The Alliance for Systems Change/Mid-South Regional Resource Center (ASC/MSRRC) is one of six Regional Resource Centers (RRCs) funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education programs. ASC/MSRRC provides technical assistance to state early intervention lead agencies, departments of education and other related state agencies in Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.
President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 on February 17th. The ARRA provides approximately $100 billion for education.
For information from the U.S. Department of Education regarding the ARRA, please CLICK HERE.
For preliminary allocations and state or program specific tables for Department of Education Programs, CLICK HERE
The U.S. Department of Education has developed a PowerPoint presentation which looks at guiding principles and funding availability for programs funded by the ARRA.The Act provides over $100 billion for education and is an historic opportunity to stimulate the economy and improve education.
For a chart displaying allocations for MSRRC states, CLICK HERE.
These state profiles provide a snapshot of state efforts to address the disproportionate representation of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in special education. The reports explore the various elements related to the development of culturally responsive systems including: educational outcomes, general and special education policy and practice, and broader contextual factors impacting the experiences of students, families and educators. These reports are part of a four-part series that will examine the effort of states to create culturally responsive systems. [posted June 7, 2009]
This gateway provides resources for providers and families of young children with disabilities, birth through age 5. [posted July 1, 2009]
Revocation of Consent: MSRRC Regional Conference Call -- CLICK HERE for more information.
MSRRC INFORMATION REQUESTS
In April, MSRRC responded to seven requests for information from MSRRC states and the RRC Program. Below is a summary:
IDEA and provision of speech language services for child w/o a disability (2 requests)
Resources related to improving programming for incarcerated youth with disabilities.
Part B policies and procedures related to data.
State policies/rules/regulations pertaining to seclusion and/or restraint.
Monitoring processes that include parental involvement.
Models of state/district data profiles.
CLICK HERE for a list of requests and a summary of the response. If you need additional information on these or other information requests, please contact Teresa Blythe (, 859.257.4921).
For previous National and MSRRC regional news, CLICK HERE.
FEATURED TA PLAN
NEW -- State Level Monitoring
As part of states' general supervision responsibilities, all states are required by OSEP to oversee districts' compliance with IDEA. Each state reports to OSEP, via their Annual Performance Report (APR), the number of IDEA noncompliance findings and corrections.
MSRRC staff (Rich Lewis) and subcontractors (Bruce Bull and Karen Martens) conducted a series of meetings with state administrators and regional compliance monitors in TN to review the entire monitoring system. This was driven by the OSEP State Verification Report and Letter as well as results from the previous year's APR.
The result of this initiative is a compliance monitoring system which:
Is congruent with the requirements of IDEA and OSEP guidance
Provides the state with the data needed for its APR
Provides the state with the data needed to formulate improvement activities and corrective action plans that are targeted to specific issues being experienced by the districts and the state as a whole
Provides the state with an on-going process and reports which greatly improve its general supervision capacity
This technical assistance also resulted in the state improving its ability to identify and correct noncompliance in virtually all areas of IDEA implementation. It built capacity of the state to make further improvements, developed ownership by the state staff for their responsibilities, and discovered other issues that needed to be addressed because we looked at the system as a whole and not just focused on the known specific issues.
The outcome of this statewide technical assistance work is equally applicable to all populations within the target groups of individuals (students and their parents) served under IDEA, IDEA service providers within a district, and IDEA administrators within a district. [posted 6-19-09]
