive classrooms. In order to achieve this transformative change, all educators must understand the beliefs, expectations, practices and systems change that needs to occur to ensure the growth and development of all students. Inclusive Education: Success for All Learners will provide support for educators in inclusive classrooms so districts can move back to ensuring student success.
Delivering the program online allows current K-12 educators to build their skills while actively teaching in the classroom, helping districts impart systemic change across their schools. Each of the eight units include high-quality videos of authentic classroom practice, documentary-style interviews with the nation's leading education experts, teacher perspectives, and resources to enhance the effectiveness of practices across districts.
"PCG Education's approach to scaling professional learning for districts and educators will directly result in improved access to inclusive practice for increasingly diverse classrooms and schools," said Dr. Frances Stetson, President of Stetson & Associates, Inc. "Systemic district wide change is necessary for inclusive education to be swiftly realized. I'm thrilled to partner with PCG Education whose phenomenal reputation for systemwide results will ultimately transform teaching, classrooms, and allow all students to thrive."
Traditional approaches to professional learning for educators involve days of in-person workshops, taking teachers out of classrooms with minimal lasting results and no large-scale systemic change. Conversely, PCG Education - powered programs provide 20 hours of research-based instruction, 10 hours of coaching, and 20 hours of practical application, and is completed online over 12-14 weeks, allowing educators to move at their own pace while staying in their classrooms. The program also features reflection questions, feedback from personal coaches, and a mid-course and final capstone project to give participants the opportunity to practice their learning and create actionable plans for implementing their new approaches to inclusion.
"Dr. Stetson is a rockstar in helping build and support inclusive classrooms and we are excited to bring her expertise in equity and inclusion to our online delivery model," said Alvin Crawford, General Manager of PCG Education. "The PCG Education-powered online approach enables districts to scale this important work with fidelity, giving all educators the opportunity to access Stetson's expertise through flexible, accessible, and best-in-class professional development. This systemic change must take place in order to bring child-centered outcomes back to districts."
The program covers the following eight topics:
1. "Belief Systems and Expectations within Inclusive Schools: Creating a Common Vision" defines what inclusive schools are and how teacher expectations play a role;
2. "Instructional Excellence for ALL: How do we Reach Every Student?" explores the importance of lesson planning, scaffolding supports, and the difference between accommodations and modifications;
3. "Multi-Level Instruction: Enhancing Standards-Based Instruction" lays out the specific steps that can help simplify the process of making decisions about multi-level instruction;
4. "Roles for Educators in Inclusive Schools: Increasing Support Inside the General Education Classroom" centers on the goal of successfully supporting students with special needs in the general education classroom and how to create a continuum of support inside these classrooms;
5. "Roles for Educators in Inclusive Schools: When Services are Required Outside of the General Education Classroom" addresses when to bring in high-quality specialized support and how to assess whether students are receiving needed services;
6. "Effective Use of Paraeducator Supports in Inclusive Schools" recognizes the importance of paraeducators as valuable members of the instructional team and explores ways to effectively use these experts in staffing and planning;
7. "Collaboration and Shared Ownership: Adult to Adult Considerations and Conversations" spotlights the need for shared responsibility between all teachers and the necessity of collaborative partnerships that acknowledge personal dynamics and working styles; and,
8. "A Balcony View of Inclusive Schools: Quality Indicators and Personal Commitments" summarizes the learnings from the full course and facilitates the development of a plan for improving current practices to support achievement of quality standards for inclusive schools.
The topics covered in the Inclusive Education: Success for All Learners course are built from the idea that the modern inclusive classroom is one in which the needs of every student are met, where diverse learning is taking place every day, and where educators are equipped with opportunities to do creative and courageous things around teaching and learning.
Inclusive Education: Success for All Learners will be available for purchase in spring 2019 at an individual, school or district-wide basis. For more information, visit educatored.com.
About Stetson & Associates, Inc.
Stetson & Associates, Inc. has a 30-year history of providing cutting-edge services to thousands of school districts, state departments of education, and universities throughout the United States, and to several foreign countries. Under the direction of Frances Stetson, Ph.D., associates provide strategic planning and evaluation services, identify critical targets for improvement, provide high-impact professional learning, on-site coaching and technical assistance. Assisting clients in creating a common vision and vocabulary and consistent practice that meets quality standards for inclusive education, closing the achievement gap, improving Tier One instruction, and enhancing leadership success are a few of the hallmarks of the organization. On a five-point scale, Stetson and Associates achieves a 4.87 satisfaction rating from clients. For more information, visit stetsonassociates.com or inclusiveschools.org.
About PCG Education
PCG Education, a division of Public Consulting Group, Inc. (PCG), is a leading provider of research-based, online professional learning for districts and K-12 educators. PCG Education offers nearly 70 courses that give educators the opportunity to learn from experts in the education field, featuring rigorous content, instructional coaching, and engaging learning experiences. The courses are currently used by thousands of learners in districts and schools across the country, providing an innovative approach to professional learning that enables districts to scale best practices and transform learning by improving classroom instruction. Additionally, PCG Education offers consulting services and technology solutions that help schools, school districts, and state education agencies to promote student success, improve programs and processes, and optimize financial resources. For more information, visit: educatored.com.
SOURCE PCG Education
