Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities—National Center for Improving Teacher and Leader Professions to Better Serve Children with Disabilities

Overview

<p>The purposes of this program are to: <strong>(1)</strong> Help address State-identified needs for personnel preparation in special education, early intervention, related services, and regular education to work with children, including infants and toddlers, with disabilities; and <strong>(2)</strong> ensure that those personnel have the necessary skills and knowledge, derived from practices that have been determined through scientifically based research and experience, to be successful in serving those children.</p> <p><strong>Absolute Priority</strong> - National Center for Improving Teacher and Leader Performance to Better Serve Children with Disabilities.</p> <p>The purpose of this priority is to fund a cooperative agreement to establish and operate a National Center for Improving Teacher and Leader Professions to Better Serve Children with Disabilities.</p> <p><strong>The Center must achieve, at a minimum, the following expected outcomes:</strong></p> <p><strong>(a)</strong> Increased IHE capacity to offer high-quality instruction for their teacher and leader candidates (which may include virtual and hybrid models if needed due to temporary school closures).<br><strong>(b)</strong> Increased IHE capacity to offer high quality field experiences for their teacher and leader candidates (which may include virtual and hybrid models if in-person instruction is needed due to temporary school closures).<br><strong>(c)</strong> Increased IHE capacity to embed EBPs, and culturally and linguistically responsive practices that are aligned to State certification and licensure standards and program approval requirements into teacher and leader preparation programs.<br><strong>(d)</strong> Improved capacity of SEAs, in collaboration with IHEs and LEAs, to track and evaluate the impact that changes to certification and licensure standards and program approval requirements have on their ability to attract, prepare, and retain teachers and leaders, especially those from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds and those with disabilities.<br><strong>(e)</strong> Increased SEA, IHE, and LEA capacity to use multiple data sources to inform continuous improvement and alignment of their personnel preparation systems to attract, prepare, and retain teachers and leaders, especially those from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds and those with disabilities.<br><strong>(f)</strong> Increased capacity of SEAs, IHEs, and LEAs to scale up and sustain implementation of existing plans that align teacher and leader preparation systems to improve outcomes for students with disabilities, especially those from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds.</p>