The IDEA Foundation recognizes that educators who work with at-risk students on a daily basis have unique professional needs and challenges. While professional development is key for every educator to stay equipped and motivated, it is especially vital for educators who participate in programs that are designed to reach at-risk students. For this reason, every IDEA program has a robust Professional Support component that is reviewed and evaluated regularly by the IDEA Board of Directors and Program Directors.
iSOSY (Innovative Strategies for OSY and Secondary Youth)
The iSOSY Provider Portal includes Professional Learning, Planning Resources, Training Webinars, and Tips for Using the Student Portal. There are currently almost a dozen professional learning trainings designed just for service providers. There are multiple planning resources including the out-of-school youth (OSY) Educational Outcomes table, Dropout Prevention Strategies, and Goal Setting materials. Training webinars include a wide variety of topics from Personal Wellness, OSY Relationship Building, Working Remotely with Students, and how to teach specific iSOSY lessons.
IDRC (Identification and Recruitment Consortium)
The IDRC Recruiter Resource Page includes videos designed to help users understand the agriculture industry in each state, agriculture resource lists (including timelines, industry profiles, and reports), interactive training tools for recruiter training and retainment, multiple webinars, and an index of general resources. There is also a catalog of training for the important process of data entry.
KSMEP (The Kansas Migrant Education Program)
The Kansas Migrant Education Program supports its advocates and recruiters with a robust collection of staff resources. These include an explanation of the important processes and documents needed to run the program and evaluate each student's progress, Identification & Recruitment (ID&R) support, a shared calendar, and a complete archive collection of monthly professional development dating back to 2016.