Schedule of Events

Thursday, October 15, 2026

WCASS Day 1

7:30 am - 8:15 am | Breakfast

8:05 - 8:15 Welcome

8:15 - 9:15 Keynote - Better Together: Building Collective Efficacy to Ensure Every Student Learns

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Jenni Donohoo

Dr. Jenni Donohoo is a professional learning facilitator, author, and researcher with more than 25 years of experience in leading school improvement. Jenni has multi-year partnerships with numerous organizations and government agencies where she works alongside system and school leaders supporting high-quality professional learning designed to improve outcomes for all students. She is a five-time best-selling author and her books have been translated in several languages. As the Director of the Jenni Donohoo Center for Collective Efficacy, Jenni has been recognized internationally as an educational thought leader.

Session Description: When educators believe that together their combined actions are the determining factor in student success, achievement follows. This keynote explores collective teacher efficacy, the most powerful school-level driver of student outcomes, and what it means for leaders of special education and student services. We’ll connect the research on shared belief to the everyday work of collaboration, data-driven decision-making, and high-leverage practices, and leave with practical ways to cultivate the conviction that all students can learn when adults own that outcome together.

9:15 am - 9:45 am | Vendor Time & Break

9:45 am - 10:45 am | Concurrent Sessions & Roundtable Sessions - Round 1

1. Leading Instruction, Not Just Managing It: The Research Behind the Shift

Jenni Donohoo, Education Consultant

Educational leaders tend to make a bigger difference for students the more directly they engage with instruction and learning. During this interactive breakout, participants will examine a set of studies connecting instructional leadership, leadership self-efficacy, and collective teacher efficacy and the achievement gains that follow. Together we’ll surface a clear message from the research: leaders feel more effective, and their teams believe more deeply in their collective capacity, when leaders shift time and attention away from managerial tasks and toward supporting instruction. Participants will leave with research-grounded talking points and practical ideas for reclaiming the instructional leadership role in special education and student services.

2. Explicit Instruction: Moving Specially Designed Instruction Forward

Kristy Erickson, RSN Director | CESA 8 & Kate Totch, Associate Director of Special Education Services | CESA 9

Participants will develop a shared understanding of explicit instruction as a means to improve outcomes for students with disabilities. This session will demonstrate how explicit instruction can align within existing district structures and routines, allowing for more impactful SDI.

4. Shaping the SAA Legislative Agenda: A Two-Way Legislative Update

Cody Lundquist, Director of Government Relations | School Administrators Alliance

Join SAA Director of Government Relations Cody Lundquist for an overview of the upcoming SAA’s 2027–2029 Evidence-Based Policy Agenda, and a conversation on how we bring your voice to state and federal lawmakers. Moving beyond a standard legislative update, this session launches a statewide engagement strategy built on real-time feedback from practicing school leaders. Hear what is on the horizon in Madison, share what your administrative team is experiencing on the ground, and help align our statewide policy priorities with your local realities.

5. Roundtables

a. Moving from Training to Implementation with FBAs

Katherine Smith, FBA Statewide Coordinator

b. Challenges and Solutions in Rural WI Schools

Wendy Simonis, Director of Special Education/Pupil Services | Gillett School District

c. 18-21 Planning for and Determining when to End Services

Alicia Reinhard, Consultant - Transition | Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction & Shelley Burke Otto, Technical Assistance Transition Specialist | TIG

 11:00 - 12:00 Concurrent Sessions & Roundtable Sessions - Round 2

1. Resilience: Coping and Relationships

 Katie Berg, Statewide Coordinator | Supporting Neurodiverse Students

 Adapting to adversity is a struggle we all have. We often do not think of resilience as a skill set but rather a way of being.  In this training, participants will learn about the components of resilience, and how their practice can influence the building of resilience in their students. We will look at the effects of a system that struggles to naturally cope with that adversity and the relationships it takes to build resiliency.

 2. Every Student Stronger Outcomes

 Iris Jacobson, Consultant | Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction & Missy Lesik, Director of Student Services and Special Education | School District of Altoona

This session will take a practical look at planning meaningful instruction for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities in inclusive settings.   Including how the School District of Altoona has put this work into practice across all levels of systems. Participants will explore examples of instructional planning, structures, and tools used to connect instruction to the Essential Elements while supporting students in inclusive learning environments. The session will include collaborative discussion, giving participants an opportunity to reflect on their current practices, identify challenges, and consider how they can apply ideas and tools from the session in their own school systems.

3. Strengthening Leadership for Special Education Teacher Retention

Sara Evans, Senior Technical Assistance Consultant | American Institutes for Research, Paul Steinle, Product Development Support | American Institutes for Research 

Retaining skilled special education teachers is critical for student success. This session empowers school leaders and those who support them with the tools and strategies needed to foster a supportive environment that enhances special education teacher retention. Using the LEAD IDEA Principal Navigator: Special Education Teacher Retention, participants will explore research-based approaches to improve job satisfaction, reduce burnout, and build a culture of collaboration and support. Attendees will leave with actionable strategies to strengthen special education teacher retention and ensure continuity in high-quality services.

 4. Universal Design at All Levels of Instructional Planning

 Jennifer Apodaca, Director of Student Services | Sun Prairie School District

Universal design is often introduced as a classroom strategy, which leaves it dependent on individual teacher initiative and vulnerable to competing demands. This session reframes universal design as a set of decisions made at every layer of a system—during curriculum renewal and adoption, in content and grade-level PLC conversations, and in daily classroom planning—so that access is built in rather than retrofitted. Participants will examine what universal design looks like at each of these levels and where the leverage points sit for district and building leaders. Attendees will consider how their own planning structures either reinforce or undercut designing for variability from the start.

5. Roundtables

a. School Nursing Discussion

Kari Volk, Director of Student Services and Special Education | Three Lakes School District, Jennifer Garceau, Assistant Superintendent of Student Services | Howard-Suamico School District, Kate Harder, Director of Special Education and Student Services | Shorewood School District 

b. Legislative Agenda

Cody Lundquist, Director of Government Relations | School Administrators Alliance

c. 18-21 Planning for and Determining when to End Services

Alicia Reinhard, Consultant - Transition | Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction & Shelley Burke Otto, Technical Assistance Transition Specialist | TIG

d. Let’s Talk Budgets!

Lisa Misco, Executive Director of Student Services | CESA 8 & Tiffany Loken, Director of Special Education | Waunakee Community School District

 12:00 pm - 1:15 pm | Lunch

12:30 pm -1:15 pm |  Membership Meeting

1:30 - 2:30 Panel Discussions

1. Explicit Instruction as Specially Designed Instruction

Panel Facilitator - Eric Weier, Director of Special Education & Student Services | School District of Beloit, Amanda Patterson, Director of Curriculum & Instruction & Amber Haluska, Director of Pupil Services and Special Education | Merrill Area Public Schools, Iris Jacobson, Consultant | Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Brooks Duff, Teacher | School District of Black Hawk, Kristy Erickson, RSN Director | CESA 8, Kate Totch, Associate Director of Special Education Services | CESA 9

This panel discussion will explore explicit instruction as a powerful technique for delivering specially designed instruction (SDI) to students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). Panelists will share practical examples of how explicit instruction can be intentionally designed and implemented to address individual student needs, build skills, and increase access to grade-level content.

Panelists will also discuss how this looks within their building, classroom or educational focused area.  Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and participate in this engaging conversation on how to meet the needs of all students with IEPs.

2. Systems Collaboration for Teacher Retention - Principal and Director Partnerships

Panel Facilitator - Jennifer Garceau, Assistant Superintendent of Student Services | Howard-Suamico School District, Polly Vanden Boogaard, Director of Student Services & Matt Hartin, Principal of Marinette Middle School | Sara Evans, Senior Technical Assistance Consultant | American Institutes for Research, Paul Steinle, Product Development Support | American Institutes for Research Marinette School District, LeadIDEA Center, Christine Voigtlander, Pupil Services Director & Lauren Ward, Elementary Principal | Gibraltar School District, Jennifer Apodaca, Director of Student Services | Sun Prairie School District, Melanie Floyd, Director of Special Education and Pupil Services & Kim Penza, Principal at Black River Falls High School | School District of Black River Falls, Brian Grabarski, Director of Human Resources | Waunakee Community School District

Special education teachers rarely leave because of the students—they leave because of working conditions, role ambiguity, and the feeling that no one above them shares responsibility for the hard parts of the job. Those conditions are shaped jointly by the building principal and the special education director, yet the two roles often operate on parallel tracks rather than in partnership. In this panel, principals and directors will discuss candidly what shared accountability looks like in practice: how they negotiate competing priorities, align supervision and support, and address caseload, paperwork, and culture issues.

3. Elevating SEL: Real-World Insights from District Leaders

3:00 pm - 4:00 pm | World Cafe Conversations

1. Explicit Instruction as Specially Designed Instruction World Cafe Discussion

Facilitator - Deb Wall, Co-Director of Member Learning | WCASS

In this follow-up to the Explicit Instruction as Specially Designed Instruction Panel, participants will move between discussion topics to share practices, build understanding, and discuss challenges and solutions.

2. Systems Collaboration for Teacher Retention - Principal and Director Partnerships World Cafe Discussion

Facilitator - Jim Heiden, Executive Director | WCASS

In this follow-up to the Systems Collaboration for Teacher Retention - Principal and Director Partnerships Panel, participants will move between discussion topics to share practices, build understanding, and discuss challenges and solutions.

3. Elevating SEL World Cafe Discussion

Facilitator - Danica Lewis, Co-Director of Member Learning | WCASS

In this follow-up to the Elevating SEL Panel, participants will move between discussion topics to share practices, build understanding, and discuss challenges and solutions.

4:00 -6:00 Networking Social