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2020 Nevada

PR Award #: H323A200020
Name: Nevada Department of Education
Title: Nevada Department of Education State Personnel Development Grant
City, State: Carson City, NV
Project Director: Will Jensen
Project Director email: wjensen@doe.nv.gov

Purpose

The Nevada (NV) Department of Education (NDE) is pleased to submit a State Personnel Development Grant proposal designed to improve academic outcomes for students with disabilities to the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. The NDE Office of Inclusive Education will collaborate with the NDE Office of Standards; the NDE Office of Instruction Support, Assessment, Data, and Accountability Management; the NDE Office for Safe and Respectful Learning Environment; the University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV); and Nevada PEP (the Nevada parent training and information center). This collaboration will facilitate evidence-based professional learning to (1) improve all teachers’ capacity to assess, plan, and teach students with individualized education programs (IEPs); (2) increase the percentage of time students with IEPs spend in more inclusive settings; and (3) ultimately increase the percentage of students with IEPs scoring proficient on NV’s general and alternate assessments. Two goals are proposed: (1) To increase the percentage of Nevada’s third grade students with disabilities who score proficient on the statewide reading assessment; and (2) To increase the percentage of students with significant cognitive disabilities (SCD) who score proficient on the reading, math, and science parts of the Nevada Alternate Assessment. The two proposed complimentary initiatives are Assess-Plan-Teach (APT) and Project Achieve, a low-incidence initiative. APT is an evidence-based instructional intervention designed to improve academic outcomes for K–3 students, first implemented in NV’s largest district, Clark County. APT is the professional learning mechanism for implementing NDE’s State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP). In the 31 initial pilot sites, the percentage of impacted students achieving proficiency on the state reading assessment doubled in four years.

Method

The proposal provides strategies for supporting the expansion of APT in Clark County and replicating in two additional districts. Working closely with teachers, administrators, UNLV and national researchers, Project Achieve will pilot and replicate a system of evidence-based instructional practices in inclusive settings that relies on systematic data-based decision making to improve academic outcomes for students with SCD. The proposal was designed to support the implementation of evidence-based professional learning strategies. The objectives for each goal correspond to the components of the SPDG Program Measure 1 Evidence-Based Professional Development Worksheet: (1) select school districts and trainers and coaches with the skills to implement APT/Project Achieve; (2) enhance the capacity of personnel to implement APT/Project Achieve through evidence-based training and sustained coaching strategies; (3) increase the use of implementation, intervention, and outcome data to support decision making related to APT/Project Achieve at the school, district, and state level; and (4) ensure administrators are skilled to support the staff to implement and sustain APT/Project Achieve.