Special Education

The Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast and Islands (REL-NEI) is one of ten regional laboratories and has a mission to help pre-K–16 educators use the best available evidence to make decisions leading to improved student achievement and reduced performance gaps. REL-NEI places a special emphasis on helping states, districts, and schools build capacity to use their data effectively; forming and conducting high-quality research and evaluation through new “research alliances”; and helping regional education stakeholders incorporate data-based inquiry practices into their decision-making.

The Mali USAID/ PHARE program (Programme Harmonisé d’Appui au Renforcement de l’Education) supports the Malian Ministry of Education’s efforts to improve the quality of elementary education, with an emphasis on literacy. This five-year program works nationally, reaching over 40,000 classrooms and 500,000 students. Known as “Road to Reading” in English, the program will produce and broadcast Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI) programs for grades 1–6 with dual instructional objectives for teachers and students.

EDC is carrying out a research and development project related to Math for All (MFA), a professional development program for teachers who teach elementary school students with disabilities. The project has three distinct components: 1) Conduct a qualitative study on the way the facilitators use the professional development materials. 2) Based on that study develop resources for teacher leaders and other facilitators of professional development.

The Autism Program enhances pre-service and in-service teachers’ preparation to serve children with severe and multiple disabilities from diverse cultural, ethnic, racial, and linguistic backgrounds in urban special education programs.

E-Learning for Educators, funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Ready to Teach program, seeks to establish successful, sustainable, statewide online professional development programs that address teacher quality and student achievement goals. Through its EdTech Leaders® Online program, EDC supports this initiative by establishing a cadre of online professional development instructors and course developers within each state.

CCT is conducting a five-year study, funded by the National Science Foundation, to investigate an online professional development course’s impact on teachers’ content and pedagogical knowledge as well as their students’ knowledge. CCT is working in partnership with PBS TeacherLine New York and the Buffalo PBS affiliate WNED on the study, which will involve New York State public high school 9th or 10th grade biology teachers whose students are eligible to take the state’s Living Environment Regents Examination.

The National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities (NDPC-SD) supports the national implementation of provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to provide successful school outcomes for students with disabilities. NDPC-SD serves state and local education agencies, policymakers, researchers, school administrators, teachers, other practitioners, and parents. The Center uses evidence-based research to support state education agencies in developing model dropout prevention programs within their local school districts.

The Center for Improving Technology in Education (CITEd) supports general and special education teachers, specialists, and administrators in developing systems that effectively integrate instructional technology so that all students achieve high educational standards. CITEd provides this support through innovative professional development, technical assistance, and Web-based resources.