This resource was prepared in response to a request from a Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) State for information about the Transformation Zones that 10 RTT-ELC States had included as key projects in their RTT-ELC plans. This information will be helpful to other States as they consider how to continue to increase the quality of…

Pennsylvania began scaling up high-fidelity implementation of SchoolWide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) in 2006-2007 due to converging regulatory, legal, ethical, and practical influences. The Pennsylvania Community of Practice on School-Based Behavioral Health adopted Algozzine et al.'s (2010) blueprint to describe and…

Response to intervention (RTI) can be both a system for providing early interventions to struggling students and a special education diagnostic tool for evaluating and identifying students with specific learning disabilities. Contributing to the very limited literature on state-level approaches, this report describes how nine states define and…

Pennsylvania's Secondary Instructional Support program addresses such problems as failing grades, lack of classroom participation, lack of time on task, difficulties with basic skills, and poor attendance. It provides school districts with training and guided practice in six areas: collaboration, instructional assessment, instructional adaptation,…

Considerations in the design and implementation of the technical assistance (TA) system for supporting Pennsylvania's statewide school improvement initiative are analyzed. After a brief introduction, the authors describe the key features of the initiative, called Long-Range Planning for School Improvement (LRPSI). They briefly review recent…

Under Subtitle B Part I, Serve-America, of the National and Community Service Act of 1990, $1.1 million was awarded to fund 44 school-based service-learning programs in Pennsylvania. A study collected data on program implementation and impact on students, Serve-America coordinators, and supervisors during visits to 43 sites and at meetings with…

This document comprises the final report of the Regional Exchange project, through which Research for Better Schools (RBS) has provided research-based information, technical assistance, and training services to the states of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, to assist state educational leaders in developing and implementing…

This final report describes activities and accomplishments of a 3-year federally funded project at the Great Lakes Area Regional Center for Deaf Blind Education to provide technical assistance to service providers and families of children with dual sensory impairments in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Individual sections of the report present…

Pennsylvania's proposed Charter Schools Act, House Bill (H.B.) 1834, allows charter schools to be approved by local school boards or school district voters. This report describes the mission, functions, capabilities, and plans of a potential nonprofit Technical Assistance Activity (TAA) for charter-school applicants under H.B. 1834. The report…

Research for Better Schools, Inc., has been working with local education agencies (LEAs), intermediate service agencies (ISAs), and state education agencies (SEAs) to bring about career education impact in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. Their strategy includes three essential elements: assist LEAs in planning and implementing career…

This paper describes one approach to providing communication aids, environmental controls, and computer access systems to handicapped children. The paper begins by defining "assistive device" and "rehabilitation technology." Service delivery issues include funding of high-cost device systems and provision of ongoing student…

In 2000 and 2001, the Team Pennsylvania Workforce Investment Board (Team PA WIB) and its partners worked jointly to address Pennsylvania's workforce needs and respond to the need of its customers through new initiatives, new partnerships, and new strategies. The Team PA WIB and its partners continued implementation of the state's vision to create…