Please contact your START RCN Representative or Jana Benjamin if you have any questions or need assistance.

The 2023-2024 RCN Contract Application Form is available on the START website and is due June 30, 2023.

Please contact your START RCN Representative or Jana Benjamin if you have any questions or need assistance.

Earlier this year, START released a training needs survey to the Regional Collaborative Networks (RCN) to better understand which trainings the school staff and families would like to see offered and which training formats are feasible and conducive to learning.

The survey data indicated that school staff and families would like to see a variety of topics in various formats, shorter time frames, flexible access, and summer options. During the 2023-2024 school year, START will not offer Intensive Training in order to ensure greater statewide access, increased equity, and effectively deliver training for all Michigan students with ASD.

In response to the survey results, START plans to offer multiple ways for school staff and families to access training events and training series in 2023-2024. Training events will be offered in both virtual and in-person formats. START also plans to offer several training series covering a variety of topics in a virtual format.

START anticipates that the 2023-2024 training schedule will be available in July 2023.

Note: the proposed 2023-2024 training plan is subject to change.

Beginning in 2023-2024, START will introduce a new plan for the Effective Practices Leadership Initiative (EPLI) to increase confidence and competence in trainers and coaches and regional capacity for training and coaching.

This plan, the Essential Foundations Bootcamp, will include an integration of universal supports, behavioral practices, and instructional strategies with a focus on both content and coaching over a total of six days. The Bootcamp will consist of four days of content and coaching and two days of Trainer Days, which are collaborative days intended to strengthen training and presentation skills.

The Essential Foundations Bootcamp (six days) will be required for New and Inactive Trainers. Current Trainers and Coaches will be invited to attend any portion of the Essential Foundations Bootcamp. Current Trainers will also be invited to an optional FAPE in the LRE Bootcamp. 

More information about the EPLI Trainer Plan, including dates, requirements, and the application, will be available this summer.

Individual EPLI Trainer Report: Trainers are instructed to report all trainings they conducted using START content/materials two times a year (Mid-year: February 15 and end of year: July 14). The data from this report will be shared with the RCN. 

Peer to Peer 2.0: Level Up!

In March 2023, we held our first Peer to Peer 2.0: Level Up training. Peer to Peer 2.0 emerged from a desire to communicate updated resources and content to established teams, dive deeper into advanced Peer to Peer content, and offer the opportunity for teams across the state to network and share ideas. We want to share exciting information about the next level of Peer to Peer.

Read about Peer to Peer 2.0 here.

Critical Question #4

How do my beliefs, behaviors, and decisions demonstrate and ensure inclusivity and equity for all students, including students on the autism spectrum?

There is a long history of considering and studying the connection between our beliefs about ourselves, others, and the world around us and our behaviors. In 1958, Fritz Heider posed Social Attribution Theory to help explain how an individual’s translation of the events around them impacts their behavior. According to Heimlich, et al., beliefs are an important bridge to behavior (2013). The increase in articles, podcasts, and other learning opportunities on the topic of explicit and implicit bias and its result on behavior speaks to the important need to reflect upon and deeply examine our own beliefs. This is critical regarding the impact of our beliefs and biases on inclusive and equitable experiences for students.

Understanding how our beliefs affect our behavior and our decisions is empowering! If we individually and collectively openly examine our own deeply rooted beliefs, we can begin to identify those that are limiting our promotion of inclusive and equitable environments for all students to target for change. Imagine the possibilities!

Read more about Critical Question #4

Critical Question #5

What policies, structures, biases, and practices do we need to dismantle in order to provide a more equitable experience for students?

In Critical Questions #3 and #4, we examined our use of language as well as our personal beliefs and behaviors. We then generated individual action steps toward creating inclusive and equitable spaces for all students. Critical Question #5 moves us toward examining the existing systemic practices that serve as barriers to inclusive educational communities for students. 

In her article, Special Education is Not a Place, Dr. Paula Kluth speaks to long-standing policies and practices that interfere with increasing inclusive and equitable experiences for students with disabilities. She writes, “Too often students with disabilities are marginalized. This perspective has been perpetuated through the use of the pull-out system. Pull-out services reinforce differences and interrupt the typical experiences necessary for social skill acquisition, life-skill learning, and scholastic success.”

According to psychologist, Dr. Snehal Kumar, learning to notice patterns in our systemic policies and practices is the first step toward change. Then, we can look for opportunities to enact change by recognizing the systemic practices we have been trained to walk by. We might very well be maintaining the status quo by avoiding behaviors and conversations that make us uncomfortable. Together, we can engage in action to enact purposeful, systemic change that is inclusive of those marginalized.

Read more about Critical Question #5

The Statewide Autism Resources and Training (START) Project is funded by the Michigan Department of Education, Office of Special Education to provide training and technical assistance to educators in Michigan that serve students with ASD.

START Project | autismed@gvsu.edu | (616) 331-6480