One Day Trainings: In-Person and Webinars
SMCAA Member One Day Webinars: $100.00 per person | Half Day Webinars: $65.00 per person | In-Person Trainings: $125.00 per person
Graduate Credit Syllabus Coming Soon
Valid July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027. Take advantage of this $60.00 savings.
Registered virtual attendees will receive a recording of the session 24 hours after it has concluded.
APR Deep Dive Analyzing Proficiency Data for Instructional Impact – 2.5 hour mini-sessions
Columbia Location: Columbia Area Career Center, 4203 South Providence Rd. Columbia, MO
St. Louis Location: Special School District, SSD Learning Center. 900 Hornet Drive, Hazelwood
Time at both locations: 9:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
The Annual Performance Review (APR) contains a wealth of information about student performance and school and district outcomes—but knowing how to use the data effectively starts with understanding what is behind the numbers.
To drive meaningful instructional change, district leaders must be skilled in navigating state accountability systems, verifying data accuracy, and translating performance metrics into actionable classroom strategies. This two-part professional learning workshop equips curriculum and assessment leaders with the tools needed to conduct a comprehensive audit of their Annual Performance Report (APR) indicators and student proficiency data. Participants will learn how to access, analyze, and leverage state portal reports, align curriculum to success-ready metrics, and lead data-driven decision-making processes across their schools.
Annual Performance Review (APR) 5 Ws – 2.5 hour mini-sessions
Jefferson City Location: NH Scheppers, 2300 St. Mary’s Blvd., Jefferson City, MO 65109
St. Louis Location: Special School District, SSD Learning Center. 900 Hornet Drive, Hazelwood
Time at both locations: 1:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
The Annual Performance Review (APR) contains a wealth of information about student performance and school and district outcomes—but knowing how to use the data effectively starts with understanding what is behind the numbers.
In this introductory session, curriculum directors and educational leaders will explore the APR through a practical 5 Ws framework designed to answer the questions leaders need to know before they can effectively use APR data for decision-making.
The 5 Ws
WHO — Who is included? Explore who is represented in the different areas of the APR and consider who should have access to APR information within a school or district.
WHAT — What is included? Unpack the components of the APR and identify the reports and data points that are most useful when reviewing school and district performance.
WHEN — When is the data available? Examine the APR data timeline and identify when key information becomes available so leaders can plan for meaningful review and analysis.
WHERE — Where does the data come from? Trace the sources of information that contribute to the APR and develop a clearer understanding of how the data come together to tell a story about performance.
WHY — Why does the APR matter? Move beyond viewing APR as an accountability requirement and examine how the information can support conversations about curriculum, instruction, assessment, student outcomes, and school improvement.
Audience: Curriculum Directors, District Leaders, Principals, Assistant Superintendents, and other educational leaders responsible for interpreting and using school and district performance data.
Materials Needed/Interactive Level: Mid-level interaction as participants will be asked to reflect and share throughout the workshop.
Curriculum Director Training Level I – Webinar: October 13 & 14, 2026 9:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
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:
Session 1:
- What the Job Entails and the Role of Instructional Leadership
- Creating a Guaranteed, Viable and Credible Curriculum
- The Five Standards of Curriculum Evaluation- Standards 1-3
Session 2:
- The Five Standards of Curriculum Evaluation- Standards 4 -5
- 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 II – Mini Webinar Sessions: October 15 & 16, 2026, 9:00 am – 11:30 am
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 I and goes beyond the classroom to look at the curriculum from an outside view.
Major focus topics covered in Curriculum Training 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 curriculum evaluation rubrics.
All of these items and more will be discussed as we collaborate and learn from each other during this training.
Target Audience: Curriculum Directors, Administrators, Instructional Coaches, individuals looking to increase their understanding of the curriculum process.
Materials Needed/Interactive Level: Mid-level interaction as participants will be asked to reflect and share throughout the workshop.
A Deeper Look at Student Engagement – Webinar Mini Sessions New October 28 & 29, 2026 – 1:00 p.m – 3:00 p.m
Are you looking for actionable, proven ways to transform student interest and spark active learning in your classroom? A Deeper Look at Student Engagement is an energizing professional learning event designed to empower K–12 educators with the tools, mindsets, and pedagogical strategies needed to boost motivation, participation, and deep thinking across all content areas.
This session goes far beyond basic classroom management. Participants will explore the dynamic relationship between motivation and engagement, demystify what engagement looks like across four key dimensions (behavioral, emotional, cognitive, and geographical), and dive directly into dynamic instructional models that put students in the driver’s seat of their own learning. Whether you are a classroom teacher, instructional coach, or curriculum administrator, you will leave with actionable strategies and ready-to-use frameworks to elevate classroom culture and maximize student growth.
Key Focus Areas & Core Topics
Session 1:
- Unpacking Student Engagement
- The 4 Pillars of Engagement
- Active Learning & High-Yield Strategies:
- Interactive Learning Stations, PBL, PrBL, & Inquiry-Based Models
Session 2:
- The 5-E Instructional Model
- Socratic Seminars & Socratic Circles
- Place-Based Learning
- Standards-Aligned Choice Boards
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.
APR Deep Dive: Using Our Proficiency Data to Increase Performance –
Location: NH Scheppers, 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.
Universal Design for Learning: Ensuring Equitable Access for All Learners – 1/2 day Mini Session Webinars
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.
Curriculum Design and Review – Mini Webinar Sessions
Effective instruction in the classroom starts with effective written curriculum that is clear and easy to access. Join us as we discuss the steps involved in designing effective curriculum.
This step-by-step process will include, choosing shared definitions, creating an overall format, and unit development. You will review and use a variety of rubrics, templates, and other useful documents. We will also provide a format for a district Curriculum Handbook to demonstrate your process and products.
This training will also be useful for those that have completed parts or complete content as we review a process for review and revision.
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 own process and ideas with other attendees.
Leadership in Instructional Coaching: A Study of Successful Skills and Process- Half Day Webinar Sessions – October 7 & 8, 2026
Instructional Coaching is truly a leadership position. 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 instructional leaders should possess? How does a coach leader 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? These questions and MORE will be answered in this training session. We will provide current and future coaches and teacher leaders with research-based strategies to help improve their practice while supporting teacher success.
To accommodate attendees, this opportunity is broken apart into two half-day training sessions:
Day 1 (Half Day) Focus:
- Study of the skills present in instructional leadership, effective coaching, and discussion around the idea of influence without authority.
- Review aspects of Tier One strong explicit instruction, what it looks like, and the instructional behaviors and skills we should expect from classroom teachers.
- The difference between techniques and strategies in instruction and the effective use of both.
Day 2 (Half Day) Focus:
- Aspects of planning lessons, logical progression, execution and reflection on effective instruction.
- The best data to use to readily address instructional practice, and a useful process for data review for stronger instruction.
- Planning your next moves in your instructional coaching journey.
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. Discussion can be audio or through the chat box.
Making the Case for Tier One Instruction: Planning and Executing Grade Level Content for Whole Group Success – Mini Session Webinars – October 19th & 23th
THIS IS IT! Of all the classroom instruction you perform on a given day, Tier One at grade level instruction should be your primary focus and your best practice. This is the time that you provide students with the knowledge and essential skills necessary for overall achievement and successful matriculation to the next grade and content level. Then, intentional and purposeful content teaching practice is required to bring the learning home.
During this webinar series we will make the case for the importance of Tier One instruction and why it must be our primary work of the day. We will present research proven “I Dos” (instructional practices), and the best “We Dos” (student practice strategies) compiled and organized in Dr. Pyle’s Notable Nine (Derived from Dr. John Hattie’s best Tier One strategies). We will introduce the skills required to execute “Explicit Instruction” and explore using these use these techniques during whole group instruction.
The training includes:
- Background information on current issues related to student behavior that inhibit learning and achievement and how to address these behaviors. One area to be reviewed is the use of “working memory” and how to “chunk” material to reduce students’ cognitive load.
- Identification and practice of procedures that create and sustain strong instructional planning and execution of lessons.
- A review of proven instructional practices and skills found through the use of Explicit Teaching that can produce marked academic improvement when practiced consistently.
- Time to discuss these skills and how they can be used the very next instructional opportunity.
This webinar is offered as a series of two half-day sessions on the dates and times scheduled below
Target Audience: New, alternatively certified and pre-service teachers along with veterans that need affirmation and new ideas. Also, Curriculum Directors, Administrators, Instructional Coaches and Teacher Leaders that are looking to expand their learning and share with their staff.
Materials Needed/Interactive Level: This webinar is designed in a discussion format. Participants will have multiple opportunities to ask questions either by video or chat and take part in discussion as desired. Materials will be provided through an online folder that can be downloaded.
Champion Teaching: Two Hour Overview Webinar – September 22, 2026 9:00 a.m. – 12 p.m.
This two-hour overview will introduce you to a specific set of techniques and processes that can move your students from compliance to engagement then achievement in record time. Champion Teaching combines the proven habits and strategies promoted by Eric Jensen (Teaching with Poverty in Mind), Dough Lemov (Teach Like a Champion) and Mitch Weathers (Executive Functions for the Classroom). The overall purpose of Champion Teaching is to promote student achievement through structure, discipline and motivation.
We begin with a focus on classroom organization and management with teacher behaviors that promote classroom safety, predictability and stability. Second, we identify the procedures that create and sustain strong instructional planning and execution. Then, we introduce a set of proven instructional behaviors found in Explicit Teaching that can produce marked academic improvement in a short amount of time. We end with ideas of how you can begin this work at your school or district.
This overview provides the information you need to make decisions about possibility bringing Champion Teaching to your school or district for a one- or two-day complete training. We will adjust the training in any way you and your staff may need.
With so many new, alternatively certified and pre-service teachers in our classrooms, Champion Teaching may be just what your staff needs to move management and instruction forward.
Target Audience: Curriculum Directors, Administrators, Instructional Coaches, teacher leaders, professional development chairs looking for a strong instructional approach to student behavior and learning.
Materials Needed/Interactive Level: Participants will have multiple opportunities to ask questions either by audio or chat
Curriculum Director Training Level I – In-Person: 2026 Dates TBA
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.