Professional Development Catalog 2024-25

Catalog of formal professional learning activities offered by the Diagnostic Center, Northern California.

Catalog Home | New Trainings in 2024-25 | Trainings by Series | Trainings by Topic | Trainings by Presenter

Overview of Services

The Diagnostic Center, Northern California (DCN) offers Professional Learning Opportunities (Trainings and Technical Assistance Projects) throughout the academic year. The DCN presenters are experienced practitioners who offer up-to-date, research-based information and practical skills.

Professional Learning Opportunities are available in various formats:

  • In-Person and Virtual Trainings: Hosted by Special Education Local Plan Areas (SELPAs) and County Offices of Education.
  • Special Training Opportunities (STO): Scheduled by DCN and open to the public. For dates, registration information, and to sign up for DCN's weekly newsletter visit our Special Training Opportunities web page.
  • Technical Assistance Projects: Using principles and methods of implementation science DCN will work with LEA administrative leadership to explore and identify the scope and focus of the project. DCN will provide hands-on coaching and technical assistance in a trainer-of-trainer model to increase the capacity of the LEA so that the new educator practices can be sustained and scaled up to improve student results long term. For more information visit our Technical Assistance Projects web page.
  • Ask-A-Specialist: If you have questions related to education for our specialists, email them to ContactUs@dcn-cde.ca.gov.

    Please be sure to leave out any identifying student information (name[s], birthday).

    A DCN staff member will contact you to discuss your question(s) within 3 business days and may or may not need to visit your site to provide more specific answers.

    DCN team members include:

    • Education Specialists
    • School Psychologists
    • Clinical Psychologist
    • Speech-Language Pathologists
    • Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA)
    • Behavioral Pediatrician

A Certificate of Completion is available for virtual trainings, in-person trainings, Special Training Opportunities and Technical Assistance Projects. This may be used to document professional development hours or applied towards the credential requirements for Education Specialist Level II non-university activities.

Cost

There is no cost for our professional development service. Attempts are made to distribute trainings equally among SELPAs, County Offices of Education (COE), and school districts within DCN's geographic service area. SELPAs and COEs are responsible for duplication of handout materials, securing the training site, and advertising the presentation.

Scheduling Tranings

The "window" for requesting 2024-2025 Professional Development Opportunities will be from Monday, April 22 2024-Friday, May 10, 2024.

Requests must originate from your SELPA Director or County Office of Education (COE). School districts are encouraged to contact their local SELPA or COE to request trainings but can also email DCNTrainings@dcn-cde.ca.gov if any assistance is needed.

Please request the trainings you would like us to schedule by following the steps below.

  1. SELPAs will receive an email on Monday, April 22, 2024, with an MS Forms link to request individual trainings. If you do not receive this email, please contact DCNTrainings@dcn-cde.ca.gov. The "window" for requesting trainings closes at 4:30pm, on Friday, May 10, 2024.
  2. Please specify the desired date (within our available dates for trainings), start time, course number, SELPA Name, alternate date, and other information as directed by the instructions on the request form. We will specify the end time, which may include up to one hour for lunch, if appropriate. If you would like to make special requests for dates that are not in the form, email DCNTrainings@dcn-cde.ca.gov.
  3. In the case of a multiple-session trainings, the first and second sessions will be booked separately. Please remember to submit request forms for each session.
  4. Specify the name, email, and phone number for your agency's contact person. Please make sure this person is on-hand to respond to questions regarding your requested training(s) during our scheduling process from May through July. This person will also need to confirm details about trainings later in the school year. Use the same contact person, email address, and phone number for every entry by your agency.
  5. Click the "Submit" button at the bottom to finalize your request. The screen will refresh, confirming your request(s) have been sent. By reaching the "Your response has been recorded and received by DCN" screen, your entry has been saved and stored. You can now click on "Submit Another Response" to request additional trainings, if desired.
  6. Any modifications or updates to the contact person's name, phone, and/or email for your SELPA district should be sent as a separate email to DCNTrainings@dcn-cde.ca.gov throughout the year.

Available Dates for Trainings

Month Training Dates
August 2024 Wednesday 8/14, Thursday 8/15, Tuesday 8/20, Wednesday 8/21, Thursday 8/22, Monday 8/26, Tuesday 8/27, Wednesday 8/28
September 2024 Tuesday 9/17, Wednesday 9/18, Tuesday 9/24, Wednesday 9/25, Thursday 9/26, Friday 9/27, Monday 9/30
October 2024 Tuesday 10/1, Wednesday 10/2, Monday 10/21, Tuesday 10/22, Wednesday 10/23, Tuesday 10/29, Wednesday 10/30
November 2024 Friday 11/1, Monday 11/4, Tuesday 11/5, Wednesday 11/6
December 2024 Monday 12/2, Tuesday 12/3, Wednesday 12/4, Tuesday 12/10, Wednesday 12/11, Thursday 12/12, Friday 12/13, Monday 12/16, Tuesday 12/17
January 2025 Monday 1/6, Tuesday 1/7, Wednesday 1/8, Thursday 1/9, Monday 1/27, Tuesday 1/28, Wednesday 1/29
February 2025 Tuesday 2/4, Wednesday 2/5, Thursday 2/6, Friday 2/7, Tuesday 2/11, Wednesday 2/12
March 2025 Monday 3/3, Tuesday 3/4, Wednesday 3/5, Tuesday 3/11, Wednesday 3/12, Thursday 3/13, Friday 3/14
April 2025 Monday 4/7, Tuesday 4/8, Wednesday 4/9, Wednesday 4/23, Thursday 4/24, Friday 4/25, Monday 4/28, Tuesday 4/29, Wednesday 4/30
May 2025 Monday 5/5, Tuesday 5/6, Wednesday 5/7, Thursday 5/22, Friday 5/23, Tuesday 5/27
June 2025 Monday 6/2, Tuesday 6/3, Wednesday 6/4, Monday 6/9, Tuesday 6/10, Wednesday 6/11

Preparing for Training

After requesting a Professional Learning Opportunity:

  1. Please assign an administrator or designee to attend the workshop, either in-person or virtually.
  2. Secure a training site to accommodate audience size, if in person. A minimum of 10 participants is required.
  3. You will be notified of which training requests we are able to accommodate, and contracts will be emailed in June or early July.
  4. Please sign and return these contracts to us via email to DCNTrainings@dcn-cde.ca.gov. The signed contracts are confirmation of your training dates and times.

Once your training dates are confirmed via contract, please:

  1. Collect sign-ups of the attendees, including virtual participants, for this training. Consider distributing emails, flyers, and other outreach activities to advertise. We strongly recommend that the sponsoring SELPA invites general education staff and other agencies (such as Regional Center, Mental Health).
  2. Check that hosting agency has access to compatible equipment for virtual workshops.
  3. Check if your hosting agency can provide for audio-visual needs.

Three weeks prior to the training:

  1. DCN will confirm the training details and your number of registered participants (a minimum of 10 participants is required). If applicable, handout packets will be sent. Please duplicate the handout packets for all in-person participants prior to the training date or forward the hand-outs for virtual participants.
  2. Please remember to request a sign language interpreter at least 2 weeks in advance if one is needed.

During the training:

  1. Greet and register participants.
  2. If this is a virtual training, promote the use of cameras and active participation throughout the training.
  3. Have your SELPA representative available to deal with any unexpected issues that may arise.

After the trainings are completed:

  1. For in-person trainings, the SELPA representative should distribute, collect, and give to the presenter (or send via email) DCN evaluation surveys, and distribute the Certificate of Completion at the end of the workshop.
  2. For virtual trainings, the trainer will provide a link for the post-training survey. Once the survey has been submitted, participants will have access to a Certificate of Completion in the confirmation window.

Service Area

The Diagnostic Center, Northern (DCN) is located in Fremont, California and serves the following counties:

Del Norte, Siskiyou, Modoc, Humboldt, Trinity, Shasta, Lassen, Tehama, Plumas, Butte, Glenn, Mendocino, Lake, Colusa, Yuba, Nevada, Sierra, Sonoma, Sutter, Placer, El Dorado, Alpine, Sacramento, Yolo, Napa, Marin, Solano, San Francisco, Contra Costa, Alameda, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Benito, Monterey

Visit our Areas Served web page for more information.

Diagnostic Center Team

Get to know our trainers by visiting our Diagnostic Center Team web page.

Visit our Special Training Opportunities web page for additional training opportunities!

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