When the process is clear, students win.
A complete professional development system for K–12 special education case managers — built on twenty years of frontline practice, structured in eight modules across three tracks, and designed to build the habits that protect students, families, and districts.
The habits that make every IEP cycle run more smoothly are built before the school year begins. Track A establishes the systems, relationships, and file structures that protect case managers from day one.
2 Modules · Recommended for all case managers
The pre-year outreach protocol. The single most powerful question to ask every family before school begins. Scheduling the annual review during the first contact. Why proactive communication eliminates the majority of meeting conflict before it starts.
The digital file structure for every student on the caseload. The 24-hour documentation rule. The progress monitoring system — median-of-three baselines, the four-point decision rule, domain-specific tools for reading, writing, math, and executive functioning.
The four modules that cover the core of the case manager's job — reading the data, writing the document, preparing the team, and running the meeting. The IEP skills that hold up at the table.
4 Modules · The core of the caseload
How to read a neuropsychological evaluation — cross-referencing WISC, achievement, executive function, and rating scales. Finding the story the test data tells. The gap between cognitive ability and academic performance, and why it drives every IEP decision.
The four-part PLAAFP structure. Adverse impact alignment. The narrative test. Clinical language banks for every domain. Side-by-side examples of weak and strong present levels — and how to tell the difference in someone else's writing.
The teacher feedback escalation protocol. The accommodation fidelity audit. The parent pre-meeting packet. Every Illinois deadline in the pre-meeting sequence — and the communication language that keeps the team informed without creating paperwork for its own sake.
The staff intermingling rule. Opening scripts. Student and parent voice. Handling emotional, disagreeable, and combative participants. The trauma-informed reset for high-conflict meetings. Includes the manifestation determination sub-protocol.
After the meeting closes, the case manager's obligations don't. Track C covers the documentation requirements, behavioral frameworks, and ongoing data systems that make a caseload defensible under scrutiny.
2 Modules · Critical for administrators & experienced practitioners
Every IDEA deadline under Illinois implementation. The documentation mandate and what it actually requires. Prior written notice triggers. The post-meeting obligations most case managers underestimate. How to build records that survive a due process complaint.
The 12-week FBA/BIP roadmap. The EATS framework for behavior hypothesis. Flat behavioral data sets — how to read them, what they require, and when they change the intervention. How to make sure no parent hears bad news for the first time at a meeting.
The complete program — all three tracks delivered as a cohesive training experience, 17.25 clock hours of instruction over four days — two modules a day — or eight half-days. Ideal for onboarding new case managers or building a shared system across an entire special education department. Participants receive a certificate upon completion.
A single module in a session of 2 to 2¾ hours — 1.75 to 2.5 clock hours of instruction, depending on the module. For institute days, targeted team development, or a focused follow-up to a specific challenge. Each module is self-contained and immediately applicable.
First contact, family partnership, and the systems that prevent problems before they start. The foundation every case manager should have in place before the first meeting. Stackable with the other tracks over time.
The core of the program and the core of the caseload — reading evaluations, writing present levels that drive goals, pre-meeting mastery, and running the meeting itself. Double the size of the other tracks, delivered as two days or four half-days. Where experienced practitioners who need IEP-writing depth go first.
Legal compliance, documentation that survives an audit, and the data/FBA/BIP system that follows through after the meeting. Where administrators managing compliance exposure start. Pairs with the two Track C companion electives below.
A virtual format is in development. Contact us to hear when it opens.
The full program totals 17.25 clock hours of instruction across all eight modules. Each module runs 1.75 to 2.5 clock hours in a session of 2 to 2¾ hours, including a 10-minute break — one module fits a half-day, and two fit a full day.
Every engagement is scoped to the team in front of it. A single school and a large district need different things, so the investment depends on team size, format, and location. Train-the-trainer licensing is available for established district partners who want to deliver the program internally, by inquiry.
Tell me about your school or district and I’ll send a scoped proposal with format recommendations and an exact number. Request a proposal →
Most districts begin with a delivered engagement — the training brought to your team. Those who've run the program and want to own delivery internally grow into a train-the-trainer license. Nearly everyone starts with the first and grows into the second.
Paul delivers the training to your team, in any of the formats above. Where nearly every district begins.
For established district partners who have already run the program and want to own delivery internally. Available by inquiry.
Train-the-trainer licenses renew annually and cover the facilitators certified under the license. Facilitator materials are licensed, not sold, and may not be used to deliver the program without an active license. Content updates and revisions are provided to active license holders.
Track C carries two named companion electives — standalone-ready workshops that extend Compliance & Follow-Through into the areas districts ask about most. Each runs on its own or stacks into a full Institute engagement, with licensing available for established district partners, by inquiry.
AI is entering special education practice faster than most districts have policy for it. This workshop teaches case managers to use AI as a drafting accelerator for present levels, goals, and documentation — with professional judgment, legal defensibility, and student privacy at the center.
Covers: the Grounded Prompt framework (Role · Context · Data · Framework · Constraints) — the two built-in guardrails, anti-fabrication and privacy/de-identification — where AI genuinely helps and where it fails — and the review discipline every draft must pass before it enters a legal document.
Advanced build-along: an optional follow-on session where participants build a saved, reusable assistant on their own district-approved platform — and leave with a working asset, not just a technique.
For: all four audience tiers — new case managers, experienced practitioners, administrators & coordinators, and advocates & parent liaisons.
FBA/BIP quality is where compliance reviews and due process look first. This deep-dive trains the behavior science underneath a defensible plan — from finding the function to giving the plan time to work.
For: behavior teams — social workers, psychologists, BCBAs, special education teachers, and case managers carrying behavior cases.
Covers: function-based assessment with the EATS framework — the hypothesis formula — selecting and teaching replacement behaviors — the four levers — DRO/DROP reinforcement schedules — and two complete fictional case studies worked from baseline to week three.
Pairs with Module 8: Module 8 trains the case manager's process arc; the Deep-Dive trains the behavior science underneath it.
Licensing: For established district partners who want to deliver an elective internally, licensing is available by inquiry — facilitator guide, slide deck, and annual refresh included.
The complete foundation — built-in systems before bad habits take hold. The Full Institute is the recommended starting point for new practitioners or departments onboarding multiple new hires at once.
Targeted refinement rather than broad foundations. Experienced case managers benefit most from the modules that address their specific gaps — typically IEP writing, meeting facilitation, or compliance documentation.
The modules with the highest compliance and liability relevance — evaluation interpretation, meeting facilitation, legal documentation, and behavioral frameworks. Builds the supervisory fluency to support and evaluate case managers.
The modules that develop document literacy, IEP goal fluency, and meeting-room skills — without requiring full case management context. Enables advocates and liaisons to read what the school is producing and know what to ask.
A delivered engagement equips the participants in the room. A train-the-trainer license equips your district to deliver the program itself. The materials differ accordingly.
Licenses renew annually and cover named, certified facilitators. Facilitator materials are licensed, not sold, and may not be used to deliver the program without an active license.
You may notice this practice also supports parents. That's not a conflict — it's the quality bar.
I'm the parent of two children who receive special education services. I've sat on the family's side of the table, and I coach families to come prepared: to read the data, ask the precise questions, and know exactly what the law entitles them to.
Which means the case managers I train are ready for the most prepared parent in the room — because I'm often the one who prepared her.
Districts don't get into due process because parents were too informed. They get there because staff were underprepared, undocumented, and surprised. Every module in the Institute exists to close that gap. When both sides of the table are prepared, meetings get shorter, trust gets built, and students win.
Tell me about your district — team size, grade band, the specific challenge you're trying to solve — and I'll put together a scoped proposal with format recommendations and pricing.
Contact for a ProposalNeed to bring this to your superintendent or director first? The 14-slide district pitch deck gives you everything you need to make the case internally — scope, audience, outcomes, and delivery options.
Download the Pitch DeckA 20-minute call to talk through your team's specific situation, ask questions about the program, and figure out which format and track combination fits your district best.
Book a 20-Minute CallA complete professional development system for K–12 special education case managers: eight modules across three tracks (Systems & Setup, The IEP, and Compliance & Follow-Through), built on twenty years of frontline Illinois practice and available in multiple delivery formats, from a single half-day workshop up to the full multi-day Institute.
Pricing is scoped to each engagement — a single school and a large district have different needs, so the investment depends on team size, format, and location. Request a proposal and you'll get an exact number for your team. Train-the-trainer licensing for internal delivery is available by inquiry.
Illinois public school districts are already ISBE-approved PD providers — and every engagement includes a complete ISBE compliance packet (standards alignment, pre-filled activity summary, rosters, and clock-hour agenda) so your team can issue PD hours with about twenty minutes of administrative work. Hour decisions rest with the district.
Options include the Full Institute (all eight modules, 17.25 clock hours of instruction over four days, with a certificate); individual tracks — Track A (Systems & Setup), Track B (The IEP), and Track C (Compliance & Follow-Through); a stackable Half-Day Workshop (any single module, 1.75–2.5 clock hours); and a Virtual Cohort, coming soon.
Yes. An “AI Prompting for IEP Work” elective teaches case managers to use AI as a drafting accelerator for present levels, goals, and documentation while keeping professional judgment, legal defensibility, and student privacy at the center.