Purpose
The Tennessee Department of Education is pleased to submit its fourth State Personnel Development Grant (SPDG). Previous grants have been leveraged to affect significant change in outcomes for students with disabilities, particularly students with specific learning disabilities. While work from the most recent SPDG will continue with state support, with this grant we seek to focus on increased graduation rates and postsecondary opportunities available to Tennessee students with the most intensive needs, including academic and communication skills. We anticipate a transformative shift in high school culture to an inclusive mindset, with all students engaged in meaningful grade level instruction using high-quality instructional practices to meaningfully engage and teach diverse learners.
We intend to conduct two cohorts of intensive, three-year, school-team training to improve academic and postsecondary results for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities and complex needs. Training will be provided to fifty school teams representing 20 percent of local educational agencies (LEAs). Priority will be given to high-need LEAs; those with the highest percentage of students participating in the alternate assessments, lowest inclusive least restrictive environment, and/or identified as needs intervention through the local determination process. The project design includes development of synchronous training, online asynchronous modules, self-monitoring, and fidelity of implementation tools. This plan will support sustained systemic change and the ability of the department to scale up the work to all schools statewide. Partnership with the University of Kentucky, Human Development Institute will ensure ongoing formative and summative assessments to evaluate overall program effectiveness and provide critical periodic input to maximize results.
Explore Cohort Projects
2020 Montana
This project will increase local educational agency (LEA) capacity to support and sustain the implementation of the Montana Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) through distance learning and web-based formats for professional development and coaching support focused on data-analytic problem solving a
2020 Illinois
Illinois Elevating Special Educators (Illinois ESE) will increase the capacity of school districts to recruit and retain highly qualified and equipped school personnel to improve the progress and performance in literacy for students with disabilities.
2020 Arkansas
This project will transform and expand Arkansas’s coherent system of supports through competency-based professional learning and ongoing coaching in order to increase the implementation of high-leverage and other evidence-based practices at the regional, district, and school levels.