Professional Development

RIASP is committed to helping you improve your school leadership skills through professional development. From the RIILA and RIASPlearns to the summer conference, online offerings and events offered throughout the year, you will find something that fits what you're looking for.

Upcoming events

  • RIASP Principal Coaching

    • August 25, 2019
    • June 30, 2020
    Register

    RIASP is very pleased to offer new and early career Rhode Island principals the exciting and personalized opportunity to receive coaching during the 2019-2020 school year from RIASP veteran principals. These veteran principals have successfully completed a national model of Blended Coaching training facilitated by the Delaware Academy of School Leadership (DASL).  

    RIASP veteran principals will be matched with interested new and early career principals and provide 30 hours of one-to-one (in person and virtual) coaching support to the novice principals over the course of the school year.  

    The following are the requirements for principals to receive coaching.

    • $350 paid to RIASP by the principal or district.

    • 30 coaching hours of one- to -one (on site and virtual outside the school day)

    *Grant funded program (Rhode Island Foundation)



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  • RIASP General membership Meeting

    • October 16, 2019
    • 4:00 PM - 6:30 PM
    • NEIT - Media Theater-Parsons Hall, East Greenwich
    • 84 registrants
    Register


    Register for RIASP’s General Membership Meeting and Learn How New Legislation Will Significantly Impact Your Leadership Role

    WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2019


    By January, 2020, You Need Be Fully Aware of Your Expanded Site-Based Management Roles and Responsibilities 

    Panel Presentation - RI State Legislators and RIDE representatives will discuss the new legislation, effective January 1, 2020, that significanly modifies and expands your leadership roles and responsibilities. You must be aware of all aspects of this new legislation.

    There will be both a presentation and a Q and A session.   


    Wednesday, October 16th - RIASP General Membership Meeting - 4:00 to 5:30pm - NEIT East Greenwich Campus, First Floor Media Center/Auditorium.

    Register Now at this link:
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  • Social Emotional Learning- Working With Parents to Develop SEL Skills in the Home

    • October 22, 2019
    • 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
    • 2480 Post Road, Warwick RI 3rd Floor (RIASP Office Building)
    Register

    Social Emotional Learning
    Working With Parents to Develop SEL Skills in the Home

    Featuring Presenter: Jane M. Hardin, M.Ed.

    October 22, 2019

    Location: RIASP Office Building: 2480 Post Road, Warwick RI

    8:00am-8:30am Check In

    8:30am-3:00pm Session 

    Parents play a vital role in developing SEL skills but typically have little or no knowledge of these skills. Participants in this workshop will be presented with strategies they can share with parents and guardians for developing the five social-emotional learning skills and their associated skills of successful people as part of their parenting.

    These easy to use parenting strategies come from Jane’s new book Social-Emotional Learning in the Home. Some areas addressed in this workshop include:

    • Resolve conflicts between parent/guardian and child.
    • Resolve conflicts between siblings, and friends. 
    • Initiate difficult conversations between parent/guardian and child, including asking questions that develop higher-order thinking and deep conversations about SEL skills. 
    • The stages children and adolescents follow from initial exposure to an SEL skill to its mastery. 
    • The research on school and career success that points to the significant positive impacts of social- emotional learning skills 

    Audience: PreK to 12 Teachers, School Clinicians, Administrators & Parent  Leaders

    Cost: Member & Member Guest (s) $230 each Non Member $250 each
    Team of 3 or more ($215 each) contact nletoile@riasp.org for the code.

    Participants all receive a copy of Jane’s parent book.


    Presenter: Jane M. Hardin, M.Ed. Jane is the head of Ribas Associates Department of Special Education. She is the mother of three young adults. She has been both a general education and special education teacher. During her time as a resource room teacher, her program was selected as an exemplary model by the National Council for Exceptional Children. For the 22 years, Jane was a member of the Simmons College (Boston, MA) Faculty. She serves on the Massachusetts Council for Exceptional Children and the Massachusetts Architectural Access Board. Jane is also an author of the books (Social-Emotional Learning in the Classroom) and (Social-Emotional Learning in the Home 2018). She holds a bachelor’s degree in general education and a master’s degree in Special Education, with advanced training in differentiated instruction and language disabilities. Her areas of training and consultation include classroom and behavior management, students with ASD, teaching students with emotional and behavioral issues, parenting for SEL, how anxiety and trauma impact the learning process, and the social and emotional needs of all students and its impact on student achievement. 



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  • Rigorous Discourse

    • November 01, 2019
    • 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
    • 2480 Post Road, Warwick RI 3rd Floor (RIASP Office Building)
    Register


    Rigorous Discourse 
    Featuring Presenter: Dr. Mary Merrigan

    Audience: K-12 Educators, Administrators 

    Dates: November 1, 2019 and January 27, 2020

    Option: (attend November 1st only)

    Check In: 8:00am-8:30am 

    Session: 8:30am-3:00pm 

    Link to register 

    Location: RIASP Office Building: 2480 Post Road, Warwick, RI.

    Cost of Session:

    • Member Fee & Member Guest for both days $360 each.
    • Member Fee &  Member Guest for Nov 1st only $230 each
    • Non Member Fee for both days $390 each.
    • Non Member Fee for November 1st only $280
    • Team of 3 or more $340 each (code required).
    • Team of 3 or more $215 each for Nov 1st only (code required0.
    • Email nletoile@riasp.org
    Essential Questions: 
    • What is Rigor? What does it look like? What does it sound like?
    • What are the structures in schools that support rigor? 
    • What are the essential elements of school culture necessary to reach for rigor? How do we effectively engage all students with instruction, content, and each other? 
    • What are academic conversations? 
    • What do they look like How do we give feedback to students about the clarity and quality of their thinking and sharing? 
    • What talk moves need to be taught, modeled, and practiced in classrooms to build in rigor? 
    • What resources are available for implementing this initiative within your classroom or school? 

    Learning Outcomes:

    • Build clarity among participants about what rigor is and what it looks like in classrooms.  

    • Explore the structures, cultures and instruction that support rigor. 

    • Understand the initiate, respond, evaluate instructional pattern, and its limitations in building rigor.

    • Unpack resources for supporting Evidenced-based Rigorous Discourse.


    Dr. Mary Merrigan, brings more than 25 years of experience in public education to Teachers 21.  She provides instructional coaching support to classroom teachers focused on best practice and RTI data collection and analysis.  Mary holds a deep commitment to embedded, adult learning goals for teachers in all aspects of her coaching and consultancy endeavors, drawing heavily from her doctoral study insights involving professional learning communities.   She has earned great praise for her efforts in training mentors, helping develop professional learning communities, working with teacher teams, and coaching administrators to support implementation of rigorous instructional initiatives.  Mary earned her Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from UMASS/Amherst, her Master’s Degree in School Administration from Bridgewater State College, and her Doctorate in Educational Studies from Lesley University. 


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  • Principals Instructional Learning Network

    • November 14, 2019
    • 4:30 PM
    Register

    You Are Invited to Join
    RIASP’s     Principals’ Instructional Learning Network

     

    Dear School Leader,

    As you continue to strive to make student learning a priority in your school, I would like to invite you to participate in four full days of professional learning in a Principals’ Instructional Learning Network that will be offered during the 2019-2020 school year. 

    In partnership with RIDE and the Connecticut Center for School Improvement, we are excited to offer this personalized professional learning opportunity to you at no cost, and  provide an entirely new type of support for principals. The Connecticut Center was selected to partner with RIASP to create this initiative because they are a national model for effective leader learning.  I encourage you to join this network to continue to increase your knowledge and effectiveness as a school leader. 

    RIASP recognizes that being a school leader is rewarding; however, it also comes with many challenges. The job can be lonely, and at times seem impossible to manage. The network acknowledges that principals need to support each other to thrive and make progress to improve student learning in their schools. Too often we put our own professional learning aside; however, principals’ professional development needs have never been greater than they are today.

    What does this network offer? The Principals’ Instructional Learning Network is a small, ongoing community of practice for school principals/assistant principals deeply committed to: 

    • identifying strengths and needs related to your school’s instructional core
    • examining research on high impact leadership practices, and teaching and learning
    • collaborating with principals in the network to address your school’s problem of practice
    • applying new learning to practice and sharing the results with the network, and contributing to the learning of other school principals across the state.

    What is the structure of the network?  

    • Network launch: November 14, 2019 from 4:30pm-6:30pm.
    • Four full days of interactive professional learning sessions: 11/25, 1/16, 3/3, 3/31.
    • All sessions will run from 8:30am-3:00pm at the RIASP Office Building, 2480 Post Road, Warwick RI.
    • All network participants are expected to attend all sessions. 
    • There is no cost to participate. Funding is provided by the Rhode Island Department of Education and The Rhode Island Foundation. 

    What makes this network stand apart from others? 

    • Open to all principals and assistant principals.
    • This network is open to only principals and assistant principals. The network recognizes that principals need to rely on and support each other. 
    • Ongoing community of practice that is tailored to each principal and their school needs around instruction. 

    How do I sign up? Use this link to register. http://www.riasp.org/event-3578885 

    You will find this to be an enriching and rewarding experience in your continuing leadership development as you work to make a difference in the lives of the children in the school communities you serve.  School leaders are powerful levers for change when given the right training and support. I sincerely hope you will join us!

    Sincerely, 

    Donald Rebello
    Rhode Island Association of School Principals



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  • Share the Value of the SAT Suite of Assessments

    • December 05, 2019
    • 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
    Register

    Share the Value of the
     SAT Suite of Assessments

    December 5th, 10AM-12PM
    RIASP Office Building 

    2480 Post Road, Warwick, Rhode Island

    Your stakeholders may know that the PSAT 10 and SAT open a pathway to college and career.  Do your students, parents, and staff know that by participating in the assessments, students get free access to scholarships, college and career resources, and skill-building for AP courses? 

    In this workshop, we will share how practice for the SAT in class and on Official SAT Practice is also building skills for Advanced Placement and other first year college courses, encouraging students to understand that Official SAT Practice is worth their time and focus. 

    We will explore BigFuture, the college search resource provided by College Board, and CareerFinder, the career search engine created by College Board and RoadTrip Nation. 

    Finally, we will dive into the College Board Opportunity Scholarships and develop plans to support all of your students in their pursuit of scholarship money for college.  Your students won’t want to miss their opportunity to take the assessments and access all these great tools and resources.



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  • Making the Most of the SAT Suite of Assessments

    • December 05, 2019
    • 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
    Register

    Making the Most of the
    SAT Suite of Assessments

    December 5, 2019
    1PM-3PM
    RIASP Office Building

    2480 Post Road, Warwick, RI


    During this hands-on session, school/district teams will learn about the different ways they can leverage their PSAT and SAT results to improve student outcomes.  Specifically, we will discuss the reports available in the K-12 Reporting Portal and explore opportunities to integrate Official SAT Practice on Khan Academy into the existing school structures. 
     

    Please note: School/district participants should attend with a data analysis/implementation team and need to be able to detailed-level access to the K-12 Reporting Portal (student-level data).  Additionally, participants need to bring a fully charged laptop or other device.


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  • Effective Conferencing with Low Performing Educators

    • December 12, 2019
    • 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
    • 2480 Post Road, Warwick RI 3rd Floor (RIASP Office Building)
    Register

    Effective Conferencing with Low Performing Educators

    Participants will review specific supervisory styles and their uses, as well as the components of effective conferences with teachers who struggle, then use that information to participate in authentic conferencing scenarios designed to help participants practice their skills with their colleagues in small groups. Teachers who struggle often have difficulty reflecting on and adjust their practice in response to information gathered during your observations and shared during your conferences with them. Change is challenging, regardless of the research-based, foreseeable and positive outcomes that regularly result from the change. Maintaining a positive and professional relationship while sharing news that’s hard to hear, then charting a course forward takes time and can tax your patience. It is also one primary way to help educators reflective on data about their instruction and change their practice to benefit their students.  

    Audience: PreK to 12 Administrators: 

    Member Fee & Member Guest $230 each Non Member Fee $250 each

    Team of 3 or More $215

    Dates: December 12, 2019

    Presenter: Carol Ann Gregory, M.S.

    Carol served as a teacher, union president, and vice principal in the Brookline Public Schools; middle school principal in the Westwood and Northampton Public Schools; Director of Human Resources in the Lexington Public Schools, and Assistant Superintendent in the Wellesley, Public Schools. In her various roles, Carol has been responsible for recruiting, hiring, inducting and mentoring new teachers and administrators, as well as the professional development, supervision and evaluation of professional staff.  


    As a consultant, Carol meets with works districts training and coaching their supervision and evaluation work including their work developing SEL in the classroom.  She teaches courses and workshops on topics including: Differentiated Instruction, Social and Emotional Learning, The Brain and Learning,Motivation and Intelligence, Observation and Analysis of Educator Performance, Evaluating Low Performing Educators in face-to-face, hybrid and online formats. 


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  • How to Build High Performance Teams, and Advance Innovation and Collaboration to the Next Level to Increase Student Learning (Date Change)

    • January 09, 2020
    • 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
    • 2480 Post Road, Warwick (RIASP Office Building 3rd Floor)
    Register

    How to Build High Performance Teams, and Advance Innovation and Collaboration to the Next Level to Increase Student Learning 

    High performance teams can solve complex problems at a much deeper level than individuals working alone, or typical teams in schools. In this workshop, participants will learn about the latest research on high performance teams and what distinguishes them from most school or district teams. Dr. Ash will discuss the five characteristics of extraordinary teams from all other teams (high genuine vulnerability trust, willingness to engage in conflict, team commitment, mutual accountability, and focusing on results). As school leaders, participants will also learn how to design a ‘backbone committee’ that will ensure your school has sufficient support to both lead complex change and overcome potential faculty and parent obstacles.

    Audience: K-12 Educators, Administrators

    Member Fee & Member Guest $250 each

     Non Member Fee for both days $275 each

    Team of 3 or more $225 each (code is required)

    (fee includes  Dr. Ash’s book)

     Date: January 9th

    Presenter: Dr. Paul Ash Paul Ash, Ph.D. Dr. Paul Ash recently retired as the Superintendent of Schools in Lexington, Massachusetts after ten years. During his 42-year career, Paul has held a wide range of school leadership roles: Superintendent of Schools, Westwood, MA; Assistant Superintendent for Personnel, Finance, and Administration, Wellesley, MA; Chair of the Legislation Committee, Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, President and Negotiations Chair, Dover-Sherborn Teachers Association, Dover, MA; President of the Massachusetts Association of School Personnel Administrators, and Member of the Newton School Committee, Newton, MA. Paul is a recognized expert at the state and national level on closing achievement gaps for minority, special education, and low-income student three podcasts, human resources/labor relations, financial operations, and professional development. 


    In 2010, the national newspaper Education Week highlighted Lexington’s professional development program as one of six national models on how professional learning can be used to improve student learning and teacher innovation. In 2015, his leadership in the area of professional development was further highlighted by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education http://www.doe.mass.edu/pd/casestudies/LPS-study.pdf 


    Paul is the co-author of the highly acclaimed book School Systems That Learn: Improving Professional Practice, Overcoming Obstacles, and Diffusing Innovation. The book focuses on how any school district can raise academic achievement for all students by creating an adult learning organization based on trust, collaboration in all directions, capacity building and leadership at all levels. 



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  • Restorative Talk in Your Classroom: How Teachers Can Use Accountable Talk, Protocols, Goals, and Peer and Self-Evaluation to Support Restorative Academic Talk and Social Emotional Growth.

    • January 14, 2020
    • 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
    • 2480 Post Road, Warwick RI 3rd Floor (RIASP Office Building)
    Register

    Restorative Talk in Your Classroom: How Teachers Can Use Accountable Talk, Protocols, Goals, and Peer and Self-Evaluation to Support Restorative Academic Talk and Social Emotional Growth. 


    Audience:  4-12 Classroom Teachers and Administrators 

    Presenter: Dr. Deborah Brady, Co-author of Instructional Practices That Maximize Student Achievement, of SEL in the Classroom, and SEL in the Home

    Proven accountable talk, pair, group, and team methods for teaching all students can support the learning of at-risk students. When students work with others and talk through ideas, they become more engaged and improve their literacy skills (reading, writing, speaking, and listening). This practical workshop provides examples of how to use goal setting and protocols (Save the Last Word for Me or micro-labs), accountable talk, sentence frames, proven activities such as Get the Gist, Jigsaws, and even the 7-minute Socratic in a Fish Bowl can support students’ literacy, engagement, and social-emotional (habits of work) growth. Teachers will leave with tools: rubrics, activators, summarizers, and research-based activities that they can adapt and use in their classrooms. Participants receive a copy of Dr. Brady’s book Social-Emotional Learning in the Classroom. Participants also receive templates, protocols, rubrics, and access to a website with further classroom materials.

    Member Fee & Member Guest $230 each and Non Member Fee $250 each (includes a copy of book) Team of 3 or More $200 each

    Dates: January 14th


    Deborah Brady, Ph.D. With over thirty years in public and private education, Debby Brady co-authored three books and a monograph: Instructional Practices That Maximize Student Achievement,  SEL in the Classroom, and SEL in the Home, and Developing High Performing Co-teaching Teams. Deb has served as an Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction in two districts, a college instructor of both graduate and undergraduate courses in curriculum, reading, literacy, and writing, a director of a writing center, a secondary reading coordinator, humanities and reading co-teacher, and English teacher. Deborah earned her doctorate at Lesley in educational studies where her research focused on the impact of a standards-based curriculum on teaching, learning and assessment. Her special areas of interest include curriculum development, UbD lesson and unit design, assessment and the use of data, secondary literacy across the disciplines, social-emotional learning, writing and its assessment, and developing high-performing co-teaching teams. 



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  • Questioning & Assessment for Non-English Speaking Students (date change)

    • February 04, 2020
    • 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
    • 2480 Post Road, Warwick (RIASP Office Building 3rd Floor)
    Register


    English Language Learners 

     Featuring Dr. Cindy Crimmin

    Dates: February 5th  (date change)

    Audience: K-12 Educators, Administrators 

    Check In: 8:00am-8:30am 

    Session: 8:30am-3:00pm 

    LINK TO REGISTER 

    Location: RIASP Office Building: 2480 Post Road, Warwick, RI.

    Cost of Session:

    • Member Fee & Member Guest for both days $395 each.
    • Non Member Fee for both days $425 each.
    • Team of 3 or more $365 each (code required). Email nletoile@riasp.org

    AM Session: Questioning & Assessment for Non-English Speaking Students: Too often, teacher questions and assessment tools measure something other than the goals for which they were intended. Even the simplest question, if not phrased carefully, can prove incomprehensible to a student who otherwise understands the material being discussed. This session focuses on the role of teacher-language, practice and expectations and how these factors can impact second language learners in their classes.  We will explore through the lens of non-English speakers the strategies and materials often used in the classroom. In the process, educators will be called upon to share their current learning goals, instructional practices and favorite tools in light of this new perspective.

    After this session participants will be able to:

    • Rework assessment tools currently used in their practice to ensure that the language used, as well as supporting visual contexts, are best suited to evaluate the importing thinking and learning of non-English speaking students.

    • Develop questioning strategies (such as extended wait time) and additional assessment tools that are crafted to be easily comprehended by non-English speaking students.

    • Identify non-verbal cues, visuals, and tasks that can help ELL students better demonstrate what they know and are able to do.

    • Develop ways to differentiate instruction for ELL students on the basis of formal and informal assessments.

    PM Session: Special Education and English Language Learners

    Far too often, teachers confuse problems of language with deeper cognitive issues, referring students to Special Education when their issues are the result of a non-English speaking background. By the same token, students in any subgroup population (English speaking, ELL and formerly ELL) can also struggle with learning difficulties. For the English speaking educator, distinguishing and applying the appropriate interventions for non-English speaking students can be a significant challenge.

    After this session participants will be able to:

    • Consider how and when to refer ELL students to special education, and what steps to take in a Tier I and Tier II setting that further inform the decision to refer.

    • Identify several ways to differentiate practice in our classroom that can benefit both special education and general education students.

    • Discuss assessment tools used in special education referrals using the lens of a non-English speaking student.

    • Consider the ways in which special education and referral of students can be viewed in different cultures.

    • Plan strategies for working with the parents of students who may themselves struggle in a new culture and in a less than familiar language.


    Instructor: Dr. Cindy Crimmin Ph.D., has served in both public and private schools. Beginning as a bilingual Ell and Science teacher in the Boston Public Schools at the middle school level, she has taught Spanish at all levels from early elementary to high school Advanced Placement and was a teacher of English language learners. Her strong interest in curricular design and in improving teaching and learning across the grades prompted her to complete a Ph. D. in Educational Administration at Boston College. That experience led her into administration, where she worked in curriculum leadership at the central office and served as an elementary principal in Watertown and Weston. In each role, Cindy always saw herself primarily as a teacher. She is an ESE approved Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) instructor for both the teacher and administrator licensure programs. 



     



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Updated September 19, 2017

© 2015 Rhode Island Association of School Principals

Rhode Island Association of School Principals is a 501(c) 6 Non-Profit Organization

MAILING ADDRESS:  PO BOX 7791, WARWICK, RI 02887 

OFFICE ADDRESS:  2480 POST ROAD, WARWICK, RI 02886 

401-272-9811 ext. 2 

Donald Rebello, Executive Director 

Sherry Arlia-Puhacz, Adm. Asst. 

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