Five years ago the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) launched a revolution in our education system by insisting that all students should be proficient in reading and math by 2014 and demanding comprehensive reforms to reach this national goal, including strong assessment and accountability systems, a highly qualified teacher in every classroom, more…

This document reports on a 1998 conference on technical assistance and dissemination attended by representatives from the Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), Technical Assistance and Dissemination (TA&D) projects, and regional resource centers. The conference was intended to increase knowledge concerning…

The Regional Educational Laboratory Program is the U.S. Department of Education's largest research and development investment designed to help educators, policymakers, and communities improve schools and help all students attain their full potential. Administered by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), the network of 10…

This guide addresses distance learning programs as one approach to the alternative procedures identified by state regulations for use by Texas schools. The general introduction to procedures and regulations for use of distance learning that is provided in the first section briefly describes distance learning, eligible plan sponsors, course…

The Regional Educational Laboratory Program is the U.S. Department of Education's largest research and development investment designed to help educators, policymakers, and communities improve schools and help all students attain their full potential. Administered by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), the network of 10…

The purpose of this document is to provide charter school authorizers with targeted technical assistance related to special education in charter schools. Charter school laws are unique to each state, and they provide a wide range of policies and practices for the hundred of authorizers chartering schools nationally. As a result, providing…

This booklet provides information on the Association of Community Tribal Schools (ACTS) (South Dakota). The mission of ACTS is to assist community tribal schools in preparing students for lifelong learning and for their role in strengthening and perpetuating traditional tribal societies. Specifically, ACTS promotes the advancement of Indian…

This document reports on the design, purpose, implementation, and outcomes of an October 1994 policy forum on the impact of the Goals 2000 program on students with disabilities. Conclusions and recommendations of the forum identified 31 critical activities grouped into six major strategies to ensure the inclusion of students with disabilities in…

This brief report provides an analysis of survey data collected from 45 states and territories about policies, procedures, and guidelines related to Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA), plans to develop or revise policy in this area, and technical assistance needs related to FBA, especially for students who exhibit behavior that interferes with…

When the charter school movement began in the early 1990's, one key set of players received little attention: the public entities that sponsor or authorize these unconventional schools. A charter is properly understood as a contract between two parties, the school operator and the authorizer. For the charter movement to succeed, both must do their…

This final report describes the activities and accomplishments of the Consortium on Inclusive Schooling Practices, a federally-funded 5-year project to investigate the utility of a systemic approach for building the capacity of state and local education agencies to provide inclusive educational services. The project focused on four states…

This fact sheet highlights the challenges for students with disabilities in the nation's university system and recommends solutions that would result in better support systems for postsecondary students with disabilities. This document discusses several interrelated issues that impact student preparation and access to postsecondary education. The…

The lack of sound and practical guidelines and materials, which precludes adequate technical assistance, is one cause of the inferior quality of evaluation practices in bilingual education. Other contributing factors include incompetent program evaluators, misinformed local administrations, inappropriate state and federal policies, and complex…

As qualified teachers are central to children receiving a high-quality preschool education, many policy initiatives aimed at improving program quality are thwarted when insufficient attention is paid to the professional development of the workforce. One response to this issue has been to create teacher leadership roles so that teachers mentor…

The Communities of Practice approach offers state agency personnel a lens for exploring the human aspects of problems. They can be used as a technical assistance approach for bringing together multiple stakeholders to address complex issues facing special education. The IDEA Partnership has pioneered the use of a website for its national…