2020 Indiana

The Indiana State Personnel Development Grant (SPDG), IN-SPDG 2020, is focused on one overarching purpose: In partnership with schools, families, agencies and communities, the IN-SPDG seeks to improve educational outcomes for  students with disabilities by ensuring their access to high quality instruction in the general education classroom. The project will improve the educational experiences and outcomes of students with disabilities by (1) increasing the number of teachers delivering high quality instruction to students with disabilities in the general education classroom through job embedded professional development at the state, regional and district levels; (2) maintaining and increasing the number of licensed special education teachers with improved recruitment, support and retention of teachers for students with disabilities; (3) increasing the capacity of school leaders at the school and district level to develop, implement and sustain inclusive practices through systems of support implemented through the framework of implementation science; and (4) increasing support for families of students with disabilities through effective partnerships that support teacher development and student and school improvement. The project is intended to construct a professional learning framework to support systemic educational improvement throughout the state of Indiana using the principals of implementation science. It builds on and supports Indiana’s significant state and local reform efforts already underway in critical areas such as teacher growth and development; instructional effectiveness to achieve rigorous standards and high expectations for student learning; improving early care and early childhood education; developing systems of support for school improvement and supporting teacher and principal effectiveness.