State Personnel Development Grants Program

State Personnel Development Grants

Harding, Marcia, and Knoff, Howard

1401 W. Capitol, Suite 450
Little Rock, AR 72201-2936

501-682-4282

501-682-5159

marcia.harding@arkansas.gov

howard.knoff@arkansas.gov

10/1/2009

9/30/2014

Purpose: This project has three main goals: (a) to improve the annual year performance (AYP) of students with disabilities and also the related needs of schools needing improvement under the No Child Left Behind law; (b) to assist districts in becoming compliant in all State Performance Plan (SPP) indicator areas under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; and (c) to address the special education personnel recruitment/retention needs of the state, including the need for effective personnel who serve students with disabilities in high poverty schools.
 
Method: Project activities include: (a) establishing a professional development network with nine of the state's Educational Services Cooperatives, and including members of the Arkansas Department of Education's School Accountability Teams and SPP Compliance Teams that will work in up to 162 targeted local education agencies in the areas of literacy, mathematics, positive behavioral supports, problem solving, and recruitment/retention; (b) working with preschools that feed into targeted local education agencies, up to half of which will be from high poverty areas; (c) working with all levels of school from preschool through high school in rural, urban, and suburban areas to educate students from 3 to 21 years of age; (d) recruiting and retaining highly qualified special education teachers; and (e) providing professional development in academic and behavioral interventions for over 8,000 school staff statewide.