The overall plan is to improve services to and results for students with disabilities by:

• Reducing gaps in the coordination of services and systemic barriers to change.
• Dissemination and use of research-based, promising practices.
• Certification, training, recruitment, and retention of qualified personnel.
• Increased family involvement.
• Collection, analysis, and use of student performance data to effect policy, program, and service delivery.

Project Title:	Promoting Equity and Excellence for All Children and Youth with Disabilities
Primary contact person:	Robert Wells and Debra Grabill
Address:	Special Education Program Management Team New Hampshire Department of Education 101 Pleasant Street Concord, NH 03301
Phone:	603-271-1536
Fax:	603-271-1953
Email:	dgrabill@ed.state.nh.us
Web site:	Not indicated
Date SIG application written/submitted:	October 1, 1998
Round funded:	First
Begin/end dates for funding:	Not indicated.
Funded amount /year:	$1,752,329
Who wrote the application?	SEA Staff
Length of application:	Narrative: 263 Pages  Appendices: 6

1. What specific products are planned for development? 

• Guidelines of Exemplary Professional Practice:
  • LEA Organizational Structure/Policies.
  • SEA Polices/Practices.
  • Teacher Education Programs/Certification.
• Recruitment materials for student teachers from diverse cultural and racial backgrounds.
• Selection criteria for LEAs to participate in SIG sponsored professional development.

2. What interstate connections are planned?

• Agreements regarding common certification standards for regional and interstate reciprocity.
• Sharing resources with out-of-state personnel preparation programs.
• Other states with SIGs to address common issues (plan to work with NERRC and the RRC network).
• Out-of-state IHEs with high enrollment of racially and culturally diverse students for field sites for New Hampshire student teachers.

3. What strategies are planned for service delivery?

• Development of various broad-based constituency groups: advisory board, policy board, planning committee, and implementation team.
• Develop technological capacity and resource base.
• Develop management information system to collect and analyse student performance data.
• Restructure pre-service preparation programs with IHEs.
• Develop common certification and reciprocity agreements.
• LEA/IHE linkages.
• Policy reform in areas including transition, cost effectiveness, school climate, graduation requirements, grading, discipline, regulation, and IDEA compliance.
• Develop a web site.
• For evaluation, sample of LEAs for in-depth case studies.

4. What partnership strategies are intended?

Not indicated.

5. Who are the partners?

• State Superintendents Association.
• State Special Education Directors Association.
• State Principals Association.
• SIP Partners Organizations/Agencies.
• Other state agencies.
• Families.
• Individuals with disabilities.
• Professional Standards Board.
• Council of Teacher Education.
• School-to-Work Collaboratives.
• Service Learning Initiatives.
• PTA.
• Employers.
• LEAs.
• Teachers Organizations.
• Institutions of Higher Education.
• Outreach for Black Unity.
• NAACP.
• International Institute.

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

• Licensure, certification, reciprocity agreements.
• Recruitment of minorities.
• Sharing resources.
• Field sites for teacher interns.
• Teacher training for low incidence disabilities.
• Recruitment of high school students for careers in special education.

7. How will resources be pooled with other resources?

• With other state personnel preparation programs.
• With IHEs.
• With LEAs to identify cooperating teachers or field placement supervisors.