Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities--Preparation of Early Intervention and Special Education Personnel Serving Children with Disabilities who have High-Intensity Needs

Overview

The purposes of this program are to 

1. help address State-identified needs for personnel preparation in early intervention, special education, related services, and regular education to work with children, including infants, toddlers, and youth, with disabilities; and 
2. ensure that those personnel have the necessary skills and knowledge, derived from practices that have been determined through scientifically based research, to be successful in serving those children.

This competition includes one absolute priority and, within that absolute priority, one competitive preference priority. 

Absolute Priority: Preparation of Early Intervention and Special Education Personnel Serving Children with Disabilities who have High-Intensity Needs. Within this absolute priority, the Secretary intends to support projects under the following two focus areas:

      (a) Preparing Personnel to Serve Infants, Toddlers, and Preschool-Age Children with                             Disabilities who have HighIntensity Needs; and 
      (b) Preparing Personnel to Serve School-Age Children with Disabilities who have                                  HighIntensity Needs.

Applicants must identify the specific focus area (i.e., A or B) under which they are applying as part of the competition title on the application cover sheet.

The proposed strategies may include activities such as— 

• Updating coursework, group assignments, or extensive and coordinated field or clinical experiences in early intervention settings, early childhood programs, and schools needed to support preparation for early intervention and special education personnel, including personnel from groups that are underrepresented in the field, including personnel with disabilities, multilingual personnel, and personnel from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds, serving children with disabilities who have highintensity needs; 
• Building capacity (e.g., hiring a field supervisor, providing professional development for faculty and field supervisors) of the program to prepare scholars, including scholars from groups that are underrepresented in the field, including scholars with disabilities, multilingual scholars, and scholars from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds, to serve children with disabilities with high-intensity needs and their families; 
• Purchasing needed resources (e.g., additional teaching supplies or specialized equipment to enhance instruction); or 
• Establishing relationships with early intervention and early childhood programs or schools to serve as sites for field or clinical experiences needed to support the project. These sites may include high-need local educational agencies (LEAs),6 high-poverty schools,7 schools identified for comprehensive support and improvement,8 and schools implementing a targeted support and improvement plan 9 for children with disabilities; early childhood and early intervention programs located within the geographic boundaries of a highneed LEA; and early childhood and early intervention programs located within the geographical boundaries of an LEA serving the highest percentage of schools identified for comprehensive support and improvement or implementing targeted support and improvement plans in the State.

Competitive Preference Priority (3 additional points): 

       (a) Under this priority, an applicant must demonstrate that the applicant (e.g., the IHE) has not             had an active discretionary grant under the program from which it seeks funds, in the last                 five years before the deadline date for submission of applications under the 84.325K                       program. 

     (b) For the purpose of this priority, a grant is active until the end of the grant’s project or funding            period, including any extensions of those periods that extend the grantee’s authority to                    obligate funds.

• Indirect Cost Rate Information: This program uses a training indirect cost rate. This limits indirect cost reimbursement to an entity’s actual indirect costs, as determined in its negotiated indirect cost rate agreement, or eight percent of a modified total direct cost base, whichever amount is less.
• Applicants may not submit the same proposal under more than one focus area.
• Pre-Application Webinar Information: No later than April 24, 2023, the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services will post details on prerecorded informational webinars designed to provide technical assistance to interested applicants. Links to the webinars may be found here.