SCOPE: KY State Personnel Development Grant (KY SPDG) FY 2015-Co-Teaching for GAP Closure

The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) is pleased to submit our State Personnel Development Grant (SPDG) proposal to the Office of Special Education Programs at the U.S. Department of Education. Our proposal is a collaborative effort led by the Division of Learning Services, within the Office of Next Generation Learners, working closely with the Division of Student Success in the Office of Next Generation Schools and Districts. The proposal is aligned to KDE’s College and Career Readiness Delivery Plan, Gap Delivery Plan, Proficiency Delivery Plan, the Next Generation Professional’s Plan, and the recent Transforming Professional Learning in KY: Meeting the Demands of the Common Core State Standards report (Center for Teacher Quality). The proposed goals are: Goal 1: To better prepare all students with disabilities to reach proficiency and graduate from high school ready for college and careers through increased academic (reading and math) achievement and closing existing achievement gaps. The KY SPDG will support the Education Recovery Leaders (ERL) and Specialists (ERS) already working with Priority schools and the special education reading and math specialists from KY’s regional Education Cooperatives (Co-op) also currently working in Priority schools and will begin working with Focus schools in fall 2012. The KY SPDG will support an existing co-teaching model through professional development (PD) on evidence-based instructional strategies in conjunction with our Co-op and ER partners. Goal 2: To better prepare students with low incidence disabilities to reach proficiency and graduate from high school ready for college and careers through increased and enhanced academic achievement, communication capacity, and transition opportunities. This work will enhance the capacity of low incidence and transition specialists to support the academic and communication PD needs of low incidence teachers, related service personnel, and families in their regions, as well as formalize a transition to postsecondary model for students with IEPs through the age of 21. This work will inform KY with regard to defining and measuring college and career readiness for students with low incidence disabilities. The SEA recognizes the need to further focus on the critical elements of collaboration, including sharing expertise and leadership across KDE and allocating staff resources to ensure more frequent communication to provide integrated planning and implementation of new practices. PD implemented to achieve these goals will also benefit from collaboration with Co-op staff; school recovery experts; KY’s Parent Training and Information Center; KY’s postsecondary education system, and KY’s Education Professional Standards Board. Evidence-based implementation strategies will guide the development of a PD system with the capacity to support the necessary implementation of evidence-based practices, facilitate organizational change, and sustain systems change so that students with disabilities reach proficiency and graduate from high school, college and career ready. Professional development will be enhanced by the use of Professional Learning Communities and technology infused PD. Successful implementation of this proposal will result in increased academic achievement and readiness for college/career for students with disabilities, increased students’ communication capacity, decreased achievement gaps between students with and without disabilities, and an enhanced regional PD delivery system with more capacity to serve LEAs and schools in their region.