One Day Trainings: In-Person and Webinars
SMCAA Member One Day Webinars: $100.00 per training | In-Person Trainings: $130.00 per training
NEW 2025-2026 – Unlimited Webinar Package: SMCAA Member Districts can purchase unlimited district staff registration for up to 6 guaranteed Webinars, July 1, 2025 – June 30,2026, for $450.00. Contact Julie Riley (jriley@smcaa.org) to take advantage of this savings opportunity!
Registered virtual attendees will receive a recording of the session 24 hours after it has concluded.
Graduate Credit Syllabus for 2025-2026 – Coming Soon
A Deeper Look at Student Engagement – Webinar Mini Sessions November 4 – 9:00 am – 11:30 am & November 10 – 9:00 am – 11:30 am
You’ve done the work. You’ve unwrapped the standards, created meaningful learning targets, have assessments that give you pinpoint precision information…but your students still aren’t mastering their objectives. So, what now? If this sounds familiar, then maybe it’s time to step back and take a look at revisiting how the curriculum is being implemented and the learner activities in which the students are engaged. Join us as we take a look at the science behind student engagement and dis-engagement and how this plays a role in how we should go about implementing various instructional strategies.
Session 1: During this session, we will revisit and take a deeper look into the various forms of student engagements, the relationship between motivation and engagement, what it looks like, the role of teacher clarity, and more!
Session 2: During session 2, we will dig into various research-based instructional methods and activities which can be used to help increase student engagement. We will tie each of the activities back to a component of “why” students are dis-engaged in order to be more aware of selecting the appropriate strategy to counteract the underlying cause.
Target Audience: Curriculum Directors, Administrators, Instructional Coaches, content teachers looking to increase student engagement in their classrooms.Materials Needed/Interactive Level: Participants will have multiple opportunities to share their thoughts and ideas with other attendees.
Curriculum Director Training Level I – Webinar Mini Sessions October 1 – 9:00 am – 11:30 am & October 2 – 12:00 pm – 2:30 pm
Curriculum Director: easy to say, harder to define. What is a curriculum director? What do they do? Ask 10 districts this question and you will get 15 different answers. Oftentimes thrown into a large melting pot with other duties, the role of Curriculum Director can become muddled with uncertainty as to what the job entails. In this workshop we will dig into the skills and knowledge needed in creating a guaranteed, viable, and credible curriculum; along with tools to build instructional leadership and the importance of vertical alignment.
Session 1: The first session lays the foundation on what it means to oversee curriculum. We will look at what the job entails, the role of instructional leadership, how to ensure we have a comprehensive written curriculum, and the five standards of curriculum evaluation.
Session 2: Our second session will take a look at the importance of vertical and horizontal alignments, as well as the conversations to have during these meetings, types of assessments and how to choose the best fit, and a look at rigorous curriculum.
Come join us and your fellow curriculum folks from across the state as we look at the essential basics needed to fulfill your role as a Curriculum Director in your district!
Target Audience: Curriculum Directors, Administrators, Instructional Coaches, content teachers looking to increase student engagement in their classrooms.
Materials Needed/Interactive Level: Mid-level interaction as participants will be asked to reflect and share throughout the workshop.
Curriculum Director Training Level II – Webinar Mini Sessions October 6 – 12:00 pm – 2:30 pm & October 7 – 12:00 pm – 2:30 pm
The curriculum is written, but what now? How do we know it is working? What do we do now? How do we evaluate our curriculum? This advanced workshop takes the information from Curriculum Director Training Level I and goes beyond the classroom to look at the curriculum from an outside view.
Session 1: During session 1 of this series, we will take a look at those items which can enhance your district’s curriculum experience. We will explore the importance of consistent shared vocabulary, the need for district handbooks (such as curriculum handbooks and district assessment plans), and working with the curriculum evaluation rubric.
Session 2: We will wrap up the webinar series by discussing the collaborative process and its role in curriculum, while also taking a look at ways to review data to better understand the impact of your curriculum.
Target Audience: Curriculum Directors, Administrators, Instructional Coaches, content teachers looking to increase student engagement in their classrooms.
Materials Needed/Interactive Level: Low to Mid-level interaction. Participants will have some opportunity to share their reflections and insights with fellow participants.
Curriculum Director Training Level I – In-Person: Jefferson City- December 2nd
Curriculum Director: easy to say, harder to define. What is a curriculum director? What do they do? Ask 10 districts this question and you will get 15 different answers. Oftentimes thrown into a large melting pot with other duties, the role of Curriculum Director can become muddled with uncertainty as to what the job entails. In this workshop we will dig into the skills and knowledge needed in creating a guaranteed, viable, and credible curriculum; along with tools to build instructional leadership and the importance of vertical alignment. The major focus topics which will be explored during this workshop include the following:
- What the Job Entails and the Role of Instructional Leadership
- Creating a Guaranteed, Viable and Credible Curriculum
- The Five Standards of Curriculum Evaluation
- Ensuring a Comprehensive Written Curriculum
- The Importance of Vertical Alignment and Vertical Conversations
- Types of Assessments and How to Choose the Best Fit
Come join us and your fellow curriculum folks from across the state as we look at the essential basics needed to fulfill your role as a Curriculum Director in your district!
Target Audience: Curriculum Directors, Administrators, or lead teachers assigned to the duty of overseeing curriculum writing.
Materials Needed/Interactive Level: Mid-level interaction as participants will be asked to reflect and share throughout the workshop.
Curriculum Director Training Level II – In-Person: Jefferson City – December 3rd
The curriculum is written, but what now? How do we know it is working? What do we do now? How do we evaluate our curriculum? This advanced workshop takes the information from Curriculum Director Training Level I and goes beyond the classroom to look at the curriculum from an outside view. Major focus topics covered in CD Level II include the following:
- The importance of consistent shared vocabulary
- A deeper look at the Five Standards of Curriculum Evaluation
- The need for Curriculum Handbooks and District Assessment plans
- Reviewing data to understand the impact of your curriculum
- The collaborative process and its role in curriculum
- Working with a curriculum evaluation rubric
All of these items and more will be discussed as we collaborate and learn from each other during Curriculum Director Training Level II
Target Audience: Curriculum Directors, Administrators, Instructional Coaches, content teachers looking to increase student engagement in their classrooms.
Materials Needed/Interactive Level: Low to Mid-level interaction. Participants will have some opportunity to share their reflections and insights with fellow participants.
Universal Design for Learning: Ensuring Equitable Access for All Learners – 1/2 day Mini Session Webinars: August 26 & 28
This webinar will be offered as two 2½ hour mini-sessions instead of one full-day webinar.
All students need access grade–level curriculum. This is often easier said than done, though, with the myriad of student learners we have. The Universal Design for Learning (UDLTM) framework created by CAST is one-way which districts can design learning environments to be accessible, inclusive, and challenging for every learning. Join us during this webinar as we take a look at the UDL instructional framework and how all students can benefit from this approach to lesson planning. We will also discuss the three principles of UDL, how UDL and learner agency can work together, what the UDL-inspired classroom looks like, and how the Understanding by Design philosophy and UDL support each other.
Session 1: The first session lays the foundation of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) by providing basic information related to UDL and its guidelines. Topics covered during session 1 include an introduction to Universal Design for Learning (UDL), CAST, the components of UDL, the UDL guidelines and benefits and challenges of UDL.
Session 2: In session 2 participants will take a deeper look at what UDL looks like in the classroom and the connection between Understanding by Design and Universal Design for Learning.
Target Audience: Curriculum Directors, Administrators, Instructional Coaches, content teachers looking to increase student engagement in their classrooms.
Materials Needed/Interactive Level: Participants will have multiple opportunities to share their thoughts and ideas with other attendees. Attendees will engage in active conversations and learning activities to help better understand UDL principles and ideas.
Learning Stations at the Secondary Level – Jefferson City- September 9, 2025
Learning Stations have long been standard practice at the elementary level but have only recently gained more traction at the secondary level. With variations in the amount of time given to each hour per district, and teaching multiple courses during the day, setting up learning stations can be a challenge. Come join us for this interactive learning opportunity as we look into ways to set up successful learning stations at the middle school and high school, and ways to overcome the unique challenges secondary learning stations present. Attendees will walk away with practical ideas to go back and share with their district for use this school year!
Target Audience: Curriculum Directors, Instructional Coaches, secondary education teachers interested in implementing learning stations in their classroom.
Materials Needed/Interactive Level: Mid-level interaction as participants will be asked to reflect and share throughout the workshop. Participants will want to bring an electronic device in order to access the online materials and to use during the workshop.
APR Deep Dive: Using Our Proficiency Data to Increase Performance – Jackson R-II, October 9, 2025
During this workshop, we will spend time reviewing the performance data of our districts, from a global district perspective and from a building-level focus. By drilling down into specific subgroups, we will be able to find areas of strength, and areas of concern that need our attention. We will look at specific instructional strategies that can be used to help increase our student performance from doing an in-depth analysis of the Item Analysis Reports. We will wrap up the training by discovering how we can find the growth data and how we can use that to move learning forward. Templates will be provided for districts to use who may not have a way to track their data. This in-person workshop will be highly interactive and will have participants engaged in meaningful conversations with fellow district leaders and curriculum personnel.
Target Audience: Curriculum Directors, Administrators, Instructional Coaches, content teachers looking to increase student engagement in their classrooms.
Materials Needed/Interactive Level: Individuals will need to have access to their data downloads from the MCDS Portal. Participants will also want to have access to a spreadsheet program (Excel or Google Sheets), as well has access to student-level data so we can review trends of student subgroups. Attendees will also want to bring a spreadsheet which has last year’s teacher assignments and class rosters for the growth discussion.
APR Deep Dive: Are We Success Ready in Our Success Ready Measures?- Jackson R-II- October 10, 2025
The Success-Ready component of our APR only makes up 10% of the Performance portion and 6% of the Continuous Improvement area yet plays a major role in our students’ futures. Join us for this hands-on, in-person workshop as we take a deep dive into YOUR district’s APR data and district offerings to see how you can help improve your Success Ready measures. We will also look at specific district offerings to see how we can help prepare students to be success ready in post high school life. Attendees are being asked to bring a copy of (or have access to) your district’s APR from the last three years, including any supporting documentation related to the Success Ready component.
Target Audience: Curriculum Directors, Administrators, Instructional Coaches, content teachers looking to increase student engagement in their classrooms.
Materials Needed/Interactive Level: Attendees are being asked to bring a copy of (or have access to) your district’s APR from the last three years, including any supporting documentation related to the Success Ready component. Participants will want to verify they have access to student-level data within the MCDS platform. This workshop will give participants the opportunity to share their thoughts, questions, and ideas with other attendees so we can all learn together!
Let’s Consider Instructional Coaching: A Review of Skills and Process – Webinars – November 6th and 7th, 2025
Instructional Coaching is an important part of improving student learning by providing teachers with support, feedback, and research-based practices.
What are the qualities and skills that coaches should possess?
How does an instructional coach determine what a teacher needs to improve student learning?
What does effective feedback look like and what type of feedback works?
How do you determine which practices to share with teachers?
What data should we look at and what questions should we be asking?
All these questions and MORE will be answered in this training session. We will provide current coaches and future coaches with research-based strategies to help improve their practice as well as help teachers.
Target Audience: Curriculum Directors, Administrators, Instructional Coaches, content teachers looking to increase student engagement in their classrooms.
Materials Needed/Interactive Level: Be prepared with any information you may want to share or know more about. This webinar is designed to promote discussion. This can be audio or through the chat box.
Join us online for two half day trainings that can be attended together or separately.
SMCAA Member District: $65.00 Per person
Non SMCAA Member District: $95.00 per person
Half Day One:
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 12 p.m.
- Qualities and skills needed to be an effective instructional coach, along with discussion around the idea of influence without authority.
- Review aspects of strong instruction, what it looks like, and the instructional behaviors we should expect from classroom teachers.
- The difference between techniques and strategies in instruction and the effective use of both
Half Day Two:
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 12 p.m.
- Aspects of planning lessons, logical progression, execution and reflection.
- The best data to use to readily address instructional practice, and a useful process for data review for stronger instruction.
- What to do next in your instructional coaching journey
APR Deep Dive: Using Our Proficiency Data to Increase Performance – Jefferson City, November 17, 2025
Location: NH Scheppers Meeting Room, 2300 St. Mary’s Blvd., Jefferson City, MO 65109
During this workshop, we will spend time reviewing the performance data of our districts, from a global district perspective and from a building-level focus. By drilling down into specific subgroups, we will be able to find areas of strength, and areas of concern that need our attention. We will look at specific instructional strategies that can be used to help increase our student performance from doing an in-depth analysis of the Item Analysis Reports. We will wrap up the training by discovering how we can find the growth data and how we can use that to move learning forward. Templates will be provided for districts to use who may not have a way to track their data. This in-person workshop will be highly interactive and will have participants engaged in meaningful conversations with fellow district leaders and curriculum personnel.
Target Audience: Curriculum Directors, Administrators, Instructional Coaches, content teachers looking to increase student engagement in their classrooms.
Materials Needed/Interactive Level: Individuals will need to have access to their data downloads from the MCDS Portal. Participants will also want to have access to a spreadsheet program (Excel or Google Sheets), as well has access to student-level data so we can review trends of student subgroups. Attendees will also want to bring a spreadsheet which has last year’s teacher assignments and class rosters for the growth discussion.
APR Deep Dive: Are We Success Ready in Our Success Ready Measures?- Jefferson City, November 18, 2025
The Success-Ready component of our APR only makes up 10% of the Performance portion and 6% of the Continuous Improvement area yet plays a major role in our students’ futures. Join us for this hands-on, in-person workshop as we take a deep dive into YOUR district’s APR data and district offerings to see how you can help improve your Success Ready measures. We will also look at specific district offerings to see how we can help prepare students to be success ready in post high school life. Attendees are being asked to bring a copy of (or have access to) your district’s APR from the last three years, including any supporting documentation related to the Success Ready component.
Target Audience: Curriculum Directors, Administrators, Instructional Coaches, content teachers looking to increase student engagement in their classrooms.
Materials Needed/Interactive Level: Attendees are being asked to bring a copy of (or have access to) your district’s APR from the last three years, including any supporting documentation related to the Success Ready component. Participants will want to verify they have access to student-level data within the MCDS platform. This workshop will give participants the opportunity to share their thoughts, questions, and ideas with other attendees so we can all learn together!
Providing Feedback in Instructional Settings – WEBINAR –
Feedback is an extremely important strategy for improving student learning and teacher growth. How can you use feedback to promote instructional quality, to increase desired instructional behaviors and measure improvement? How can you provide student feedback in multiple ways to improve student performance and mastery? How important is feedback in the growth of teachers and students? We will answer these questions and more in this one-day overview for those responsible for teacher observation, coaching, instruction, and evaluation. Come and learn a new way of providing feedback for teachers and students and responding to staff regarding feedback.
Target Audience: Curriculum Directors, Administrators, or lead teachers assigned to the duty of overseeing curriculum writing.
Let’s Talk Math – 2025-2026 Dates TBA
During this workshop, we will briefly revisit the Math MLS, DESE Priority Standards, and the 8 Standards of Mathematical Practice. We will dive into different ways to enhance our math curriculum and ways to beef up our math assessments through the use of DESE’s Performance Indicators. Different instructional methods will be discussed, as well as the importance of having a growth mindset and productive struggle within our lessons.
Target Audience: Curriculum Directors, Instructional Coaches, Teachers of Mathematics
Curriculum Design and Review – September 18th – Webinar
Effective instruction in the classroom starts with effective curriculum design. Join us as we discuss the steps involved in developing effective curriculum. We will progress from choosing a template and producing shared definitions to the process for creating the units and finishing up with all the outside unit supporting documents. We will also discuss the development of a local curriculum handbook.
Target Audience: Curriculum Directors, Administrators, Instructional Coaches, content teachers looking to increase student engagement in their classrooms.
Materials Needed/Interactive Level: Participants will have multiple opportunities to share their thoughts and ideas with other attendees.
Standards Based Learning – 2025-2026 Dates TBA
Standards-based learning is an excellent way to evaluate students’ progress to mastering standards or competencies. It provides a fair and objective method for teachers to use in the classroom and for students to clearly understand their status. Standards-based learning is a system that includes the instruction, assessment, measuring and reporting needed to determine a student’s mastery of the knowledge, processes and skills identified as a priority. We will discuss what standards-based learning is, the steps involved in developing both the classroom system and a school-wide system. We will also discuss the importance of community and parents in the process.
Target Audience: Curriculum Directors, Administrators, Instructional Coaches, or lead teachers assigned to the duty of overseeing curriculum writing.
Let’s Talk Science – 2025-2026 Dates TBA
The Science MLS are not new but are you sure that your district curriculum is aligned to them? Are the assessments your teachers using assessing all the dimensions or just the core knowledge? Join us as we dive into the processes that need to occur as your teachers build units of instruction, including assessments and determine quality activities.
We will examine the science MLS, the 3-dimensional standards and other great science resources. We will discuss how to ensure that science instruction is aligned to the standards, effective instructional practices, and quality assessment development. We will dive into the importance of science instruction at all levels and how to inspire critical thinking and collaboration.
Target Audience: Curriculum Directors, Administrators, or lead teachers assigned to the duty of overseeing curriculum writing.
Using Curriculum Improvement Cycles to Enhance Curriculum Writing
Sometimes, when it comes to curriculum writing, you have to stop…reflect…and rethink what you are doing and what has been done. The curriculum we write should not only benefit our teachers, both present and those to enter our districts later, but should also be written to meet the needs of our students, community, and DESE mandates.
This training will explore how a Curriculum Improvement Cycle can not only help you write a guaranteed and viable curriculum, but also help ensure that it is written in a way to benefit the students. We will start the training by taking a look at why we even bother worrying about having a written curriculum, then we will dive into the five steps of a Curriculum Improvement Cycle: Evaluate & Diagnose; Prioritize & Set Goals; Develop and Plan; Curriculum Writing; and Implement and Monitor. By going through the process, individuals will walk away with the knowledge needed to know where to either start or where to head next in their curriculum writing and implementation journey.
Target Audience: Curriculum Directors, Administrators, or lead teachers assigned to the duty of overseeing curriculum writing.
Developing Quality Aligned Assessments – 2025-2026 Dates TBA
How do you know if the assessments in curriculum units are aligned to the standards they are supposed to measure? What are the steps in aligning assessments as they are developed? What supporting documents can be used? How can you audit the assessments provided by textbook series?
A quality assessment should clearly assess the chosen standard. This training will include the process for writing a quality assessment with samples as well as a process to audit the alignment of the assessments to the standards. We will also practice with Missouri Learning Standards and discuss the potential of the Moleap Blocks, Mo OER site and using technology platforms.
Target Audience: Curriculum Directors, Administrators, Instructional Coaches, Classroom teachers, and Assessment Coordinators