Kansas
State-Wide Systems Change Project
The purpose of this project is to increase the capacity of the state to ensure
that children and youth with severe disabilities, including deaf-blindness,
achieve their highest outcomes in normalized, nonsegregated, least restrictive
settings. At the state level, the project will improve the current delivery of
educational services by revising policies, monitoring procedures and
legislation, and developing interagency agreements to support collaborative
delivery of services for children and youth. The project will focus on
development of five regional support team coordinators, five regional support
teams, training modules, and three model internship sites. Regional support
teams will train local staff within model districts. Inservice modules will be
utilized to empower parents, staff, and administration with skills in effective
practices, instructional leadership, collaborative instruction, and futures
planning. Training will consist of site visitations, summer institutes,
consultations, teacher exchanges, interactive television, and internships.
Contact:
Kansas State-Wide Systems Change Project
Kansas State Board of Education
Special Education Outcomes Team
120 SE 10th Avenue
Topeka, KS 66612
(913) 296-4949
Maryland
Least Restrictive Environment/ Neighborhood Inclusion Project
The purpose of this project will extend the commitment of the Maryland State
Department of Education to improve the quality of special education services to
students with disabilities and to change the delivery of those services from
segregated to integrated settings. This project aims to establish model quality
inclusive programs for students with severe disabilities in 16 local education
agencies (LEAs) at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. To achieve
this goal, several approaches will be used: training and consultation will be
provided; information and support will be offered to families; certification
standards and personnel preparation practices will be reviewed and modified;
coordinated procedures and practices will be developed to promote the inclusion
of students with disabilities in their home schools and communities; and
information will be disseminated on inclusion, and on project activities,
procedures, and outcomes.
Contact:
Jerry White
Maryland Least Restrictive Environment/Neighborhood Inclusion Project
Maryland State Department of Education
Division of Special Education
200 W. Baltimore Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
(410) 333-2480
Systems
Change for Inclusive Education in Michigan
This project will provide intensive statewide training and technical assistance
to schools, including policy analysis and development, leadership development,
and related activities. The project will facilitate the integration of students
with disabilities into regular schools as part of a statewide effort to make
schools more effective for all youth. Planned activities to be conducted will
include information gathering, needs assessment, policy recommendation, work
with twenty school districts, training and technical assistance, leadership
development via a summer institute and regional support meetings, parent and
advocacy support, establishment of an inclusive education support network,
materials development, and the development of a consortium for integration and
transition.
Contact:
Systems Change for Inclusive Education in Michigan
Developmental Disabilities Institute
Wayne State University
6001 Cass, 325 Justice
Detroit, Ml 48202
(313) 577-7981
Together
We're Better: Inclusive School Communities in Minnesota--Partnerships for Change
The specific goals of this project are closely linked with current and
projected statewide efforts in Minnesota. The project's purpose is to promote
inclusion of children with severe disabilities in the schools the children
would attend if they did not have disabilities. The objectives and practices of
the project emphasize (1) the linkage of inclusion with current restructuring
initiatives and best practices in general education; (2) collaboration with
local school districts already taking leadership roles in inclusive education;
(3) preservice personnel development in inclusive education; (4) staff
development and ongoing information dissemination to local school agencies; (5)
leadership training for families of children with severe disabilities; and (6)
comprehensive evaluation and dissemination efforts.
Contact:
Together We're Better: Inclusive School Communities in Minnesota--Partnerships
for Change
Office of Special Education
Department of Children, Families, and Learning, 8th Floor
550 Cedar Street
St. Paul, MN 55101
(612) 296-1793
New
York Partnership for Statewide Systems Change
The purpose of this project is to increase quality inclusive education program
options, significantly increase the numbers of students with severe
disabilities served in their home schools and regular classrooms (including
deaf/blind), increase quality and frequency of meaningful interactions, revise
and adapt innovative curricula and instructional strategies, evaluate the
effectiveness of project activities, and disseminate effective systems change
processes. The approach will include the application of a partnership model
involving collaboration between the New York State Education Department,
Syracuse University, and agencies responsible for the delivery of educational
services and teacher education. Other approaches will include intensive
inservice training, technical assistance activities, and materials development
and dissemination.
Contact:
New York Partnership for Statewide Systems Change
New York Education Department
Office for Education of Children with Disabling Conditions
One Commerce Plaza, Room 1624
Albany, NY 12234
(518) 474-5548
Statewide
Systems Change: Gateways Model for Integration
This project will facilitate the development of quality programs in integrated
environments and thereby improve the acceptance of students with severe
disabilities by the general public, professionals, and future employers.
Project personnel will implement a systematic statewide effort in assisting
school districts, intermediate units, area vocational technical schools, and
community agencies to develop, implement, evaluate, and improve the quality of
their integration programs. Practices that this project will use include
community integration, community-based instruction, nonaversive behavior
intervention, transition planning and training, and family involvement.
Contact:
Statewide Systems Change: Gateways Model for Integration
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Bureau of Special Education
333 Market Street, 7th Floor
Harrisburg, PA 17126
(717) 783-6913
Statewide
Systems Change
This project will improve the quality of special education and related services
for students with severe and multiple disabilities; establish policy and
administrative support for statewide systems change activities; significantly
increase the number of students with severe disabilities taught in
age-appropriate regular schools while increasing the number and quality of
interactions with nondisabled peers; increase appropriateness and effectiveness
of instruction by regular special educators teaching students with severe
disabilities by establishing model demonstration schools for inservice
training; disseminate the project to all interested educators; and evaluate the
effectiveness of the model and its components throughout the state.
Contact:
Statewide Systems Change
Utah State Office of Education
Special Education Unit
250 E. 500 South
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
(801) 538-7716