The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) and the Bureau of Special Education (BSE) are pleased to announce a professional development fellowship program for Special Education Leaders. This community of practice will provide veteran and novice special education administrators with the knowledge and skills to direct effective programming that will ensure success for all students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). For the purposes of this program, a special education leader is defined as any individual who has primary responsibility for overseeing special education programs, teachers, and services to the local education agency.

The goals of the Pennsylvania Fellowship Program for Special Education Leaders are to:

• Increase the skills and understanding of legal issues surrounding special education;
• Build and support a cadre of special edu­cation leaders who can achieve improved results for students with disabilities;
• Strengthen the capacity of special education leaders to serve students with disabilities;
• Develop a culture of learning and teach­ing in schools to support students with disabilities; and
• Promote collegial discussions and networking opportunities.

This community of practice is based on the Council for Exceptional Children and the Council for Administrators of Special Education standards and is aligned with the Pennsylvania Inspired Leadership standards. The Pennsylvania Fellowship Program has been approved for Act 48 hours.

A combination of nine statewide and regional sessions will be held between September 2019 and July 2020. Please refer to the last page of the application for the program calendar. Statewide training sessions will be held at the Hotel Indigo, 765 Eisenhower Blvd., Harrisburg, PA 17111; regional training sessions being held at either the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN) East office or the PaTTAN Pittsburgh office,  pending the participant’s proximity to the regional site.

The registration fee for the Pennsylvania Fellowship Program is $525, which also includes the registration fees for the PDE Conference and the Special Education Leadership Academy. Participants are responsible for any travel costs.

Space is limited to 55 participants. The application deadline is August 2, 2019. To download the application and view eligibility requirements, please visit www.pattan.net under the Special Education Leadership tab or contact Paula Quinn at pquinn@pattan.net.

Questions regarding the content of the fellowship program may be directed to Tracy Ficca at tficca@pattan.net (East), Nichole Kopco at nkopco@pattan.net (Harrisburg), or Christine Moon at cmoon@pattan.net (Pittsburgh).