Database of Federally Funded Technical Assistance and Research Centers

Bookshare

Bookshare makes reading easier. People with dyslexia, blindness, cerebral palsy, and other reading barriers can customize their experience to suit their learning style and find virtually any book they need for school, work, or the joy of reading.

Bookshare is an ebook library that makes reading easier. Members can access a huge collection of ebooks and read their way with the most customizable ebooks for people with reading barriers.

The library has 1,233,523 titles and is the most extensive collection of accessible ebooks in the world. It includes books for school, career, and reading pleasure, as well as titles in over 34 languages. The collection is supported by a dedicated volunteer community and partnerships with over 1000 US and international publishers.

Director(s): Ayan Kishore, CEO

Specialty Area

  • Accessible Education Materials

Primary Audience

  • Families
  • Schools
  • Teachers

Services

  • Content Expertise

Regions/States

National

All States

Level of Support

General

Additional Information

National Center on Accessible Educational Materials for Learning

The National Center on Accessible Educational Materials for Learning (AEM Center) at CAST is a knowledge-development, information dissemination, and technical assistance project whose activities and actions are designed to:

  1. Expand and disseminate knowledge about Accessible Educational Materials (AEM) and technologies among key stakeholder groups.
  2. Increase AEM Center stakeholders’ skills; and motivation.
  3. Improve and enhance the organizational, material and structural capacities of AEM stakeholders so that they effectively use AEM resources.

The overall goal established by CAST and OSEP pertains to improvements in the availability and use of accessible educational materials and technologies for learning.

Director(s): Cynthia Curry

Specialty Area

  • Accessible Education Materials
  • Equity
  • Family Engagement
  • Multi-tiered Systems of Support
  • Response to Intervention
  • Transitions (from grade to grade)

Primary Audience

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

Services

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

Regions/States

National

Alaska, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Ohio, Texas

Level of Support

Intensive

Additional Information

Other Primary Audiences: Higher Education; Workforce Development; Publishers; EdTech Developers

Technical Assistance and Training

Other Specialty Areas: Access to AEM and assistive technology; Policy

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

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 National Center on Inclusion Toward Rightful Presence (SWIFT Education Center)

The National Center on Inclusion Toward Rightful Presence (SWIFT Education Center) offers products and services across the nation that foster rightful presence and true belonging for students once on the margins of their schools.  At SWIFT, we take a systems-level approach to transforming education by entering into formal partnerships with state education agencies, service centers, districts, and schools to create the types of educational ecosystems that help students thrive. 

SWIFT increases your capacity to implement or advance Equity-based Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS), which improves academic, behavioral, social, and emotional student outcomes.

Director(s): Allyson Satter, Program Director, Amy McCart, Co-Director and Research Professor

Specialty Area

  • Inclusive Practices
  • Multi-tiered Systems of Support

Primary Audience

  • Administrators
  • Families
  • School Counselors
  • School Districts
  • Schools
  • Teachers

Services

  • Content Expertise

Regions/States

National

All States

Level of Support

Additional Information