Technical Assistance and Dissemination to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities--The National Center for Systemic Improvement

Overview

The Technical Assistance and Dissemination (TA & D) program is the Department's primary vehicle under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for providing educators, policymakers, other service providers, and the parents and families of children with disabilities with information on effective practices for meeting the needs of children with disabilities and their families. The program makes competitive awards to provide technical assistance, support model demonstration projects, disseminate useful information, and implement activities that are supported by scientific research. These awards are intended to improve services provided under the IDEA, including the practices of professionals and others involved in providing services that promote academic achievement and improve results for children with disabilities. 

A majority of the grants currently funded under the TA & D program support technical assistance centers that focus on a particular topic, population, or age range, such as early intervening services, dispute resolution, early childhood, college- and career-readiness, and positive behavioral interventions and supports to improve results for children with disabilities. Most centers use a service model that provides three levels of technical assistance: intensive/sustained, targeted/specific, and general/universal. At the intensive/sustained level, a handful of states receive on-site, ongoing planned assistance designed to reach an outcome desired by the recipient. Through targeted/specific services, centers support activities based on the topical or technical needs common to multiple recipients and can be one-time or short-term events such as consultation services or presentations at conferences. The centers also provide general/universal technical assistance services that permit a broader audience to access information and services through presentations, newsletters, or research syntheses that are made available on center Web sites.

Absolute Priority: For FY 2024 and any subsequent year in which we make awards from the list of unfunded applications from this competition, this priority is an absolute priority: The National Center for Systemic Improvement. The purpose of this priority is to fund a cooperative agreement to establish and operate the National Center for Systemic Improvement (project). This project will provide sustained TA to SEAs to support them to effectively implement IDEA, build the capacity of State directors and State-level staff to meet the requirements of IDEA and build statewide systems to advance educational equity, mitigate SEA turnover, and improve academic and functional outcomes for children and youth with disabilities. 

The project must achieve, at a minimum, the following expected outcomes: 

• Increased capacity of SEAs to support LEAs and schools in selecting and implementing evidence-based practices (EBPs) and high-leverage practices (HLPs) 6 within frameworks supported by evidence that drive effective learning experiences, instruction, interventions, and services and supports to improve educational results and functional outcomes for CWD; 
• Increased capacity of SEAs to use data to evaluate, analyze, refine, strengthen, and if applicable, redesign their general supervision systems to ensure all components are reasonably designed and inform continuous improvement efforts; 
• Increased capacity of SEAs to implement their general supervision systems to support LEAs and schools to effectively implement IDEA and deliver equitable and effective IDEA services; 
• Increased capacity of SEAs to use data to engage in continuous improvement that builds more equitable, effective, and sustainable State systems to improve educational results and functional outcomes for children and youth with disabilities and their families; and
• Increased capacity of SEAs to meaningfully engage diverse State and local administrators, educators, community members, and families, including those historically marginalized by the education system in decision making processes.

The duration of awards varies with the award's purpose. Most individual awards are made for a period of 5 years.

Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: July 19, 2024. Pre-Application Webinar Information: No later than March 26, 2024, the Office of Special Education Programs and Rehabilitative Services will post pre-recorded informational webinars designed to provide technical assistance (TA) to interested applicants. The webinars may be found at www2.ed.gov/fund/grant/apply/osep/new-osep-grants.html.