CADRE, in partnership with the Pennsylvania Office for Dispute Resolution and Oklahoma SERC will be hosting the 4th Professional Development Opportunity for IDEA Hearing Officers on February 9-10, 2026. Presenters include: Jim Mortenson, Lisa Pagano, Mark Weber, Greg Ogden, David Bateman, Mitchell Yell, and Jake McElligott.
Who’s Invited: IDEA Part B and Part C Hearing Officers, Administrative Law Judges, and Due Process Review Officers, and State Education Agency/Lead Agency administrators of IDEA due process complaints
Topics Include: Hearing Management, Decision Writing, Hearing Officer Ethics, Case Law Update, Differences in Federal Laws and Part B/C, Statute of Limitations
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Who may attend?
Attendees are required to be IDEA Part B and Part C Hearing Officers, Administrative Law Judges, Due Process Review Officers, or employees of the State Education Agency/Lead Agency or other agency responsible for IDEA due process complaints in order to provide targeted professional development. CADRE offers additional training opportunities that are open to general audiences.
Will CLE credits be offered through this event.
No. We will provide a certificate of attendance, as well as full agenda of the conference for individuals to self-report their attendance.
Will this event be recorded?
Yes, these sessions will be recorded, archived, and made available to registrants to access on-demand following the conference.
Why does the conference start so late in the day?
We serve the entire U.S. and its territories, which includes eight time zones. The conference times are designed to try to include as many people as possible.
When and where can I register?
CADRE will announce when registration is open via our website, newsletter, and through our network. We anticipate registration opening in mid-November. Check this page for updates.
How much does the conference cost? Do I have to attend the entire conference? Do you take attendance? Can I pay per session or pay for only one day of the conference?
Registration is a flat fee of $400. You may join only those sessions you are interested in attending. The Zoom platform does generate a report of who attended and for how long.
What Past Participants Have Said:
A lot of very useful information I need for my work, highly knowledgeable and professional presenters.
Highly relevant, good materials, speakers had been or were HOs so understood the issues we face.
Knowledgeable speakers. Helps train across the country when states have or provide varying levels of support.
All the topics were extremely relevant to my work as an ALJ in these cases. This is the first event that i've been to that is entirely relevant to my work. PLEASE put this one each year. And thank you for this event!
There is very little professional development specifically for special education hearing officers and ALJs. For us/by us events are important.
The topics were relevant and the speakers were clearly knowledgeable and informative. The timing was perfect - long enough to let the speaker fully speak and then allow a 15 minute break to stretch, check emails, etc.
