PR Award #: H323A220007
Name: Ohio Department of Education, Office for Exceptional Children
Title: Improving Instruction and Student Learning for Students with Disabilities and Other At-Risk Learners
City, State: Columbus, OH
Project Director: Jo Hannah Ward
Project Director email: Johannah.Ward@education.ohio.gov
Purpose
The purpose of Ohio’s SPDG is to improve the state’s system of personnel development to better support all districts to capitalize on the strengths and flexibility of the Ohio Improvement Process (OIP) as the basis for deploying effective MTSS processes, evidence-based practices in adolescent literacy, and effective transition planning and programming. It aims to build educator, districtwide, and statewide capacity (knowledge, skills, and practices implemented with fidelity) in MTSS, adolescent literacy, and transition. Expected outcomes for students with disabilities include: increased access to the LRE, increased reading proficiency, increased graduation rates meeting standard graduation requirements, and decreased dropout rates.
Method
Ohio’s proposed HQPD includes training, collaborative learning, and coaching in a sustained effort to build educators’ knowledge and skills and implementation of evidence-based practices with fidelity. It focuses on building systemwide capacity across Ohio’s 16 educational regions and at least 25% of Ohio’s institutions of higher education that have educator preparation programs. Ohio has a structured management plan that includes design, implementation, advisory, evaluation, and management functions in partnership with key educational agencies and beneficiaries. The evaluation plan examines process and impact, and the mediators that enhance or impede implementation and the attainment of project goals and objectives.