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Free C-SEP Webinars

Practical conversations on assessment, eligibility, data integration, and better educational decision-making.

Free

Academic Learning Networks: How to Understand Learning Disabilities

To accurately identify specific learning disabilities, evaluators must understand how cognitive, linguistic, and skill predictors, as well as external factors (quality of teaching, background, etc.), work together to influence academic performance. This session introduces the Academic Learning Networks, a practical framework designed to help evaluators reverse-engineer achievement constructs and better identify what may be driving a student’s performance. Participants will learn how to use these networks to make more diagnostically precise decisions about test selection, data interpretation, and the integration of multiple sources of information.

Speaker
Dr. Edward K. Schultz
Date
September 22, 2026
Time
12:00–1:00 PM CST
Duration
1 hour
Register Free
Free

The Review Step: Where Data Integration and Pattern Seeking Begin

Many evaluators have been taught to integrate data only after formal testing has been completed. The TEA SLD Guidance (2025) and the Core-Selective Evaluation Process (C-SEP) emphasize a different approach—one in which data integration begins with the very first review of existing information. In this webinar, participants will learn how the Review Step serves as the foundation of a comprehensive evaluation by organizing multiple sources of learning data, identifying meaningful patterns, ruling out competing explanations, and developing focused assessment hypotheses before selecting additional testing. Discover how intentional pattern seeking from the very beginning leads to stronger assessment plans, more defensible eligibility decisions, and reports that truly answer educational questions.

Speaker
Tammy L. Stephens, Ph.D.
Date
October 16, 2026
Time
12:00–1:00 PM CST
Duration
1 hour
Register Free
Free

Exclusionary Factors: A Deeper Look at Considerations for Early Elementary

When a young student struggles to learn to read, write, or perform academically, referral for evaluation may feel like the logical next step. But before interpreting low performance as evidence of disability, evaluators must ask a more fundamental question: Has the student had sufficient opportunity to learn the skill? In this Beyond the Score webinar, Georgene Moon explores the critical role of exclusionary factors in SLD and dyslexia evaluations, with particular attention to referrals involving young students who may have had limited exposure to explicit, systematic instruction. Participants will examine how instructional history, educational opportunity, cultural and linguistic experiences, environmental factors, attendance, mobility, and other contextual variables can influence academic performance—and sometimes produce data that resemble disability.

Speaker
Georgene Moon, M.Ed.
Date
October 30, 2026
Time
12:00–1:00 PM CST
Duration
1 hour
Register Free
Free

Beyond the IQ Score: Understanding Intellectual Disability

What does intellectual disability (ID) really look like—and just as importantly, what does it not look like? Identifying ID requires much more than looking at an IQ score and checking a box. In this interactive one-hour webinar, we will take a practical look at the identification of intellectual disability and the multiple pieces of evidence that should come together when making an eligibility decision. We will explore intellectual functioning, adaptive behavior, developmental history, educational impact, and exclusionary factors, while examining some of the common misconceptions that can lead evaluation teams in the wrong direction. Through examples and real-world evaluation scenarios, participants will consider questions such as: When does low cognitive performance actually support ID? What does meaningful adaptive behavior data look like? What happens when the cognitive and adaptive data do not seem to match? And what other factors should we consider before concluding that a student has an intellectual disability? Participants will leave with a clearer understanding of ID and a practical framework for looking beyond the numbers to make thoughtful, defensible, and student-centered evaluation decisions.

Speaker
Dr. Michelle Marjason
Date
November 4, 2026
Time
12:00–1:00 PM CST
Duration
1 hour
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Free

Defensible Special Education Evaluations for English Learners

Join Dr. Samuel Ortiz, Chief Clinical Officer at Marker Learning, as he explores the principles and legal requirements for fair and equitable assessment practices for emergent bilinguals. With emergent bilinguals representing approximately 25% of Texas students, evaluators must be prepared to make informed decisions that account for language, culture, and learning. Dr. Ortiz will also discuss advances in emerging technologies that can help evaluators make smarter, more precise decisions and move toward assessment practices that support smarter learning and better student outcomes.

Speaker
Dr. Samuel Ortiz
Date
November 11, 2026
Time
12:00–1:00 PM CST
Duration
1 hour
Register Free
Free

What Student Work Is Trying to Tell You: Using Error Analysis to Drive Comprehensive Evaluations

Student work samples are much more than classroom artifacts—they are windows into how a student thinks, learns, and solves problems. This webinar demonstrates how systematic error analysis can uncover meaningful patterns in reading, writing, spelling, and mathematics before a single standardized test is administered. Participants will learn how to move beyond simply identifying incorrect answers to analyzing the nature of student errors, identifying instructional implications, developing assessment hypotheses, and determining what additional information is truly needed. Discover how authentic work samples strengthen comprehensive evaluations and lead to more targeted, defensible eligibility decisions.

Speaker
Tammy L. Stephens, Ph.D.
Date
February 19, 2027
Time
12:00–1:00 PM CST
Duration
1 hour
Register Free
Free

The Next Generation of Assessment: Smarter Testing for Better Decisions

Join Dr. Samuel Ortiz, Chief Clinical Officer at Marker Learning, for a forward-looking exploration of the future of psychoeducational testing, a future that is rapidly becoming the present. Discover how next-generation assessment can combine technological advances with a deeper understanding of learning to produce more meaningful data, greater diagnostic precision, and better-informed decisions. This session offers an early look at where psychoeducational testing is headed and how SMART assessment can ultimately lead to better outcomes for students.

Speaker
Dr. Samuel Ortiz
Date
March 3, 2027
Time
12:00–1:00 PM CST
Duration
1 hour
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