2024 TASH Conference: Full Schedule

Welcome to the official website for the 2024 TASH Conference!

Each year, the TASH Conference brings together our constituents to share resources and success stories, learn about field-driven best practices, and network within a community engaged in shared values. The Conference is attended by passionate leaders, experts, and advocates from every corner of the disability community. Conference attendees are influential in their fields and communities, and play an important role in the provision of services and supports for individuals and organizations around the world; and include professors and researchers from leading institutions; those involved in local, state, and federal governments and public policy; special and general educators, and school administrators; self-advocates, adult service providers; students, family members, and many others. This year’s conference theme is Celebrate Together: Let the Good Times Roll!

Click on the "Registration and More" tab for additional information about our Conference location, registration, reserving a guest room, sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities, and more! The full Conference schedule is now available for viewing. Registered attendees will receive an invitation to log in and create a personalized schedule.

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11:15am CST

Preparing Preservice Teachers for Inclusion Through Introductory Special Education Course

Friday December 6, 2024 11:15am - 12:15pm CST

4TH Floor - Imperial 5C

As more students with disabilities are included in general education settings, there is a growing need for enhanced preservice teacher training for inclusive practices. Especially, an introductory special education course is given greater emphasis due to the mandatory enrollment requirements for preservice teachers in most teacher preparation programs. To inform the development of this course that prepares teachers to provide inclusive education, a Delphi study will be completed to query experts on critical elements of the course syllabus (i.e., purpose, course contents, assignments) considered important by them to facilitate inclusion. The content analysis of 22 syllabi was conducted to develop the initial survey items. Consensus will be reached through multiple rounds of surveys. Results and implications for future research and practice will be discussed.

Moderators

Geonhwa Kim

Doctoral Student, University of Kansas

Presenters

Jennifer Kurth

Professor, University of Kansas

Inclusive Education

Friday December 6, 2024 11:15am - 12:15pm CST
4TH Floor - Imperial 5C Hyatt Regency, 601 Loyola Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70113

Breakout Sessions

Primary Topic Inclusive Education
Themes of Interest Capacity Building for Inclusion
Key Words Teacher Preparation, Teacher Education, Inclusive Education
Presentation Type Research

3:25pm CST

Prepare With Us: Self Advocates Educating Teacher Candidates

Friday December 6, 2024 3:25pm - 4:20pm CST

4TH Floor - Imperial 11

This presentation will describe study results from a recent research project. The purpose of this study was to examine how teacher candidates were impacted by learning from individuals with disabilities through a Self-Advocate Guest Presenter Series. After attending the semester-long Presenter Series, 17 teacher candidates shared their perspectives through semi-structured interviews. During this presentation, we will share the main themes that resulted from our analysis as well as future implications for research and practice.

Presenters

Amy Andersen

Associate Professor, Winona State University

Julia Snider

Assistant Professor, Grand Valley State University

Julia is an assistant professor at Grand Valley State University. Julia’s passion is in promoting the meaningful inclusion of students with extensive support needs within the general education classroom through planning and preparing instruction. Her current research examines the... Read More →

Friday December 6, 2024 3:25pm - 4:20pm CST
4TH Floor - Imperial 11 Hyatt Regency, 601 Loyola Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70113

Breakout Sessions

Primary Topic Self-Advocacy
Themes of Interest Post-Secondary Education
Key Words Self-Advocacy, Teacher Preparation, Anti-Ableism, Perceptions
Presentation Type Research

4:35pm CST

Reimagining Teacher Preparation: Forging A New Path

Friday December 6, 2024 4:35pm - 5:30pm CST

3RD Floor - Ballroom: Celestin G

The stagnant rate of inclusion placements for students with significant support needs remains alarming. Teacher educators play an essential role in preparing teacher candidates to shift outdated practices and implement inclusive practices. As teacher educators, we experience numerous barriers in preparing teacher candidates (Olson & Roberts, 2017). However, teacher educators must be creative and resilient as they work to persist past barriers (Olson & Roberts, 2020). Instead of focusing on the barriers, we sought to envision another way to prepare teacher candidates. The purpose of this study was to learn about what special education teacher educators can do in their role to help shift how teacher candidates are being prepared to include students with significant support needs in K-12 schools. We conducted a focus group with special education teacher educators, who are new to teacher preparation, to gauge their perspectives on avenues for change and steps to get there.

Presenters

Amy Andersen

Associate Professor, Winona State University

Friday December 6, 2024 4:35pm - 5:30pm CST
3RD Floor - Ballroom: Celestin G Hyatt Regency, 601 Loyola Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70113

Breakout Sessions

Primary Topic Inclusive Education
Themes of Interest Post-Secondary Education
Key Words Teacher Preparation, Inclusion, Systems Change
Presentation Type Research