DO I HAVE TO BE AN EXPERT ALREADY?

This course is designed to work for those in the special education maze and looking to take their skills to the next level. IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT YOUR EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND IS.

It is also laid out to help those who have never thought about a career in the special education advocacy field to get started from the bottom and feel confident moving forward.

We have MANY SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS, SPECIAL EDUCATION DIRECTORS, TEACHERS, AND PARENTS as well as many professionals who have learned how to be more effective special education advocates for children. The professionals who participate run the gamut some looking to retire to advocacy, related services personnel, lawyers, and school administrators.

We created this course around the Zone of Proximal Development Learning Theory (developed by the psychologist Lev Vygotsky) which analyzed how people acquire new knowledge and skills. Learners learn by being guided by those who are more knowledgeable and skilled. The Zone of proximal development (ZPD) is the range of abilities that a learner can perform with assistance (proximal = close to mastery) but cannot yet perform independently and needs more guidance and practice in order to perform these actions independently under expert guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers to have the outcomes they want. We model social interactions that allow you to observe, model and practice your own skills and we scaffold materials with supportive activities that help guide you.

I CAN'T AFFORD THIS - IS THERE ANYTHING YOU CAN DO FOR ME?

Yes, we can offer you a Pay-as-you-go - payment plan so that you can pay this over time.

“HOW CAN I AFFORD THIS”

YOU CANNOT AFFORD NOT TO GET THIS COURSE.

Your return on investment is better than any bank or stock!

You can get creative and think of how you can find the money. There is  financing, credit cards, loans, parents, friends, family, you could even sell something and use the money from that. Don't just use that excuse, get creative and start thinking of ways that you can make this work.

With the pay as you go payment plan we offer you can get started today for just $285. That is all the money you need to get started right now, TODAY.

HOW MUCH TIME DO I NEED TO MAKE THIS WORK?

Yes it will work for the busiest of you!

ZERO required days off from work

NO need for babysitting

NO travel costs!

Access at your convenience 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

Time Commitment

• Each of the 12 classes are approximately 8 hours long and broken into 15 -30 minute increments.
• Some has successfully completed all 12 on-demand webinar classes in less than 3 weeks
• Remember you have up to a year to complete in the convenience of your home in your pajamas. 
• We designed this so you will never need to set aside a huge block of time.
• No more travel, time zones, work schedules or need for baby sitters.
• Learn while still working  - avoid other scheduling conflicts.

Access the highest Students have taken the course while on vacation or while traveling outside of the country. 

We understand that most people are very busy and have full time jobs, families, commutes and hardly any free time. We have had at home parents with multiple children other professionals employed by home hand security, the police force, school districts, airlines, and in every imaginable field We designed this program so that you can work through it even if you're hard pressed for time. If you can set aside just a few hours per week you will be able to work your way through it.

Even if you can't start right away…reserve your spot and go at your own pace. These lessons aren't live, they're pre-recorded, on-demand and available online inside our training portal. You can login whenever you want with your password, on your own time and on your own schedule.

WATCH THE VIDEOS RISK FREE

WITH AN ABSOLUTE SATISFACTION GUARANTEE*

Our course is already proven with hundreds of testimonials. If you're still unsure about taking our course - we offer a money back guarantee*. Watch the videos risk free for up to 48 hours after purchase and if you're not happy with it ask for a refund via email at [email protected] within 48 hours of purchase and we'll take care of that for you!

This applies ONLY if you have not downloaded any materials.

*Satisfaction guarantee terms -  If any materials have been downloaded refund does not apply, NSEAI is not responsible for any bank or other processing fees that may occur.

WHY INVEST IN THIS TRAINING?

Look at what is at stake! A 1st or 2nd career with a very low-cost entry point compared to other careers. You get access to a powerful community. This is a tremendous value for 80 hours of instruction, and incredible bonuses in resources. In a short while you will have a new career, or be able to differentiate yourself from your competition in the quality of education and outcomes your clients receive, as a nationally board certified education advocate, having received extensive cross training.

WHAT IS THE QUALITY OF THE PROGRAM?

NSEAI has been training, at a national level for over 10 years, Board Certified Education Advocates^TM, (BCEA™ designation).

Over 3000 professionals and parents have benefited from NSEAI programs.

Read the testimonials from this course.

These courses are over flowing with integrated essential information required from multiple professions, to develop an appropriate IEP.

Because this is an on–demand webinar format, we apologize for not being able to directly offer our previously offered CEUs for this course.

When we did the course live, our courses qualified to receive:

• Teacher CEUs,  (66-Act 48 credits)
• College Credit Application (ACE)
• CLE (Areas of Professional Practice & Ethics and Professionalism credits) (72 CLEs- 68.5 substantive + 3.5 ethics) from the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania - Pennsylvania Continuing Legal Education
• Nursing 7.2 CEUs
• AMA CMEs,  etc.

We will continue to explore offering them in the future.

We do suggest that you submit the syllabus for each course to your CEU groups and ask for credits.

WILL IT BE TOO TECHNICAL?

It is not too technical. All the information is there for you to review. Follow along and the stories tell you what to do and how to change your thinking and apply advanced advocacy techniques.

Our courses address the needs of a beginner/Consultant, intermediate/Diplomat and advanced/Fellow level education advocate. BCEA^TMs are parents, educators, clinicians and lawyers, all practicing as education advocates.

Examinations

• There are 12 exams (one for each class) with 20-25 questions in the format of an open book test.
  • Approximately 85-90% pass on first try after taking the classes
  • Only about 45% pass if they HAVE NOT TAKEN THE CLASSES. This shows that the extent of cross-training  information is novel to teachers, SE administrators, parents and lawyers.
• A 13^th exam is the certification project. This involves reading a detailed evaluation report and answering 50 questions on the project exam.
• Class exams may be taken 3 times prior to having to reregister for the class.

You have access to each class for up to 1 year if you prepay. Every time you listen to a video it is like peeling an onion where you gain more and more insight into concepts, processes, application and steps to success.

WHY START TODAY?

You've got questions? Have we got some great answers!

If you are done with being frustrated, aggravated, overwhelmed, and tired of repeatedly hitting the wall after hours of IEP development, to be left with a document that not only does not represent the student or their needs but also ultimately is not implemented, then take this course. Do you get left with a legally sufficient IEP that does not address the child's needs adequately?  NO MORE!

DO I NEED A LICENSE OR BOARD CERTIFICATION

TO PRACTICE AS AN EDUCATION ADVOCATE?

No, you do not! That is why NSEAI exists. The problem today is that anyone can be an education advocate with no consistent level of qualifications! Most advocates have just been taught laws and regulations and focus on violations vs. preventing them in the first place (56% of all due processes in the country occur in just 2 states, 70% of due process rulings, with parent lawyer representation, are in favor of the school).

NSEAI focuses on understanding the complex inter-disciplinary IEP development process so that students have competency based, measurable functional outcomes that the student can do independently.

Education Advocacy is a consulting business that has no prerequisite education, licensure or certification requirements. Board Certification is a step that most professionals take, through their professional associations, in non-licensed and licensed fields, to assure their clients that they have specialty training.

A certificate of completion or attendance or a course certification is NOT a professional Board Certification. When these certificates are advertised by advocates as being "A certified education advocate" - this is false advertising and unethical. Other professions, especially outside of the legal profession, are very familiar with the board certification process and take this seriously. Other professionals cannot put on their resume that they are certified - just because they took a training - no matter how intensive it is.

Professionals also know that they cannot state that they are federally trained when they are not. Just because an organization receives federal money for training or even the development of a program, that claim is also False advertising and unethical. NSEAI receives federal funds for trainings but we would never allow an advocate to make such a claim.

Most currently licensed professions started with a national professional association offering board certification before the professional association petitioned a state legislature to required licenses. Don't be fooled by just a course certification!

WHAT DO YOUR CLIENTS WANT?

If a family requires the services of a consultant that specializes in education advocacy, they deserve to know that the one they pick is knowledgeable and a leader in that field. They do not want a novice with eclectic training that does not address all the cross training required to be a professional advocate.

Knowledgeable advocates assist in the development of a holistic, individualized and appropriate IEP, commensurate with the child's abilities, that results in measurable, independent, competency based, functional outcomes.

They must know how to assist the IEP team in the identification of a child's educational needs and barriers to accessing education, design of appropriate research-based interventions, understand federal and state education, civil rights and disability laws and regulations. 

Some people who enter the field believe that if they have worked with one child successfully, taken a legal training, or gone to due process, they know what every child needs. As a result, they unwittingly put client safeguards at risk, offer information beyond the scope and sequence of their training, knowledge, and competency resulting in delays in educational progress for these children.

WHAT IS AN EDUCATION ADVOCATES SCOPE OF PRACTICE?

To promote safe, competent, advance practice in education advocacy and assure uniformity in minimum educational requirements.  NSEAI has a PRACTICE ACT that is a PROFESSIONALLY DEFINED SCOPE of PRACTICE and GUIDELINES. These guidelines, as in many professions, usually become the future basis for a legislative statute when licensure is requested.

NSEAI, in February of 2008, was the FIRST nationally to develop and publish a Professional Code of Ethics and Scope of Practice Guidelines for Education Advocates to protect consumers. BCEA^TMs must adhere to an enforceable, mandatory Professional Code of Ethics and follow their Practice Guidelines, which define their profession. This was developed by a survey and a national committee of Education Advocates from across the country.

WHERE DO EDUCATION ADVOCATES WORK?

Graduates from the NSEAI Education Advocacy program work advocating with their clients in their own private consulting practices and in the:

• Public and private education systems
• Juvenile justice systems
• Government agencies
• Community based programming
• Colleges
• Transition programs
• Federally funded parent information centers
• Diverse multi-cultural - non-profit advocacy groups
• Community parent support groups
• Hospitals and schools
• Special education PTOs
• Educational law agencies
• Educational policy and reform groups and
• Law offices...

NSEAI regularly gets calls from non-profit and governmental agencies

asking for qualified advocates to hire.

WHAT REQUIREMENTS ARE NEEDED PRIOR TO CERTIFICATION?

Board Certified Education Advocates™ are required to keep up with resources in order to continue their competency in the profession. Clients can relax knowing that the  Board Certified Education Advocate™ today has had 80+ hours of direct instruction, 150 hours of indirect instruction, passed 13 - one-hour exams, and have done a field projects to prove their knowledge and training prior to applying for board certification.

Training prior to Board Certification is minimal and include 3 levels. 

Those with NO experience in the field enter at a consultant level and may move up levels as they acquire experience.

Consultant level

• Consultation on at least 1 case
• 30 hours of advocacy experience in 1 or more school districts
• 10 hours of CEUs related to the special education field

Diplomat

• Consultation on at least 10 or more cases
• 50 hours of advocacy experience in 2 or more school districts/regions
• 20 hours of CEUs related to the special education field

Fellow

• Consultation on at least 20 or more cases
• 100 hours of advocacy experience in 5 or more school districts/regions
• 30 hours of CEUs related to the special education field

Practicum

• Practicum hours are based on the level of Board Certification you wish to apply for.
• Practicum hours may be done independently or with BCEA supervision.
• Practicum hours and CEU hours can be accumulated from the past 10 years, if you are already an advocate.

IS A BOARD CERTIFICATION THE SAME AS A COURSE CERTIFICATE?

There are not any certifications or licensure requirements in any state for educational advocates. The key differences between these two credentials, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), is that licenses are legally required by the government to work in an occupation while board certifications are not. A board certification is often confused with a certificate, which is often inappropriately promoted as certification. A major key difference is that unlike a certificate program after candidates pass the board certification exams, they will be awarded a professional designation that will be recognized and used to highlight their certified status.

LICENSURE

• Awarded by a governmental licensing agency
• Gives legal authority to work in an occupation
• Requires meeting predetermined criteria, such as having a degree or passing a state-administered exam.

BOARD CERTIFICATION

• Are awarded only by a professional organization or other nongovernmental body that represents ONLY that profession
• Board Certifications occur with or without licensure and are professional certifications not associated with licensures
• The association/organization strives to meet the 21 standards set forth by the Institute for Credentialing Excellence (ICE)
• Board Certifications are not legally required in order to work in an occupation
• Recognizes professionals who meet established knowledge, skills, or competencies
• Builds capacity and sets a professions broad standards of integrated knowledge (not just specific skills) and practice within the profession
• Psychometrics and Assessments used to assure baseline competencies within a profession and to differentiate professionals; independent of a specific learning event
• Requires demonstrating competency to do a specific job that requires integration of multiple skill sets and knowledge, through a psychometrically monitored examination that sets competency through a conformity assessment system
• The board certification process is designed to assure the public that a Board Certified Education Advocate^TM has successfully completed a professionally approved educational program and a thorough evaluation, including an examination designed to assess the knowledge, experience and skills needed to provide high quality services.
• Board Certification indicates that the board determined, based on the criteria then in effect, that the education advocate possessed the education, training, experience, and knowledge required to be a specialist in their field at the time the certificate is awarded. It cannot assess an advocate's knowledge, skills and experience after the certificate is awarded.

CERTIFICATES OR CERTIFICATION RELATED TO A COURSE

• Acknowledges that a course has been completed
• Awards a certificate of attendance or participation
• Recognition of a narrow set/focus of knowledge and skills but not adequate to practice independently in the field
• Provides specific working knowledge about a certain topic or area of the field of practice but often from a narrow focus
• Usually concludes with some sort of evaluation to assess mastery of the intended learning outcomes linked directly to the learning event

WHAT ARE THE OBJECTIVES OF BOARD CERTIFICATION?

The objectives of Board Certification are to advance special education advocacy as a professional specialty by:

• Identifying knowledge that is essential to the special education advocate providing advocacy services
• Advancing cooperation and information exchange among the many disciplines and organizations at the IEP table.
• Recognizing and honoring those who meet the eligibility requirements for certification.
• Encouraging continued professional growth and development of individuals and the field of special education advocacy.
• Raising standards and elevating the importance of ethical behavior among special education advocates, by requiring the Board Certified Education Advocates^TM to adhere to a strict code of ethics and professional standards.

• The NSEAI also assures that the Board Certified Education Advocates^TM possess the knowledge, skills, and experience requisite to the provision of high-quality consulting in education advocacy. The NSEAI believes that all education advocates providing consulting services should have a fundamental knowledge of the educational, clinical, behavioral and legal basics to this specialty and that the NSEAI is responsible for the establishment and maintenance of the standards of knowledge required for board certification.
• The Board Certification program is for those who wish to be professionals within the field of education advocacy and who are trained sufficiently to practice independently. There is a huge variation in quality, depth, and focus of trainings nationally. There is also a significant variation in capabilities among advocates within this industry. This results in a disservice to the public. A Board certification creates a minimum competency standard of education and experience for advocates entering the professional field.
• This is the same as for Massage therapist and Behavioral Therapist 10 years ago. These professions developed through board certifications available through homogeneous professional associations (professional associations that represent only one profession). They did not initially have licensure. These board certifications eventually became a national licensure standard adopted by each state.

IF WEDDING PLANNERS, EXERCISE INSTRUCTORS, CHOCOLATIERS AND PHYSICIAN BILLING OFFICE PERSONNEL CAN BE BOARD CERTIFIED

WHY CAN'T SPECIAL EDUCATION ADVOCATES?

COMPARE!

NSEAI has produced courses each year, since 2008, updating the curriculum regularly (usually yearly) to make sure our students received the best education in the industry so to set them up for success as well as polish the skills of those already in their professional careers as special education advocates.

Our curriculum development committee and faculty have been trained by some of the top special education Related Service Providers, Educators, Researchers in Education, and lawyers in the country (some who have represented parents and some who have represented schools - so we get the issues). Many have been on our panel discussions. They have attended multiple state bar association trainings and conferences for lawyers entering the special education law field, and taken ALL of the national advocacy trainings available.

When we have compared other special education trainings materials and Syllabus they only cover 1/4 of the topics that NSEAI does and include areas unrelated to the practice of education advocacy. Why do I need to know how to research and write a legal brief if I am an educational advocate? Educational Advocacy is a stand-alone profession. We see many legally sufficient IEPs that are not producing sufficient progress or closing the educational gap because advocates and lawyers do not know how to use the complex IEP development process effectively. To learn this process requires training across all related service provider professions, as well as special education, current educational research, educational best practices, multiple laws, as well as clinically based research related to educational need identification and remediation.

WHAT IS THE COST?

The cost is less than $200 per full day of training.

Tell me where you can find a deal like that!

Just think of the money you save from tuition, not having to travel, or miss work. (In the past our students flew across country every 2 weeks to take our courses.) It also includes the foundation of your professional library with amazing resources. (2000+ pages that experienced advocates refer to regularly and thank us for - years after they have taken the classes.

Options for payment:

• You can pay as you go at $285.00 per class. Access to pay as you go is for 30 days from the time of original purchase of each class.
• You can pre-pay for all 12 at once for $2394.00 and receive the 30% discount (This saves you $1026.00 and essentially gives you 3.6 classes out of 12 for free). Pre payment gives you access to the classes for one year.
• You may qualify for a 50% discount and save $1710.00 if you are:
  • Active or retired service personnel (fire, police, military)

                    THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE

• • Family member of service personnel, or
  • Age 55 or older
    • THANK YOU FOR HELPING YOUR GRAND CHILDREN
    • Retiring Teacher/ Administrators
• We additional offer a limited number of PARTIAL scholarships to those who financially qualify.

Any questions - give us a call. We appreciate networking with experts within the field

WHO AND WHAT IS NSEAI?

The National Special Education Advocacy Institute (NSEAI) is a professional association for trained and Board Certified Special Education Advocates^TM. We are dedicated to providing support, resources, and networking for advocates, as well as professional development, and continuing education for those seeking to become special education advocates, and to elevate those already in the field through board certification.

The Board Certified Education Advocate^TM (BCEA^TM) designation and status at the Fellow, Diplomat, and Consultant levels reflects not only an advocate’s education but experience level, recognizing them for the hard work they have put into becoming a professional advocate. This certification represents not only the advocate's passion for child focused - special education advocacy - that leads to independent functional competency based outcomes for students - it also reflects successful completion of a formal professional educational program in special education advocacy.

Consumers appreciate the ability to hire Board Certified Education Advocates^TM, since they represent the highest standard within the entire industry.

NSEAI has produced comprehensive board certification courses each year, since 2008, updating the curriculum regularly, in this rapidly growing and changing industry, to make sure our students received the best education in the industry that will set them up for success as well as polish the skills of professional advocates.

As education advocacy becomes increasingly complex and challenging, the value of certification as a mark of excellence is more important than ever. Achieving certification demonstrates to clients and the public that a advocate’s knowledge, skills and abilities meet rigorous national standards, are child focused, must meet ethical standards, provide services for the purpose of optimizing educational outcomes.

WHY ARE WE HERE?

• 7 million children (14% of all children in public school) qualify for services under IDEA. 34% of all students are not getting appropriate outcomes or closing their educational gaps. This leaves 2.4 million IEPs across 15,000+ school districts each year that need professional advocacy and there are not enough professionally trained advocates to serve our communities. These IEPs condemn children to a lack of access to their right to a free and appropriate public education. This results in a lifelong sentence of dependence, discrimination and denial of even minimal rights.
• Professional Educational Advocacy is needed because Due Process is usually not the answer to lack of access to a FAPE!
  • Advocates trained by lawyers, or in programs with a due process bias, do not have the scope and sequence of required educational cross-training to be able to facilitate the development of a truly appropriate IEP. 
  • 56% of ALL due process cases in the U.S. occur in only 3 states. 
  • 70% of due process cases are ruled against parents, when parents have lawyers. 
  • 95% of due process cases are ruled against parents, when parents represent themselves—Pro Se.
  • The resulting high use of settlement agreements DOES NOT FIX THE LACK OF ACCESS TO FAPE OR IMPROVED EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES. IEP compliance monitoring has now been relegated to a non-transparent or regulated system of settlement agreements.
  • Less than 1/2 of all states and territories are IDEA compliant (USDOE). Enforcement of compliance, accountability and transparency at the local, county, state and federal levels has failed based on outcome data.
  • Parents are rarely equal IEP team members, despite IDEA saying they have a voice in the IEP process and that their positions are valued and considered before decisions are made.
    • They do not have equal access to the intensive educational and legal resources as school districts 
    • They endure emotional, physical and financial pressures in their attempts to access and enforce their parental safeguards.
    • They lack financial resources.
    • They lack the multi-disciplinary special education cross training, 

The measure of a society is found in how they treat their weakest and most helpless citizens. President, Jimmy Carter

WHAT MUST WE DO?

We must rethink and question the process of special education to ensure EVERY student is prepared for their transition to adulthood, successful careers, and a meaningful independent life. Parents need assistance in their continuing struggle to get their children an appropriate education. Students need the appropriate, legally mandated specially designed instruction and related services to succeed in school, and teachers need the appropriate supports to make a difference in outcomes.

Unique needs of each child must be identified, and individualized educational plans developed that result in positive results commensurate with the student's potential. Special education students must not be treated as a burden, or castaway. A deep dive into each student's unique way of learning, with accurate measurement of academic and functional baselines, is required to address educational barriers that stand in the way of improving opportunities and outcomes. This demands appropriate testing, proper diagnoses, and understanding of a student's unique presentation, traits, educational needs, and aspirations, so that an informed, individualized, educational plan can be developed with the appropriate research based educational tools vs. wasting a child's precious educational time by throwing spaghetti at the wall waiting to see what sticks.

We must identify and confront anything that does not improve a child's academic and functional outcomes. This includes structures, practices, systems, policies, laws and regulations that constrain the implementation of:

• A free and appropriate public education.
• Special education services, defined by the USDOE as SDIs and related services, and the use of
• Research based innovations, which saves schools money.
• Lack of research based programming defrauds students of FAPE and exposes them to abuse, neglect, and segregation, as millions are spent on a programs that do not work—and many have not worked for decades).

We must eliminate failing processes, funding and systems, especially those that mask or defend a school system's failure to provide FAPE. Special education experts and advocates are needed to facilitate a data-driven, child-focused approach with professional analysis, to deliver positive academic and functional outcomes.

WHAT IS NSEAI DOING? 

Every child is precious. NSEAI is committed to maximizing educational outcomes for every student. Educational access is often hindered by hidden agendas, lack of expertise, and lack of supports for school personnel. NSEAI is devoted to resolving educational access issues by working with all stakeholders who are similarly committed.

We partner with all advocates, parents, individuals with disabilities, teachers, administrators, related service providers, lawyers, and state and federal representatives focused on raising school expectations and improving outcomes for individuals with disabilities.

• We empower families and students with disabilities and give them realistic access to successful, independent lives.
• We provide comprehensive research-based cross training so that special education advocates can excel in a multi-system and multi-profession IEP process.

WE ARE NOT A CLUB that allows some stakeholders in and not others. We are a professional association for education advocates. If you are courageous, persistent, and interested in working differently and more collaboratively, with ALL IEP TEAM STAKEHOLDERS, to created an individualized child-focused and effective education success plan for those with disabilities than JOIN US AT NSEAI 

THE PERSON WHO SAYS IT CANNOT BE DONE

SHOULD NOT INTERRUP THE PERSON DOING IT!

The work is too important, the need is too urgent, and the stakes are too high for us to settle for anything less than whatever it takes to deliver on the promises we have made to children and families in our country. USDOE Blog 2019

CORE VALUES:

• Knowledge — Empower and cross-train professional advocates that can effectively advocate across ALL the professions involved in the IEP process.
• Outcomes — Educational progress and educational gap closure, by using fact-intensive analysis of academic & functional competency-based goals, which are commensurate with a child's abilities. 
• Equality — End discrimination by defending the rights of ALL students, expanding the equalizing power of quality education.
• Inspire— Inspire a generation of educational advocates, parents, and educators, focused on educational social justice and responsible stewardship of educational time and resources through proven methods.