Information Services in the RRC Program

Information Services is a component of the technical assistance services offered by the RRC Program. These services are provided by a group of information specialists from each of the six regional resource centers. This work group has helped develop and maintain this Web site to provide a unique gateway to information on special education law, policy, and best practices. This site includes carefully selected documents and topical collections as well as links to hundreds of agencies.

We urge families and service providers to become familiar with the resources in their own states and communities. The links below are good starting places to locate those stateresources:

• State Special Education offices - Part B - contact information and web site addresses
  

• State Part C Early Intervention and 619 Preschool - contact information and web site addresses
  

• Parent Training and Information Centers - Each state is home to at least one parent center. Parent centers serve families of children and young adults from birth to age 22 with all disabilities: physical, cognitive, emotional, and learning. They help families obtain appropriate education and services for their children with disabilities; work to improve education results for all children; train and inform parents and professionals on a variety of topics; resolve problems between families and schools or other agencies; and connect children with disabilities to community resources that address their needs.

• NICHCY state resource sheets - NICHCY compiles disability-related resources in each state, and creates State Resource Sheets. This handy resource sheet will help you locate organizations and agencies within your state that address disability-related issues

• OSEP's Technical Assistance and Dissemination projects - The federal Office of Special Education Programs funds topically focused centers in the Technical Assistance & Dissemination network to strengthen the capacity of state systems of early intervention and education to improve results for infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities and their families.

Information Specialists in the RRC Program also provide mediated assistance and custom research services in connecting clients to the appropriate information resources. If you cannot find the information you are seeking on this site, or on the Web sites listed above, please use the information request form below and your question will be directed to the appropriate Regional Resource Center for response.

>>Information Request Form<<

Documents and Resources

• The information specialists have also established Standards for Quality, Depth, and Timeliness of our services.

• The RRC Information Specialists collaborate with information service providers from other projects in the Technical Assistance and Dissemination Network, includingNECTAC, NASDSE, NICHCY, and other topic specific centers.

• The RRC Program Information Request & Response (IRR) Protocol describes priorities, procedures, confidentiality issues, limitations of the services, and use of our thesaurus of terms. The thesaurus (also known as the Descriptor Manager) is currently being enhanced to include terms from the general education realm. If you are interested in learning more about the thesaurus, please visit this page. You may also view the thesaurus.

• The RRC Information Specialists have published a number of articles and interviews. These include topics detailing the job of the information specialist, Internet search techniques, data presentation, and other subjects of interest to information professionals.