AJE knows from our conversations with families that those working with students with disabilities and/or special health care needs, sometimes feel that they need additional trainings and support.

We are happy to share three such opportunities.

OSSE has a program that offers DC General Educators a chance to earn micro-credentials demonstrating capacity to support students with disabilities, and a program to support educators who want to earn a full special education endorsement. This flyer compares the two programs and you can learn more about both here.

The Foundations of Special Education includes four asynchronous courses consisting of self-paced modules, followed by opportunities to earn two micro-credentials through summative assessments. This opportunity is open to all pre-K through grade 12+ educators, including general and special education teachers, staff and school leaders, serving in DC public and public charter schools.

The Special Education Endorsement Recovery Initiative (SEERI) incentive opportunity enables current DC teachers to earn a special education endorsement through coursework completion (including micro-credentials) and Praxis exam support.

For questions about either program, contact Angela Awonaike(OSSE) at Angela.Awonaike@dc.gov.

AJE also knows that young people are sometimes unfairly excluded from programs and activities because they have to take medication during the school day, or during before and after school hours, and there is no one trained to do deliver that medication. For this reason, we are happy to share that DC Health now offers an online program Administration of Medication training that pairs 10 online modules with an in-person skills check.

According to DC Health, this training, titled Administration of Medication (AOM) Training Program, equips school nurses and authorized school staff with the essential knowledge and skills to safely recognize, respond to, and manage common medical conditions and medication protocols in the school setting.

The training is designed for –

Teachers
Teaching Assistants
Nursing Assistants
Principals
Assistant Principals
Custodians
Counselors

And covers these topics via the online modules

Module I: Medication Basics
Module II: Administration of Medication
Module III: Policy Guidelines
Module IV: Common Conditions
Module V: Diabetes Review
Module VI: Glucagon Training
Module VII: Albuterol Training
Module VIII: Let’s Talk About Errors
Module IX: Anaphylaxis and Allergy Management
Module X: Seizures

As of this blog post, it appears that there ample opportunities to schedule the in-person skill check to complete the trainings. For general question about the School Health Services Program, or the AOM training, please contact the DCHealth.AOM@dc.gov email.