Contract Closed

Evaluation of the IDEA Personnel Development Program

NCEE

Program: Special Education Studies and Evaluations

Award amount: $2,804,871

Awardee:

Westat, Center for Exceptional Children, Compass Consulting

Duration: 6 years 4 months (09/01/2007 - 01/01/2014)

Contract number: ED-04-CO-0059/0022

Background

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. Funded at $12.6 billion in Fiscal Year 2012, IDEA supports early intervention services for infants and toddlers, special education services for children ages 3 through 21, and early intervening services for students not in special education but in need of academic or behavioral support.

The focus of this study—conducted as part of the National Assessment of IDEA under Section 664 of IDEA 2004 to assess the implementation and effectiveness of key programs and services supported under the law—was the Personnel Development Program to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities (PDP). PDP is funded under Section 662 of IDEA and intends to support the development of early intervention and special education personnel to serve children and youth with disabilities. The PDP supports both national technical assistance centers in the area of personnel development, and training grants to institutions of higher education to develop and maintain courses of study for special education teachers and other service providers. The PDP was funded at $88.299 million in Fiscal Year 2012.

Project Activities

Research question

What products were developed and services provided by the PDP National Centers funded between Fiscal Year 2001 and Fiscal Year 2007?
What were the quality and relevance/usefulness of documented materials and technical assistance provided by the PDP National Centers funded between Fiscal Year 2001 and Fiscal Year 2007?
How did funded courses of study use PDP training grant funding?
How many scholars were enrolled in the funded courses of study, and how many dropped out before completion?
What were the quality and relevance/usefulness of new or significantly modified components for funded courses of study?
What became of courses of study that did not receive PDP training grant funding?

Structured Abstract

Design

The evaluation relied on a combination of extant data and new data collection from PDP grantees and applicants between fall 2008 and summer 2010. Panels of experts rated the quality and relevance/usefulness of products and services from twelve National Centers funded between Fiscal Year 2001 and Fiscal Year 2007, as well as course-of-study components developed or significantly modified by recipients of PDP training grants awarded in Fiscal Year 2006 or Fiscal Year 2007.

Key findings

For 15 products identified by national technical assistance center staff as their signature works and reviewed by independent panels of experts, the mean rating (on a scale of 1–5, with 5 being the highest) was 4.13 for quality and 4.25 for relevance/usefulness. For 86 non-signature products, the mean rating was 4.11 for quality and 3.91 for relevance/usefulness.
For 134 new or significantly modified components from 99 courses of study supported by PDP training grants, the mean quality rating (on a scale of 1–5, with 5 being the highest) was 3.71.
Thirty-four percent of courses of study that were not funded through Fiscal Year 2006 and Fiscal Year 2007 training grant competitions were developed or maintained without PDP funding.

People and institutions involved

IES program contact(s)

Jonathan Jacobson

Branch Chief for Knowledge Synthesis

NCEE

Products and publications

A report, titled Evaluation of the Personnel Development Program to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities, was released in January 2014.

Questions about this project?

To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.