Acknowledgments

We very gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of the Comprehensive Centers and the many other respondents to our three annual rounds of data collection. Center leaders and staff graciously hosted site visits, compiled inventories of their projects, and assembled hefty collections of their materials for expert review. Senior managers in state education agencies were kind enough to respond to the study's survey regarding their experiences with Comprehensive Center technical assistance, as were the many technical assistance participants housed in state, intermediate, and local agencies and other organizations. Expert panel members brought knowledge and care to their task of reviewing and rating project materials.

A Technical Working Group offered useful insights and feedback in two meetings as well as informal consultations: the group's members were Rolf Blank, Margaret Goertz, Joseph Johnson, Michael Petrilli, Gary Ritter, Larry Rudner, and Colleen Seremet.

In addition to the authors, other members of the participating organizations played important roles in study design, data collection, and analysis. Alvia Branch of Branch Associates, Inc. (BAI), provided steady leadership for the study team. We continue to miss Cynthia Sipe, a key member of the BAI leadership, who passed away in 2010. Lynda Bell, Tia Burroughs, Matthew Coll, Siobhan Cooney, Barbara Fink, Jennifer Gross, Ceane Rabada, Susan Robbins, Virginia Smith, and Jennifer Thompson were valued team members at BAI. Russell Jackson of Decision Information Resources, Inc. (DIR), was a source of wise counsel throughout the study. Also at DIR, Nancy Dawson, Val Sheppard, Stella Weathersby, Frenetta Tate, Pia White, and Jing Yu were stalwart contributors. At Policy Studies Associates (PSA), team members who made valuable contributions in data collection or coding included Erikson Arcaira, Alisha Butler, Stephen Coleman, Tiffany Miller, Andrea Palmiter, Tandra Turner, and Yvonne Woods. Ben Lagueruela provided essential help in document production. Katrina Laguarda, formerly of PSA, made tremendous contributions to the study design and early activities.