Don't Hit Snooze on Summer: Prep Now, Thrive Later
Summer offers something that's hard to find during the school year: time to breathe. After months of lesson planning, IEP meetings, paperwork, and supporting students, you've earned a chance to recharge.
But before classrooms fill up again, summer is also the perfect opportunity to invest in yourself. Whether you're looking to sharpen your instructional practice, discover new classroom resources, or connect with fellow educators, a little preparation now can make a big difference once the school year begins.
To help you start the year with confidence, we've put together this guide to some of CEC's most valuable resources for special educators.
Your Back-to-School Success Checklist
Before the first day of school, consider checking these items off your list:
✔ Refresh your instructional toolkit with evidence-based strategies.
✔ Earn professional development hours or Continuing Education Unit (CEU) hours.
✔ Download classroom-ready resources you can use immediately.
✔ Read the latest research and best practices in special education.
✔ Connect with colleagues who understand your challenges and successes.
Here's how CEC can help with each one.
Learn Something New
CEC’s Learning Library
Whether you're exploring a new instructional approach, looking for strategies to support diverse learners, or want to stay current on emerging topics in special education, CEC's Learning Library makes professional learning easy.
Browse hundreds of on-demand webinars, learning collections, and professional development opportunities whenever it fits your schedule. Pause when life gets busy, pick up where you left off, and learn at your own pace.
Even better, nearly all Learning Library offerings include Continuing Education Unit (CEU) hours certificates, helping you meet your professional learning goals while building skills you'll use throughout the school year.
Live Webinars
Looking for opportunities to learn directly from today's leading experts?
Throughout the year, CEC hosts live webinars featuring practical strategies, emerging research, and timely discussions on the topics shaping special education today. Whether you're interested in instructional practices, behavior supports, technology, policy updates, or leadership, there's always something new to explore.
Live webinars also give you the opportunity to engage with presenters and fellow educators while earning CEU hours.
Find Classroom-Ready Resources
Teacher Empowerment Toolkit
CEC’s newest member benefit will save you hours upon hours, reduce stress, strengthen compliance, and more importantly: support your students. The Teacher Empowerment Toolkit combines advanced diagnostics, individualized instructional support, progress monitoring, and AI-powered professional tools built specifically for special education practice. This isn’t generic AI. This is a purpose-built toolkit designed to support the real work special educators do every day.
Exceptional Teacher Resource Repository
You don't have to reinvent the wheel.
The Exceptional Teacher Resource Repository is a growing collection of expert-reviewed resources created by educators for educators. Search a variety of classroom-ready materials—including templates, instructional strategies, videos, handouts, how-to guides, and more—to find resources you can immediately put into practice.
Every submission is reviewed by subject matter experts, ensuring you're accessing high-quality, evidence-informed materials while benefiting from the collective expertise of your peers.
Stay Current on Research and Best Practices
Education is constantly evolving, and staying informed helps you make confident instructional decisions throughout the year.
CEC publishes two highly respected journals that bring together the latest research and practical classroom strategies.
TEACHING Exceptional Children (TEC)
Published six times each year, TEACHING Exceptional Children translates research into practical, classroom-ready strategies you can implement with your students. You'll also find insights from CEC leaders, Division leaders, and subject matter experts addressing today's most relevant challenges in special education.
Exceptional Children (EC)
For educators, researchers, and leaders looking to dive deeper into the evidence behind effective practice, Exceptional Children publishes groundbreaking research focused on improving outcomes for children and youth with exceptionalities.
Together, these journals help you stay informed, inspired, and equipped to provide the highest-quality instruction.
Build Your Professional Network
CECommunity
Sometimes the best resource isn't a webinar or article—it's another educator who has faced the same challenge. The CECommunity is a members-only online community where thousands of special educators, administrators, researchers, professors, paraeducators, and service providers come together to ask questions, exchange ideas, and support one another.
Need advice on a challenging classroom situation? Looking for recommendations on instructional strategies or resources? Curious how others are approaching a new initiative? No question is too big or too small. Your professional community is available whenever you need it.
Start the School Year with Confidence
The best school years don't begin on the first day of class; they begin with thoughtful preparation.
Whether your goal this summer is to strengthen your instructional practice, earn CEU hours, discover classroom-ready resources, stay current on research, or connect with fellow special educators, CEC has the tools and community to help you succeed.
While some of these resources are available to everyone, CEC members enjoy full access to everything CEC has to offer. Invest in yourself this summer, and start the new school year with confidence, knowing you have an entire professional community behind you.