MLFTC to host TECBD conference

Next week, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College will host the Teacher Educators for Children with Behavior Disorders Conference at the Tempe Mission Palms Hotel and Conference Center. The annual conference is the leading educational research conference for teacher educators working with children and youth with severe behavioral disorders. 

“This conference is unique in that it not only showcases some of the best research going on in the field, but it also takes place in an intimate setting that fosters mentorship and collaboration among colleagues and students,” says Healther Griller Clark, principal research specialist and TECBD conference director. 

Robert B. Rutherford established the conference in Arizona in 1976 with the goal of circulating quality research in the field to help students, educators and faculty members. Over the last 43 years, the TECBD conference has grown tremendously and its mission continues to be dissemination of best practices for educating students with emotional and behavioral disorders. 

This year’s presenters include nationally renowned experts in the field of special education, such as Kathleen Lane and James Kauffman, as well as local and national researchers, educators and graduate students. There are over 170 different sessions on topics related to academic interventions, behavioral interventions, aggression and violence in schools, assessment, restraint and seclusion, autism research interventions, inclusion, juvenile justice, transition and more. 

Each year the Robert B. Rutherford Memorial Scholarship is awarded to an MLFTC graduate student who is pursuing a career in the field of emotional and behavioral disorders. This year, Claudia Emilie LaGarde was awarded the scholarship. She is pursuing her master’s degree in Special Education with a specialization in Autism Spectrum Disorders. LaGarde currently works as a special education teacher for K – 3 students with emotional disabilities. “The learning and growth that occurs in students once they know that there is someone who believes in them is immeasurable,” says LaGarde. 

Learn more about the Teacher Educators for Children with Behavior Disorders Conference.