Project Activities
Research question
- Description of needs for and uses of TA&D services: What were the areas states and local providers report needing and/or receiving technical assistance to support IDEA implementation? Which services were seen as most helpful in contributing to the improvement of key student outcomes?
- Description of TA&D grantee services: What were the TA&D Network objectives and provider areas of practice? How did TA&D grantees identify their clients, assess their needs, and develop and maintain their relationship with clients?
- To what extent was assistance from TA&D grantees perceived as helpful in the implementation of special education policies and practices, and how satisfied were customers with the support they received related to implementation of IDEA?
Structured Abstract
Design
This study was descriptive and produced two reports:
For the interim report, data collection included administering surveys in 2013 to all TA&D Program national center grantees (i.e., all TA&D Program grantees except for the State Deafblind Project centers and model demonstration projects), all state IDEA Part B and Part C administrators, and a sample of state-level special education program staff. Surveys focused on assessing the services provided by the grantees and states' needs for and satisfaction with technical assistance.
For the final report, additional data were collected in 2015 from each State Deafblind Project grantee and from those who provided services at the local level to children with deaf-blindness and their families. Surveys focused on assessing the services provided by these grantees and providers' needs for and satisfaction with technical assistance.
These two rounds of survey data provide a general picture of the TA&D Program under IDEA, and were descriptively analyzed to address the three research questions.
Key findings
On National and Regional TA&D centers:
- TA&D centers most commonly reported providing technical assistance on the topics of "parent and family involvement" and "data systems and use of data for improvement." States identified "General Supervision/Monitoring," "early childhood transition," "financing of services/financing for special education," and "Response to Intervention" as the topics for which they had the greatest need for technical assistance in 2010–11.
- Many TA&D centers provided technical assistance on similar topics. For example, 14 states received "high intensity" technical assistance (i.e., frequent training or consultation) on the same topic from 5 different centers.
- State staff rated the majority of technical assistance experiences they had with TA&D centers as "very satisfactory" (71 percent). Satisfaction did vary to some degree depending on the special education topic being addressed.
On State Deaf-Blind Projects:
- Technical assistance tailored to meet the needs of a specific child or youth with deaf-blindness was provided by all state Deaf-Blind Projects. However, almost half of the Projects reported that they did not have enough resources to meet the demand for this child-specific support in their state.
- Almost all direct service providers who received customized support from their State Deaf-Blind Project were satisfied or very satisfied with the overall experience. Specifically, TA providers were rated as highly knowledgeable and non-judgmental. However, satisfaction with the amount of information offered and the extent to which local context was taken into account was somewhat lower.
- Most State Deaf-Blind Projects reported collaborating with the National Center on Deaf-Blindness and with the federally-funded State Parent Training and Information Centers or the Community Parent Resource Centers. Collaboration among the Projects was also common.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Products and publications
The final report, titled National Evaluation of the State Deaf-Blind Projects, was released in January 2018.
The interim report, titled National Evaluation of the IDEA Technical Assistance & Dissemination Program, was released in October 2013.
Questions about this project?
To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.