Louisiana Abstract or Conceptual Framework for State Systemic Change

The Louisiana State Improvement Grant (LaSIG) presents data that clearly indicate the magnitude of services by students with disabilities and their families, weaknesses or gaps in those services, a need to align reform efforts across and within general and special education; and a need for innovative professional development that will increase the number and quality of personnel.

The Project has three broad outcomes in participating schools and districts:

• Increase the number quality of general and special education teachers, related service personnel, administrators and other staff;
• Increase the access to and participation of children and youth with disabilities and their families in appropriate and effective special education services and supports; and
• Increase and improve the learning results of children and youth with disabilities.
  

With local and state partners, the Project will address these outcomes through 7 targeted objectives that:

1. Align and coordinate all current Professional Development (PD) offerings.
2. Support local schools in targeted districts to design, implement, and evaluate local agendas of school improvement that blend general and special education reform initiatives.
3. Improve the technology infrastructure available to districts/schools.
4. Create initial teacher education programs that integrate the preparation of general and special educators.
5. Improve literacy and numeracy offerings and outcomes for students with disabilities in targeted districts.
6. Decrease the overrepresentation of minority students in special education.
7. Improve family/school linkages in general and special education.
   

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Louisiana Basic Information

Project Title	Louisiana State Improvement Grant "LaSIG" Reaching for Results
Primary Contact Person	Nanette Oliver
Address	P.O. Box 94064 Baton Rouge, LA. 08040-9064
Phone	225-342-3633
Fax	225-342-5880
Email	vberidon@mail.doc.la.us
Web site	www.doe.state.la.us
Date SIG Application was Written or Submitted	2/12/01
Begin and End Dates for Funding	10/1/01 – 9/30/06
Funded Amount:	$1,608,115
Who Wrote the Application:	Nanette Olivier, Rose Gilbert, Dr. Diane Ferguson, and Dr. William Sharpton.

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Louisiana Improvement Strategies

1. What products are planned for development?

The Louisiana State Improvement Grant is guided by five distinct principles. These principles are: 1) Use a comprehensive conceptual framework to guide systemic school improvements, 2) Collaborate with multiple partners to extend and enhance results, 3) Use a participatory approach to sustainable school change, 4) Focus Project activity at both local and state levels, and 5) Work through crosscutting objectives and activities. These five principles set the stage for the development of the seven crosscutting objectives for the Louisiana State Improvement Grant. The objectives planned are:

• Align and coordinate all current Professional Development Offerings across three dimensions.
• Support local schools in targeted districts to design implement, and evaluate local agendas of school improvement that blend general and special education reform initiatives and improve learning outcomes for students with disabilities.
• Improve the technology infrastructure available to districts and individual campuses to recruit qualified professionals, deliver continuing professional development, provide curriculum and teaching resources to general and special educators, and ensure that campuses can support families and individuals with disabilities in accessing needed assistive technology.
• Create initial teacher education programs that integrate the preparation of general and special educators to ensure that educators can effectively teach diverse groups of students.
  
• Improve literacy and numeracy offerings and outcomes for students with disabilities in targeted districts.
  
• Decrease the overrepresentation of minority students in special education in targeted districts.
  
• Improve family/consumer school linkages in general and special education in targeted districts.

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2. What interstate connections are planned?

The Louisiana Department of Education is currently contracting with Dr. Don Deshler at the University of Kansas to replicate the Strategies Instruction Model, within Louisiana by training cohorts of state and local educators. The Louisiana State Improvement Grant will work to infuse this initiative within the appropriate general education initiatives that will ensure that all students benefit from these strategies.

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3. What strategies are planned for service delivery?

Louisiana’s State Improvement grant is strong in the many strategies it will utilize for service delivery to improve services for students with disabilities. Overall these strategies include:

• Adjust professional development programs to include issues/examples related to students with disabilities.
  
• The identification of personnel and family members to serve as faculty in existing professional development activities.
  
• Host professional development activities related to disability issues to meet the needs of personnel and family members.
  
• Assist schools in targeted areas in establishing Building Leadership Teams.
  
• Assist targeted districts in establishing District Improvement Teams.
  
• Develop and use information systems for tracking activities and measuring state and local impact for targeted populations.
  
• Increase the capacity of Electronic Career Opportunities for Louisiana Education, institutions of higher education, and local school districts to utilize technology to recruit personnel.
  
• Expand efforts to address the use of technology to meet the educational needs of students with disabilities.
  
• Fund local inquiry projects to assist local campuses to develop effective strategies to apply technology to the educational needs of students with disabilities.
  
• Increase family capacity to access and utilize technology to meet the needs of their children with disabilities.
  
• Disseminate innovative teacher education practices statewide.
  
• Fund inquiry projects for individual campuses to address literacy, numeracy and alternate assessment issues.
  
• Assist state and local personnel in refining the alternate assessment strategies to effectively measure learning outcomes for students with significant disabilities.
  
• Link state, and establish state capacity to support efforts related to positive behavioral support issues.
  
• Provide for family/consumer school linkages through funding of projects, dissemination of materials, family leadership academies, and host professional development activities for Parent Training and Information Centers.

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4. What partnerships are intended?

The following partnerships are intended for the Louisiana State Improvement Grant:

• Project Prompt
  
• Institutes of Higher Education
  
• Local Education Agencies
  
• State Accountability System
  
• Electronic Career Opportunities for Louisiana Education
  
• INTECH – A technology staff development program
  
• Project United
  
• Blue Ribbon Commission
  
• K-3 Math and Reading Initiative
  
• Minority Taskforce
  
• Families Helping Families
  
• Project PROMPT
  
• Project Pyramid

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5. What type of contracts or subgrants are intended to partners, LEAs, IHE, PTIs, and others (including lead agency under Part C)?

• The following partnerships are intended for the Louisiana State Improvement Grant:
  
• Project Prompt
  
• Institutes of Higher Education
  
• Local Education Agencies
  
• State Accountability System
  
• Electronic Career Opportunities for Louisiana Education
  
• INTECH – A technology staff development program
  
• Project United
  
• Blue Ribbon Commission
  
• K-3 Math and Reading Initiative
  
• Minority Taskforce
  
• Families Helping Families
  
• Project PROMPT
  
• Project Pyramid

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6. How will resources be pooled with other resources?

• Programs that target overall school improvement will infuse special education personnel, family and consumers within the school district leadership teams.
  
• The number of students with disabilities will participate in standard, modified and alternate assessment related to the State Accountability System.
  
• K-3 Reading and Math Initiatives will work in campuses to identify and disseminate validated practices, which enhance reading and mathematics performance of students with disabilities.
  
• The Minority Task Force will work in at least 60 campuses to identify and disseminate practices which increase the performance and participation levels of minority students with disabilities.
  
• ECOLE and INTECH technology projects will modify existing personnel recruitment and technology application initiatives to include the needs of students with disabilities.
  
• Families Helping Families and Project PROMPT will build capacity of at least 200 individual family members to assume roles of school and community leadership.
  
• Project Pyramid will infuse validated practices for minority family members with statewide family outreach and advocacy efforts, which will result in improved linkage between the federally funded parent outreach organizations.
  
• The Blue Ribbon Commission will expand statewide current teacher education restructuring efforts to include needs of students with disabilities and create a model program on four campuses.
  
• Project UNITED will expand state teacher education reform efforts to include special education needs.
  
• Louisiana Principal Internship Program will infuse content and strategies into principal training related to effective education for students with disabilities.
  
• Leadership Team Institutes will ensure inclusion of personnel, family members, and individuals aligned with special education issues into leadership teams of schools and districts.
  
• The Department of Education Discretionary Funds for Innovative/Improvement Projects will align discretionary special education projects with general education improvement efforts and an action-based school improvement model.

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7. How specific SIG products, activities, initiatives and strategies are pertinent to Part C (birth to 3, infants, toddlers and their families)services and activities in your state?

No response given.

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