MEMORANDUM
TO:
County Superintendents
County Special Education Administrators
County Instructional Leaders
Jacob Green, Executive Director, Office of Institutional Education Programs
Martin Keller, Superintendent, West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind
FROM:
Pat Homberg
Executive Director
Office of Special Education
RE:
Special Education Technology Integration Specialist Advanced Credential
Opportunity
DATE:
March 4, 2016
The 2016-17 Special Education Technology Integration Specialist (SETIS) program includes
K-12 special education teachers and speech language pathologists who are in a co-teaching
situation or in a position to share resources and skills with other teachers in schools.
Applicants must be willing to provide at least 8 hours of professional development to their
staff. Fifteen special educators who meet the criteria in the application and have
commitments of support from their superintendents, special education administrators,
technology administrators and principals will be selected to participate. This professional
development emphasizes the tools that make the general education curriculum accessible
to all students and targets strategies for increased student engagement. It includes grant
funding and sustained embedded mentoring.
Districts employing selected teachers will receive a $6500.00 grant per selected teacher to
defray the costs of the required professional development. The grant funds can be used to
pay costs for needed equipment, stipends, substitute teachers, travel expenses, conference
registration fees and other costs associated with the SETIS candidates’ participation in the
required professional development.
The special education teachers selected in this initiative will participate in the equivalent of
40 days (320 hours) of professional development that parallels the professional
development received by all of the Technology Integration Specialists (TIS) groups. The
320 hours of professional development will include:
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Completion of TIS online course from June 2016 – June 2017, equivalent to 45 hours
Three-day conference at Tamarack Conference Center, Beckley, WV on June 14-16, 2016
Five-day conference July 18-22, 2016, at the Waterfront Hotel, Morgantown, WV
One two-day face to face workshop in spring 2017
Completion of Blended Learning online course, equivalent to 90 hours
Memorandum
March 4, 2016
Page 2
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Provide evidence for various projects and blended learning with students during the
school year 2016-2017
Monthly online collaborative session
Survey of principal and co-teachers for purposes of program evaluation
Elective professional development opportunities related to topics such as instructional
design, co-teaching strategies, assistive technology, instructional technology integration
robotics and coding
In addition to the required hours of professional development, the selected teachers will
receive ongoing support and mentoring in their schools by a WVDE field coordinator. Given
this support, selected teachers will provide 8 hours of professional development to
the staff at their schools during school year 2016-17.
Teachers who participate fully and successfully complete the 320 hours of professional
development will be eligible to receive an advanced credential as a Technology Integration
Specialist awarded by the WVDE Office of Professional Preparation.
To make an informed decision about whether to apply to participate, teachers must have
prior information regarding: 1) the commitment they are making and the district’s
expectations that they honor that commitment, 2) the scheduled dates of required
professional development, such as eight days in summer of 2016, 3) the benefits to the
students they teach, to their co-teaching team and to them personally and 4) the expenses
covered and district procedures for documentation, reimbursement and acquisition of
equipment.
Grant funds may be used to purchase equipment, pay stipends or substitutes, and any
expenses incurred regarding participation in the program. Participants are required to have
a professional grade Notebook, no more than 2 years old (PC or Mac) that connects with
high speed Internet access to public networks and district LAN. Operating system must be
Windows 7 or newer for PC and the latest version iOS for Macs. Notebooks must have
internal or external video cameras and professional productivity software. Participants
need a headset with microphone. Special education administrators and/or principals
should work with county technology contacts to ensure appropriate configurations.
A $4000 grant will be awarded to the participant's district in May 2016 and must be
obligated by September 30, 2016 and liquidated by October 31, 2016. A second grant of
$2500 will be issued to the district in February 2017 to cover any remaining travel costs or
instructional technology for the classroom. It must be obligated by September 2017. Grant
award monies cannot be used to pay tuition costs for graduate credit.
Memorandum
March 4, 2016
Page 3
The special education teacher must meet the following criteria:
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Certification in special education or speech language pathology
Two years or more experience as a special educator
A flexible instructional style
A demonstrated collaborative attitude and belief in co-teaching
Demonstrated ease with using instructional technology
Demonstrated computer literacy, including word processing, communication
professionally via email, use of browser to research the Internet and experience
using presentation software
Regular access to a computer and Internet at home and school
Willingness to provide training to staff at their school
An application for the teacher to complete can be found at
http://wvde.state.wv.us/osp/SETISAPPLY.html.
Assurance statements to be completed and signed by the superintendent, county special
education administrator, county technology administrator and principal are attached. The
application and the signed assurance statements must be submitted by April 25, 2016 to:
Valerie Wilson
West Virginia Department of Education
Building 6, Room 304
1900 Kanawha Blvd, East
Charleston, WV 25305
FAX – 304-558-3741
Please contact Valerie Wilson at vwilson@k12.wv.us or 304-558-2696 for further
information regarding the Special Education Technology Integration Specialist project.
PH/VW
cc: Monica Bean, Executive Director
Office of Professional Preparation