A few days from now (Feb 2022), I shall be travelling to San Diego to attend a professional conference, the Pacific Coast Research Conference. I have attended this meeting of special educators often, and I look forward to this year’s sessions (despite the risks of traveling).

Unlike many special education conferences, PCRC is a meeting focused on research. Attendees do not get sessions like, “Here’s my idea,” “This worked in my clsassroom,” and similar presentations. Instead, it’s leading researchers reporting results of studies or groups of studies.

During PCRC’s early days, I sat in a room with fewer than a dozen people, two of whom were presenters and they were among the most eminent researchers about (for example) “non-responders” to effective instruction. As you think about this, you’ll realize that the presenters, Rollanda O’Connor and Joe Torgesen, presented data about their research that led the way to what we now call multi-tiered systems of support.

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Sure, PCRC’s content is pretty technical, kinda dense for those who only know a little about research methods. And I’m only recommending that people with lots of barckground knowledge (both content and methods) attend, but this is a killer opportunity. (Also, registration has already closed, of course.) It’s too late to register for this there, but maybe aa future meeting?

I’ll be there. If you see a session that looks interesting, you can write to the authors (or, gasp, even me!) and learn what that report reports.