Database of Federally Funded Technical Assistance and Research Centers

Center for Innovation, Design, and Digital Learning (CIDDL)

The Center for Innovation, Design, and Digital Learning (CIDDL)is serving as the National Center to Improve Faculty Capacity to Use Educational Technology in Special Education, Early Intervention, and Related Services Personnel Preparation and Leadership Personnel Preparation Programs. We are primarily focused on the following activities:

  • Increasing knowledge, adoption, and use of a range of educational technologies that can be used for educator, related service, or leadership preparation programs;
  • Increasing capacity of faculty at institutions of higher education (IHE) to use a range of educational technologies in educator, related service, or leadership preparation programs;
  • Sustaining professional learning networks related to educational technology in educator, related service, and leadership preparation programs.
Director(s): James D. Basham, Ph.D., Director

Specialty Area

  • Educational Technology
  • Personal Preparation

Primary Audience

  • School Counselors
  • Schools
  • Teachers

Services

  • Content Expertise

Regions/States

National

All States

Level of Support

General

Additional Information

Center on Inclusive Technology & Education Systems (CITES)

The Center on Inclusive Technology & Education Systems (CITES) aims to empower school districts to build and maintain technology systems that include every student, particularly children and youth with disabilities who require assistive technology and accessible materials. The CITES Framework is a helpful guide that encourages positive change within a district. It works alongside technology and instructional efforts already in place, bringing together experts and coaches at various levels to assist local teams in making and maintaining inclusive technology systems.

Director(s): Jill Brown Director, Professional Learning, CoSN
Website:

Specialty Area

  • Educational Technology

Primary Audience

  • Administrators
  • Families
  • School Counselors
  • School Districts
  • Schools
  • State Education Agencies
  • Teachers

Services

  • Coaching
  • Consulting
  • Content Expertise
  • Research

Regions/States

National

All States

Level of Support

General

Additional Information

Innovative Technology for Early Childhood Assessment (INTECA)

The purpose of the project is to increase the body of knowledge on equitable and innovative approaches for implementing and integrating technology into informal and formal authentic early childhood assessments and to build capacity of the field to use technology to support authentic assessment through disseminating tools, methods, and frameworks.

Director(s): Kathy Hebbeler

Specialty Area

  • Educational Technology
  • Part C

Primary Audience

  • Administrators
  • Families
  • School Counselors
  • School Districts
  • Schools
  • State Education Agencies
  • Teachers

Services

  • Consulting
  • Content Expertise

Regions/States

National

All States

Level of Support

General

Additional Information

National Center for Homeless Education

Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, the National Center for Homeless Education (NCHE) operates the Department's technical assistance center for the federal Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) Program.

In this role, NCHE works with schools, service providers, parents, and other interested stakeholders to ensure that children and youth experiencing homelessness can enroll and succeed in school.

Director(s): Eric Grebing, Co-Director, Karla Lewis, Co-Director

Specialty Area

  • Supporting Parents and Families

Primary Audience

  • Administrators
  • Families
  • School Counselors
  • School Districts
  • Schools
  • State Education Agencies

Services

  • Assessment Tools
  • Coaching
  • Consulting
  • Content Expertise
  • Convening Stakeholders
  • Facilitation
  • Research

Regions/States

National

All States

Level of Support

Universal

Additional Information

Other Specialty Areas: Education of Homeless Children and Youth

National Center on Educational Outcomes

The National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) helps students with disabilities, English learners (ELs), and ELs with disabilities by:

  • Collecting, analyzing, synthesizing, disseminating, and providing leadership on evidence-based information on inclusive assessments and comprehensive assessment systems.
  • Promoting the use of assessments for instructional decision-making purposes.
  • Assisting states in their efforts to support districts to improve results.
  • Reviewing the participation and performance of students in national and state assessments, including the use of accessibility features and accommodations and alternate assessments.
  • Examining national and state practices in reporting assessment information.
  • Supporting implementation of U.S. Department of Education accountability systems, including ESEA accountability and IDEA State Systemic Improvement Plans (SSIPs) and State-Identified Measurable Results (SIMRs).
  • Bridging general education, special education, English as a Second Language or bilingual education, and other systems as they work to improve results of education for all students.
Director(s): Martha Thurlow

Specialty Area

  • English Language Learners
  • Measuring Student Growth

Primary Audience

  • State Education Agencies

Services

  • Research

Regions/States

National

All States

Level of Support

Tiered

Additional Information

Other Services Provided: Technical assistance on assessment related topics

Other Specialty Areas: Assessment; Accountability; Accessibility and Accommodations; Alternative Assessments

National Center on Improving Literacy (NCIL)

The National Center on Improving Literacy (NCIL), operated by Boston University’s Wheelock College of Education and Human Development with funding from the United States Department of Education, is a partnership among literacy experts, university researchers, and technical assistance providers from the University of Oregon, Florida State University, and RMC Research Corporation.

NCILs mission is to increase access to, and use of, evidence-based approaches to screen, identify, and teach students with literacy-related disabilities, including dyslexia.  They also work to build individual and organizational capacity to assess students’ literacy-related skill, identify students with disabilities or those at risk of disabilities, and fully implement evidence-based literacy programs and professional development.

Director(s): Hank Fien, Ph.D., Director, Yaacov Petscher, Ph.D., Deputy Director, Sarah Sayko, Ed.D., Deputy Director, Nancy J. Nelson Fien, Ph.D., Deputy Director

Specialty Area

  • Dyslexia
  • Effective Literacy Instruction
  • Supporting Parents and Families

Primary Audience

  • Administrators
  • Families
  • School Counselors
  • School Districts
  • Schools
  • State Education Agencies
  • Teachers

Services

  • Assessment Tools
  • Coaching
  • Content Expertise

Regions/States

National

All States

Level of Support

Additional Information

National Instructional Materials Access Center

Created by IDEA 2004, the NIMAC is a federally-funded, searchable online repository of source files for K-12 instructional materials. We receive files in the XML-based NIMAS (National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard) format, and states use these materials in the production of accessible formats such as braille, large print, and digital text. The NIMAC currently has over 74,000 files from more than 160 publishers.

Director(s): Rebecca Sheffield, U.S. Dept. of Education OSEP Project Officer for NIMAC

Specialty Area

  • Accessible Education Materials
  • Educational Technology

Primary Audience

  • Administrators
  • Families
  • School Counselors
  • School Districts
  • Schools
  • State Education Agencies
  • Teachers

Services

  • Content Expertise

Regions/States

National

All States

Level of Support

General

Additional Information

PROGRESS Center

PROGRESS Center (which stands for Promoting Rigorous Outcomes and Growth by Redesigning Educational Services for Students With Disabilities Center) provides information, resources, tools, and technical assistance services to support local educators and leaders (kindergarten through transition age) in developing and implementing high-quality educational programs that ensure students with disabilities have access to free appropriate public education (FAPE) which allows them to make progress and meet challenging goals, consistent with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District (2017).

Director(s): Tessie Rose Bailey, Center Director, Rebecca Zumeta Edmonds, Principal Investigator

Specialty Area

  • English Language Learners
  • Evidence Based Practices & Scaling Up
  • Family Engagement
  • High-Quality Educational Programming
  • Intensive Supports
  • Measuring Student Growth
  • Multi-tiered Systems of Support
  • Response to Intervention
  • Special Education

Primary Audience

  • Administrators
  • School Districts
  • Schools
  • State Education Agencies
  • Teachers

Services

  • Assessment Tools
  • Coaching
  • Consulting
  • Content Expertise
  • Convening Stakeholders
  • Facilitation

Regions/States

National

All States

Level of Support

Tiered

Additional Information

Private and charter school associations and entities

State Support Network

The State Support Network was a technical assistance initiative operating from 2016 to 2020 designed to support state and district school improvement efforts. Use this site to learn more about State Support Network communities of practice and to access free resources for states and district to support school improvement.

Director(s):

Specialty Area

  • Education Leadership
  • English Language Learners
  • Evidence Based Practices & Scaling Up
  • Measuring Student Growth
  • System Alignment

Primary Audience

  • School Districts
  • State Education Agencies

Services

  • Consulting
  • Content Expertise
  • Facilitation
  • Research

Regions/States

National

All States

Level of Support

Tiered

Additional Information

Technical Assistance Providers

Communities of Practice

Implementing the Every Student Succeeds Act; Needs Assessments; Strategic Planning

STEMIE: Innovation for Inclusion in Early Education

he STEM Innovation for Inclusion in Early Education (STEMI2E2) Center aims to:

  • Develop and enhance the knowledge base on engagement in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) learning opportunities for young children with disabilities (O-5);
  • Implement high-quality technical assistance and professional development to increase engagement for young children with disabilities in STEM opportunities; and
  • Engage partners and stakeholders from diverse disciplines and industry in work to increase the inclusion of young children with disabilities in early high-quality STEM learning experiences.
Director(s): Megan Vinh

Specialty Area

  • Educational Technology
  • Inclusive Practices

Primary Audience

  • Administrators
  • Families
  • School Counselors
  • School Districts
  • Schools
  • State Education Agencies
  • Teachers

Services

  • Content Expertise

Regions/States

National

All States

Level of Support

General

Additional Information

The Early Childhood Personnel Center (ECPC)

The Early Childhood Personnel Center (ECPC) assists states to build Comprehensive Systems of Personnel Development (CSPD)to improve outcomes for infants and young children with disabilities and their families.

The center is focused on building awareness that an integrated, comprehensive system of personnel development (CSPD) for the early childhood (EC) workforce in every state – one that is cohesive with state and national personnel standards, competencies, and recommended practices, will produce the most successful outcomes for children and families with disabilities.

Director(s): Mary Beth Bruder, Director

Specialty Area

  • Supporting Parents and Families

Primary Audience

  • School Districts
  • Schools
  • State Education Agencies

Services

  • Content Expertise

Regions/States

National

All States

Level of Support

General

Additional Information