At the beginning of June, I attended the first annual special education conference in Des Moines named, Pursuing the

Promise. This conference was put on by the department of special education for the state of Iowa. The first day presenters spoke to all participants in the large convention hall. The speakers included a recorded message from Jason Glass, Scott McConnell from the University of Minnesota, the attorney David Richards, and Waterloo native Tyler Green. Tyler was actually the most engaging speaker out of all of them, Tyler spoke on ability awareness. His wish is to change the way society interacts with persons with disabilities. Day two included a number of break-out sessions I could choose from. I chose to learn more about special education law and 504 plans as well as PBIS Tier II supports. And last I participated in David Koppenhaver's session on Thoughtful Literacy for students with severe disabilities. Overall, Koppenhaver's presentation was by far the best; I first became aware of Koppenhaver through professors at UNI working toward literacy for all students. On the final day I was asked by my new boss to go to the LETRS session. This session was an overview of a type of curriculum available for purchase. This experience was very eye opening. It was amazing to witness how out of touch our state department is when it comes to special education. The opening remarks and many of the speakers were merely reinforcing information we already know. Very little of the information presented was groundbreaking. I realized that as an educator especially in a leadership role I will come upon many situations where there is a huge disconnect between what people believe is happening in our schools and the reality of what is really happening. This experience also helped me engage in listening and responding to many divergent opinions which connects with ethical leadership. There were a couple of speakers I completely disagreed with philosophically, but I had to bite my tongue, sit and be respectful. Also, being required to attend a curriculum promoting session at a state sponsored conference was appalling. I was unable to choose the session I wanted to attend (again needing to be respectful) but the fact that a state sponsored conference would invite presenters pushing a specific program was very off putting. Overall, it made me even more aware of the wide range of belief systems and the inner workings of education. Last, this conference brought to light where we are it special education as a district and where we need to be. There are some glaring

issues in our system and we need to work as a district and a state to remedy those issues. One of the largest issues especially in Waterloo is ensuring our students with disabilities are provided the least restrictive setting. This goes to Tyler Greene's speech on ability awareness; we can no longer lower our expectations for students. We need to raise the bar and provide students with the accommodations they need to be successful. As a future leader this will be an uphill battle. There is not ability awareness happening in our schools today, but with a united front this can change. I chose this experience because it shows my involvement with ISSL 5 ethical leadership. Participating in a conference promoting ability awareness and the states views on special education helped strengthen my philosophies and beliefs surrounding special education, especially serving students with significant disabilities. Tyler Green and David Koppenhaver both stretched my thinking about how to include and support students with significant needs. This has truly helped me this year in my position as special education coach to push for more inclusive settings for all students. And furthermore, promote a curriculum coordinated with that of general education instead of different for students with disabilities.