84.326K: Center to Improve Access to the General Education Curriculum for Students with Disabilities at the Elementary and Middle School Levels

This document describes the project funded in Fiscal Year 2004 by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), U.S. Department of Education, under its competition 84.326K, Center to Improve Access to the General Education Curriculum for Students with Disabilities at the Elementary and Middle School Levels. This funding is authorized by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), our nation's special education law.

The Bigger Picture

NICHCY is pleased to make this listing available to you online. The listing comes from a longer publication with the incredibly long title of: Volume 3 of Discretionary Projects Supported by the Office of Special Education Programs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Fiscal Year 2004: Technical Assistance, Dissemination, Parent Information, and State Improvement.

Interested in what other Technical Assistance and Dissemination grants have been funded by OSEP in 2004? Please visit:
www.nichcy.org/directories/tad.asp

For an overview of OSEP's discretionary funding programs, and to find complete listings of all its program areas, competitions, and funded projects, please visit:
www.nichcy.org/directories/intro.asp

For a print copy of the complete Technical Assistance, Dissemination, Parent Information, and State Improvement directory (Volume 3), or any of the other directories (while supplies last), please contact Todd Fisk, the Directory/Database Manager, at:
tfisk@aed.org

84.326K
Center to Improve Access to the General Education Curriculum
for Students with Disabilities at the Elementary and Middle School Levels

Purpose: The Center will create a national infrastructure of information and support that states and local school districts can rely on to learn about and use scientifically based practices for providing access to the general education curriculum for their elementary and middle school students with disabilities.

Method: The project will be a catalyst for change through a variety of service areas. First, the project will form strategic partnerships with national, regional, state, and local groups that will help the Center identify scientifically based practices and help implement those practices in local schools and classrooms. Second, the project will train regional, state, and local educators to be better consumers of research. These partnerships and training activities will serve as a foundation for offering states and communities a menu of five technical assistance (TA) methods that serve as the core means through which the Center will move research into practice. These methods include: (a) direct consultation to states; (b) direct consultation to districts; (c) state-to-state mentoring; (d) district-to-district mentoring; and (e) strengthening state TA systems. The project will increase knowledge in the field about the impact of different TA methods on curriculum access. The Center will benefit from a consortium of partnering organizations and national experts who are knowledgeable about school reform, the process of change in education, and scientifically based practices for accessing the general education curriculum. The Council of Chief State School Officers will provide the project with access to policy makers who are responsible for issues of curriculum access. The Mountain Plains Regional Resource Center will supplement the project's expertise in scaling up scientifically based practices nationally. The project will have direct access to scientifically based practices through alliances with national experts at many U.S. research institutions. The Center for Applied Special Technology will provide access to universal design solutions that support school reform and effective, child-centered instruction. Other partners will help the project establish links to key stakeholders in both general and special education, and disseminate the Center's recommended solutions to problems of curriculum access in each of the 50 states. The Center's partners will work closely with the American Institute for Research's What Works Clearinghouse to further enhance its connection to research syntheses.

Products: The Center will provide ongoing communication and TA products that employ different formats and media for diverse audiences.

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