This report explains how State Entity (SE) Program grantees are using or proposed to use the technical assistance (TA) set-aside portion of their Charter School Programs (CSP) funds for these activities. This report also describes SE activities to ensure subgrantees are equipped to meet the needs of all students, and specifically students with…

Innovation in education is vital for responding to emerging challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and for building progress on longstanding challenges in schools. The infusion of substantial, highly flexible pots of federal relief dollars created an opportunity to pilot new programs and initiatives. Many states and districts opted to invest…

As the Common Core State Standards Initiative moved from the development and adoption of the standards to their implementation, ASCD embarked on a multifaceted program to help educators understand and implement the new standards. With support from a $3 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, ASCD has enacted a three-pronged…

First launched in April 2009, the Common Core State Standards Initiative was conceived to identify and develop college- and career-readiness standards that address what students are expected to know and be able to do when they have graduated from high school. The initiative introduced the final version of the standards in June 2010, and by…

In today's uncertain economy, states and regions are experiencing myriad workforce challenges. In the short run, layoffs and unemployment resulting from the current economic downturn dictate an immediate need for education and training to prepare workers for key occupations. In the long run, states and regions continue to exist in a global economy…

The federally funded Bilingual Education Multifunctional Resource Center (BEMRC) provides support services to programs and individuals serving students of limited English proficiency (LEP) in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Tennessee. LEP students in the mostly rural areas come from…

Activities of the Technology Access for Arkansans (TAARK) project have focused on: (1) identifying the need and quality of technology provisions in the state; (2) disseminating information about appropriate technology and funding; (3) educating Arkansans about technology and advocacy; (4) developing a coordinated state plan; and (5) providing…

This final report describes activities and accomplishments of the Arkansas Project for Children and Youth with Deaf/Blindness, a 3-year federally supported project to provide support services to children and youth in Arkansas who are deaf-blind. The project provided technical assistance in the following areas: early identification, incidence and…

A report is presented on an outreach project that assisted in the development and implementation of early intervention programs, special education, and related services for children with disabilities (ages birth to five). The Magnolia Circle Outreach Project disseminated and helped replicate a "best practices" model to improve the…

This summary of the grant application for the Arkanasas Technology Access Program (ARTAP) briefly describes the process used to develop the ARTAP proposal, the proposal's goals and objectives, and plans for continuation of ARTAP. The consumer-driven planning process and the systems approach to providing appropriate assistive technology and…

This document consists of a grant proposal describing the planned Arkansas Technology Access Program. The purpose of the program is to create and support a consumer-responsive, statewide system for enabling Arkansans with disabilities to access needed technologies. The goals of the program are to: (1) develop an on-going consumer-driven technology…

This paper summarizes principles of the Technology Access for Arkansans project initiated in 1989 to: (a) identify needs and quality of technology provisions in Arkansas; (b) disseminate information about appropriate technology and funding; (c) educate Arkansans about technology and advocacy; (d) develop a coordinated state plan for technology;…

Rural schools have often lacked sufficient resources to acquire training, consultant, and evaluative services. The expertise of faculty in university teacher and administrator training programs has been largely untapped. This is primarily because of a lack of programs linking rural schools with the university faculties that might provide needed…

The Arkansas Technology Information System (ARTIS) was developed to fill a significant void in existing systems of technical support to Arkansans with disabilities by creating and maintaining a consumer-responsive statewide system of data storage and retrieval regarding assistive technology and services. ARTIS goals also include establishment of a…

This final report describes accomplishments and activities of a four-year federally funded project in Arkansas to provide technical services to families and service providers of children with deaf-blindness. Project activities have included inservice and pre-service training for educators and other service providers, training for families, onsite…