Database of Federally Funded Technical Assistance and Research Centers

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.

Funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE),  the Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) supports schools, districts, and states to build systems capacity for implementing a multi-tiered approach to social, emotional and behavior support. The broad purpose of PBIS is to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and equity of schools and other agencies. PBIS improves social, emotional and academic outcomes for all students, including students with disabilities and students from underrepresented groups.

The Midwest and Plains Equity Assistance Center is one of four regional Equity Assistance Centers. This center is funded by the United States Department of Education under Title IV of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The center provides technical assistance and training, upon request, in the areas of race, sex, national origin and religion to public school districts and other responsible governmental agencies to promote equitable education opportunities. Work focuses on the areas of civil rights, equity, and school reform.

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.

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.

The National Technical Assistance Center on Transition: The Collaborative (NTACT:C) is a Technical Assistance Center co-funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA).  They provide information, tools, and supports to assist multiple stakeholders in delivering effective services and instruction for secondary students and out of school youth with disabilities.

The Regional Educational Laboratory Northwest (REL Northwest) is operated by Education Northwest in Portland, Oregon. REL Northwest focuses on building the capacity of stakeholders in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington to use data and evidence to inform decisions related to their specific education-related needs.

REL Northwest's services include the provision of training, coaching, and technical support; conducting applied research studies; and disseminating information in various content areas, but particularly in five high-leverage areas of need in the region: equitable start in learning, appropriate supports for English learners, high school graduation and post-secondary education success, supply and development of effective educators, and accountability system design and implementation.

The majority of our work is currently conducted with stakeholders in 12 research partnerships throughout the region. However, REL Northwest also conducts work with stakeholders that are not affiliated with a particular research partnership.