Evaluation of the IDEA Personnel Development Program

Contractors: Westat, Center for Exceptional Children (CEC), and Compass Consulting (Compass)

Background/Research Questions

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004) is the most recent authorization of a law passed in 1975 to promote a free appropriate public education for children with disabilities. To alleviate the shortage of fully certified educators in special education, the Personnel Development Program (PDP) is funded under the IDEA, Title I, Part D, Subpart 2, Sec. 662. Projects funded under the program are designed to help address state-identified needs for personnel in special education, and help ensure that special education personnel are highly qualified and that teachers have the necessary knowledge and skills to provide appropriate instruction to students with disabilities. A portion of PDP grants is awarded to National Centers, which are to provide national capacity-building and scientifically-based products and services to a variety of audiences. Grants are also awarded to specific institutions of higher education to develop courses of study for special education teachers and other service providers. These grants can be used to improve the quality of personnel preparation programs and for stipends that support students enrolled in the programs. The PDP was funded at $88.466 million in FY11.

Under Section 664 of IDEA 2004, IES is conducting studies to assess the implementation and effectiveness of key programs and services supported under the law. This evaluation includes two components. The study of the PDP National Centers will address the following research questions:

• What materials have been developed and what services have been provided by the National Centers with funds from the IDEA Personnel Development Program (PDP)?
• What are the quality and relevance/usefulness of the materials and TA provided by the National Centers using funds awarded from the PDP?

The study of PDP training grant applicants will address the following research questions:

• How do applicants that receive IDEA Personnel Development Program training grants use the funds?
• How many new students do grant recipients enroll in their courses of study, and how many scholars complete the course of study or drop out?
• For PDP grantees, what is the quality and relevance/usefulness of course-of-study components developed or significantly modified during the funding period?
• What are the characteristics of non-funded applicants for PDP training grants, and what becomes of courses of study that do not receive PDP funding in a given year?

Design:

The evaluation is relying on a combination of extant data and surveys of PDP grantees and applicants. Panels of experts rated the quality and relevance/usefulness of products and services from twelve National Centers and course-of-study components developed or significantly modified by applicants for PDP training grants funded through the FY06 or FY07 grant competitions.

Duration: $2,804,871 over 5 years (September 2007–September 2012)

Current Status:

Data collection from PDP grantees and applicants has been completed, and report preparation is underway. The release of the report for this evaluation is expected in summer 2012 and will be announced on http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/.