Matrix Centers
Data Management
Data Accountability Center
DACâs mission is to support the submission and analysis of high-quality IDEA data by reviewing data collection and analysis, and providing technical assistance to improve state capacity to meet data requirements. The Centerâs mission includes assisting the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) at the U.S. Department of Education by taking a leadership role in the Technical Assistance and Dissemination network to support the vision of high-quality data.
Deaf-Blind
National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB)
The purpose of the National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness is two-fold. The first purpose is to promote academic achievement and results for children and youth (birth-26) who are deaf-blind through technical assistance, model demonstration, and information services activities that are supported by evidence based research. Beneficiaries will include families, service providers, state deaf-blind projects, state and local education agencies and other organizations responsible for providing early intervention, education and transition services. The second purpose is to help address State identified needs for highly qualified personnel by ensuring that personnel have skills and knowledge. Outcomes include: (a) increasing the knowledge and skills of families and service providers to implement IDEA and evidence based practices and (b) increasing the systems capacity of state deaf-blind projects and other agencies to serve children/youth who are deaf-blind.
Dispute Resolution
CADRE (Center for Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Special Education)
The Center for Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Special Education (CADRE), a national technical assistance and dissemination project, works toward elevating the capacity of educators, family members, service providers and other stakeholders to engage in collaborative problem-solving and other positive, non-adversarial processes. Ultimately, this approach results in better educational programs and outcomes for students with disabilities. CADRE delivers high quality technical assistance and informational support to state education agencies (Part B), early intervention lead agencies (Part C), parent centers, local education agencies, local early intervention providers, and dispute resolution practitioners.
Dissemination
National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY)
The National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities, NICHCY, serves the nation as a central source of information on: ⢠research-based information on effective educational practices, ⢠disabilities in infants, toddlers, children, and youth, ⢠IDEA and No Child Left Behind (as it relates to children with disabilities), ⢠products and services of OSEPâs TA&D projects, and ⢠national, regional, and state agencies, disability organizations, professional and parent groups focused on the needs of children with disabilities. NICHCY focuses on support to states and local entities in building their capacity to improve early intervention, educational and transitional services, and results for children with disabilities and their families, and to address systemic-change goals and priorities. NICHCY brings research-based information and assistance to practice, in order to help states meet outcome indicators and show continuous improvement. NICHCY provides information in both English and Spanish.
Project Forum
Project Forum is designed to address the clearly stated priority of the State and Federal Policy Forum for Program Improvement: to facilitate communication between OSEP and state and local administrators of IDEA 2004. Furthermore, this project will synthesize national program information that will improve the management, administration, delivery and effectiveness of programs and services provided under IDEA
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets is a multimedia project designed to disseminate research-based findings on helping young children with reading disabilities learn to read. The project focuses on early diagnosis of language and reading problems, effective interventions, and research-based teaching strategies. Reading Rockets serves parents, teachers, school administrators, childcare providers, and policy makers.
Early Childhood
Center for Early Literacy Learning
The main goal of CELL is to promote the adoption and sustained use of evidence-based early literacy learning practices by early childhood intervention practitioners, parents, and other caregivers of young children, birth to five years of age, with identified disabilities, developmental delays, and those at-risk for poor outcomes. The Center will produce toolkits containing practice guides for promoting early literacy learning that can be used by parents and early childhood practitioners who work with infants, toddlers, and preschool children.
CONNECT: The Center to Mobilize Early Childhood Knowledge
CONNECT is developing web-based, instructional resources for faculty and other professional development providers that focus on and respond to challenges faced each day by those working with young children with disabilities and their families. The modules help build practitionersâ abilities to make evidence-based decisions. They emphasize a decision-making process, realistic problems to solve, the importance of integrating multiple perspectives and sources of evidence, the relevance and quality of content, and feedback. These practice-based modules are free and include video clips, activities, and handouts. They can be embedded into existing curricula, coursework and other professional development opportunities.
National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (NECTAC)
NECTAC's mission is to strengthen state and local service systems to ensure that children with disabilities (birth through 5 years) and their families receive and benefit from high-quality, evidence-based, culturally appropriate and family-centered supports and services. NECTAC works cooperatively with the PACER Center and other TA partners. NECTAC is a project at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
National Professional Development Center on Inclusion
The National Professional Development Center on Inclusion (NPDCI) works with states to create a system of high quality, cross-agency, accessible professional development for early childhood personnel. While NPDCI serves as a resource to all states, the center will select eight states for more intense collaboration, 4 in year 1 of the project (2007) and 4 in year 2 (2008).
Technical Assistance Center on Social Emotional Intervention for Young Children
The Technical Assistance Center on Social Emotional Intervention for Young Children (TACSEI) was funded to identify, disseminate and promote the implementation of evidence-based practices in order to improve the social, emotional, and behavioral functioning of young children, with a special emphasis on young children, birth through five with or at risk for delays or disabilities. The mission of TACSEI is to build the capacity of state and local programs to promote the social development of young children with or at-risk for delays or disabilities.
Instruction / Behavior
National Center on Response to Intervention
The National Center on Response to Intervention (RTI) is funded by the U.S. Department of Educationâs Office of Special Education Programs. The Center is managed by the American Institutes for Research, in consultation with researchers from Vanderbilt University and in collaboration with researchers from the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning. The Center will support the implementation of RTI on a national level. This goal includes plans to: 1) Identify, adapt, evaluate, and scale-up RTI models for identifying and serving students with disabilities. 2) Provide ongoing support and technical assistance to states to support implementation of comprehensive RTI programs in districts, schools, and classrooms nationally. 3) Disseminate information about proven and promising RTI models to our target audience, including parents, service providers, program administrators, policymakers, and other interested stakeholders across the country. The Centerâs mission is to build the capacity of State Education Agencies (SEAs) to assist Local Education Agencies (LEAs) in implementing proven and promising models for RTI.
Leadership
Center on State Implementation and Scaling-up of Evidence-based Practices
The purpose of the State Implementation of Scaling-up Evidence-based Practices (SISEP) Center is to promote students' academic achievement and behavioral health by supporting implementation and scaling-up of evidence-based practices in education settings. SISEP provides the critical content and foundation for establishing a technology of large-scale, sustainable, high-fidelity implementation of effective educational practices. SISEP is working with selected states to improve their capacity to carry out implementation, organizational change, and systems transformation strategies to maximize achievement outcomes of all students in each state.
IDEA Partnership
As the No Child Left Behind Act focuses educators on performance improvement of students with disabilities, there is an urgent and common need among special and general educators to find new ways to understand each other and work together effectively. This project of the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) will help policy makers, service providers, administrators, and families translate knowledge into action in a way that creates personal meaning and informs their work and interactions every day.
NIUSI-Leadscape
NIUSI-LeadScape directly assists at least 400 principals across the country to develop and implement inclusive schools to ensure their students with and without disabilities meet or exceed academic standards set by their states and measured by state assessment systems. Based on the Leadership Academy modules developed and field tested by the National Institute for Urban School Improvement (NIUSI), NIUSI-LeadScape brings principals around the county into sustained professional communities focused on leadership for inclusive schools. Each semi-annual academy incorporates research-based effective strategies and methods for professional learning as well as research-based effective content on what principals need to know and do to achieve effective, inclusive schools.
Network Coordination
Technical Assistance Coordination Center (TACC)
The TACC assists OSEP in supporting ongoing communication, collaboration, and coordination among the centers in the OSEP-funded TA&D Network, and between these centers and other relevant federally-funded TA&D centers, national professional organizations, and a broad spectrum of stakeholders.
Outcomes
Early Childhood Outcomes Center
The Center on Outcomes for Infants, Toddlers, and Preschoolers with Disabilities promotes the development and implementation of child and family outcome measures that can be used in local, state, and national accountability systems. Through a purposeful combination of strategies including research, collaboration, consensus building, technical assistance (TA), and dissemination, the Center seeks to move outcome measurement progressively forward, toward achieving: (a) national data on outcomes for young children with disabilities, and (b) the regular use of outcome data for program improvement at the local and state levels.
National Center on Educational Outcomes
The National Center on Educational Outcomes provides technical assistance on improving results for students with disabilities by increasing their participation rates in high quality assessment and accountability systems, improving the quality of assessments in which they participate, improving the capacity of States to meet data collection requirements, and strengthening accountability for results.
National Post-School Outcomes Center
The University of Oregon houses the National Center on Secondary, Transition, and Postsecondary School Outcomes for Students with Disabilities known as the National Post-School Outcomes Center (NPSO). In collaboration with state and national partners, the Center develops and implements practical, efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable strategies for states to collect and use outcome data to improve secondary, transition, and postsecondary school results. The Center (a) builds on existing data requirements and extant knowledge about states' current efforts, and (b) uses our extensive technical expertise and technical assistance experience to develop and disseminate rigorous, yet practical, data collection and utilization strategies. The Center assists states to fulfill the requirements and spirit of the Part B SPP/APR Indicator 14.
Professional Development / Personnel
CONNECT: The Center to Mobilize Early Childhood Knowledge
CONNECT is developing web-based, instructional resources for faculty and other professional development providers that focus on and respond to challenges faced each day by those working with young children with disabilities and their families. The modules help build practitionersâ abilities to make evidence-based decisions. They emphasize a decision-making process, realistic problems to solve, the importance of integrating multiple perspectives and sources of evidence, the relevance and quality of content, and feedback. These practice-based modules are free and include video clips, activities, and handouts. They can be embedded into existing curricula, coursework and other professional development opportunities.
IRIS Center for Training Enhancements
The IRIS (IDEA '04 and Research for Inclusive Settings) Center creates free training enhancement resources for college faculty who are preparing the next generation of school personnel and for professional development providers who are training current school professionals. IRIS training enhancements are designed to equip school personnel with the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively teach students with disabilities in general education classrooms. The IRIS array of materials includes online interactive modules, case studies, information briefs, activities, a searchable directory of disability-related Web sites, and an online dictionary of disability-related terms. These materials are available for free at http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu
Monarch Center II: National Outreach and Technical Assistance Center on Discretionary Awards for Minority Institutions
This project will improve educational results for students with disabilities by: (a) promoting the successful participation of minority institutions of higher education (MIHEs) in IDEA personnel preparation competitions, and (b) supporting the development and enhancement of special education and related services programs at MIHEs.
National Center to Improve Recruitment and Retention of Qualified Personnel for Children with Disabilities (Personnel Improvement Center- PIC)
The Personnel Improvement Center works to increase the nation's capacity to recruit, prepare and retain highly qualified and fully certified special education, early intervention and related services personnel, including paraprofessionals. Our work in selected states and their local programs is focused on increasing capacity to hire and develop personnel to serve children and youth with disabilities, birth to 21, and their families.
National Center to Inform Policy and Practice in Special Education Professional Development
NCIPP is a national center house at the University of Florida (UF) and designed to (a) inform special education teacher preparation policy and practice by examining and recommending to IHEs, SEAs, and LEAS those policies and practices that improve retention of beginning special education teachers, and (b) recommend implementation strategies for policies and practices that provided beginning special education and regular education teachers with the knowledge and skills to effectively support students with disabilities in different classroom settings, including collaborative practices in regular classroom settings.
National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders
The mission of the National Professional Development Center on ASD is to provided resources, professional development, and technical assistance that will increase the number of highly qualified personnel serving children and youth with ASD. The NPDC is a collaborative project among investigators at the Frank Porter Graham child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the M.I.N.D. Institute at the University of California at Davis Medical School, and the Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Investigators from these partner sites work with selected states (total of 12 during funding cycle) to build capacity in the use of EBP at selected sites in the state.
Regional and National Parent Centers
National Parent Technical Assistance Center
The Technical Assistance ALLIANCE for Parent Centers (the ALLIANCE) is an innovative partnership of one national and six regional parent technical assistance centers, each funded by the U.S. Department of Educationâs Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). These seven projects comprise a unified technical assistance system for the purpose of developing, assisting, and coordinating the over 100 Parent Training and Information Centers (PTIs) and Community Parent Resource Centers (CPRCs) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The national and regional parent technical assistance centers work to strengthen the connections to the larger OSEP Technical Assistance and Dissemination Network and fortify partnerships between Parent Centers and education systems at local, state, and national levels.
Region 1 PTAC - Northeast Parent Center Assistance & Collaboration Team
NEPACT offers Technical Assistance for OSEP-funded parent centers - Parent Training and Information Centers (PTIs) and Community Parent Resource Centers (CPRCs) â in the northeastern states. The support, resources and assistance provided enhances the capacity of OSEP-funded parent centers to provide effective services for families of children with special needs and to work effectively with state agencies in improving services for infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities. Region 1 includes the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
Region 2 - Exceptional Children's Assistance Center
The Exceptional Children's Assistance Center manages this project to meet the technical assistance needs of the 15 Parent Training and Information Centers (PTIs) and Community Parent Resource Centers (CPRCs) located in Region 2, which includes Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
Region 3 - Partners Resource Network
Partners Resource Network serves as the regional parent technical assistance center (RPTAC) for the funded Parent Centers in OSEPâs Region 3. Members of the region include Community Parent Resource Centers (CPRCs) and Parent Training and Information Centers (PTIs) in eight states and two territories: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The mission of the RPTACs is to strengthen the infrastructure, enhance the effectiveness, and increase the capacity of parent centers to educate and support families of children with disabilities. In addition, the RPTACs assist parent centers to collaborate with national, state and local education systems and members of the OSEP TA&D network. The administrative offices of Partners Resource Network are located in Beaumont, Texas.
Region 4 PTAC - WI Family Assistance Center for Education Training & Support
WI FACETSâ Region 4 Parent Technical Assistance Center will provide technical assistance to Parent Training and Information Centers (PTIs) and Community Parent Resource Centers (CPRCs) located in the nine states of Region 4 (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin). In collaboration with other technical assistance partners and region 4 parent centers, the center will strengthen the infrastructure, enhance the effectiveness, and increase the capacity of parent centers to educate and support families of children with disabilities to be informed shared decision-makers in their childrenâs education and to work with national, state and local education systems to implement effective evidence-based practices that improve the results for infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities.
Region 5 - PEAK Parent Center
PEAK Parent Center implements the Regional Parent Technical Assistance Center in Region 5, serving the federally designated Parent Training and Information Centers (PTIs) and Community Parent Resource Centers (CPRCs) in Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. The project provides technical assistance on scientifically based best practices, management techniques, and effective strategies for supporting families in Region 5 in a timely way, based on their individual needs and utilizing innovative technical assistance methods. The project serves as a key link among PTIs/CPRCs, the National Parent Technical Assistance Center (NPTAC), and other regional and national groups to assure a unified system of technical assistance.
Region 6 - Matrix Parent Network and Resource Center
The West Region Technical Assistance Center (TAC) for the Parent Centers will assist each Parent Training and Information Center (PTI) and Community Parent Resource Center (CPRC) in Region 6 to improve services and solve issues, by providing information or linking them with other resources. Region 6 includes Alaska, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, the outlying areas of the Pacific Basin, and the Freely Associated States.
Regional Resource Center Program
Regional Resource Center Program
The Regional Resource Center Program provides service to all states as well as the Pacific jurisdictions, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. The six regional program centers are funded by the federal Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) to assist state education agencies in the systemic improvement of education programs, practices, and policies that affect children and youth with disabilities. Services offered by the RRC Program include consultation, information services, specially designed technical assistance, training, and product development. Through the RRC Program, the individual RRCs work collaboratively to help states and U.S. jurisdictions identify and address issues both within and across regions as well as nationally. By working across regions, the RRCs are able to facilitate networking and information-sharing among states and U.S. jurisdictions with similar challenges and needs regardless of the specific regional location.
Secondary / Postsecondary
National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities
The National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities (NDPC-SD) aims to increase rates of school completion by students with disabilities, emphasizing dropout prevention for enrolled students and re-entry into education by students who have dropped out of school The Center will organize and apply a network of multiple sources of knowledge and support, will interact and collaborate with key organizations and networks providing programs and professional services, and will utilize the expertise of other key researchers and practitioners in a network of "Exchange Team Experts" to offer complementary outreach activities and resources relevant to dropout prevention strategies.
National Secondary Transition Technical Assistance Center
The purpose of this project is to help states meet evaluation targets for transition planning and postschool outcomes and build capacity to support and improve transition planning, services, and outcomes for youth with disabilities. The Center is charged with assisting SEAs and LEAs in collecting data on SPP Indicator 13 and using these data to improve transition services. To accomplish this, NSTTAC will disseminate information and provide technical assistance on evidence and research based practices, with an emphasis on building and sustaining state-level infrastructures of support and building district-level demonstrations of effective transition methods for youth with disabilities. The NSTTAC will also provide efficient and effective large-scale implementation and sustainability of research-based secondary transition interventions and models.
PEPNet 2
Pepnet 2 (pn2)'s mission is to improve postsecondary outcomes for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, including those with co-occurring disabilities. PN2 provides resources to individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing (D/HH), and the educators, schools, agencies andlifetime choices available to individuals who are D/HH. professionals who work with them. Our goal, and the focus of our resources, is to increase the educational, career, and lifetime choices available to individuals who are D/HH.
Technology
Center for Implementing Technology in Education
CITEd supports state and local education agencies (SEAs/LEAs) in implementing and evaluating selected evidence-based practices that effectively integrate technology into sound teaching so that children with disabilities will have access to the general education curriculum and achieve high educational standards. CITEd produces and disseminates information about evidence-based and promising technology integration practices, with a particular emphasis on differentiating instruction through the use of technology.
Family Center on Technology and Disability
FCTD provides current, accurate, and relevant information resources on assistive and instructional technologies. It conducts outreach to a national infrastructure of organizations that work directly with families and children, strengthening their ability to provide technology-related support. The project also provides online forums, annual technology institutes, and in-depth monthly newsletters to educators, disability professionals, TA%D project personnel, and families.
National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials
The AIM Center provides technical assistance (TA) to state education agencies (SEAs), local education agencies (LEAs), and other stakeholders to (1) improve the implementation of NIMAS; and (2) to develop and implement unified distribution systems in SEAs that will improve the timely delivery of high-quality AIM to all children with disabilities who need instructional materials in accessible formats.