Database of Federally Funded Technical Assistance and Research Centers

Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS Center)

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.

Director(s): Heather George, Tim Lewis, Kent McIntosh, Brandi Simonsen

Specialty Area

  • Education Leadership
  • Evidence Based Practices & Scaling Up
  • Family Engagement
  • Intensive Supports
  • Multi-tiered Systems of Support
  • Organizational Leadership
  • Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports (PBIS)
  • Response to Intervention
  • School Climate & Behavior
  • School Mental Health
  • Social and Emotional Learning
  • Special Education
  • System Alignment

Primary Audience

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

Services

  • Assessment Tools
  • Coaching
  • Consulting
  • Content Expertise
  • Research

Regions/States

National

All States

Level of Support

General

Additional Information

Other Specialty Areas: Implementation Science; Prevention Science

Lead for Literacy (L4L)

The Lead for Literacy Center, operated by Boston University’s Wheelock College of Education and Human Development with funding from the United States Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs, is a partnership among literacy experts, education leaders, university researchers, and technical assistance providers from the University of Oregon and American Institutes for Research.

Their mission is to provide technical assistance to school and district leaders that builds their capacity to facilitate improved teacher implementation of evidence-based literacy practices for educating students with, or at risk for, literacy-related disabilities.

Director(s): Hank Fien, Ph.D., Director, Abby Foley, M.Ed., PMP, Deputy Director

Specialty Area

  • Effective Literacy Instruction
  • Evidence Based Practices & Scaling Up

Primary Audience

  • Administrators
  • School Districts
  • Schools

Services

  • Content Expertise

Regions/States

National

All States

Level of Support

Targeted

Additional Information

National Center on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB)

The National Center on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB) provides technical assistance to meet the needs of children (birth to 21) with deaf-blindness in five initiative areas: early identification and intervention; family engagement; interveners and qualified personnel; transition; and assessment, planning, and instruction. It's universal, targeted, and intensive TA is conducted in concert with state deaf-blind projects throughout the U. S., and with national family organizations. NCDB has an extensive website with information and products to support its TA as well as relevant information on deaf-blindness of use to families, service providers, and the general public.

Director(s): Linda McDowell, Ph.D., Co-Director, Samuel Morgan, Ed.D., Co-Director

Specialty Area

  • Career and Technical Education
  • Deaf-Blindness
  • Early Childhood Educators
  • Educator Effectiveness
  • Educator Preparation
  • Evidence Based Practices & Scaling Up
  • Family Engagement
  • Intensive Supports

Primary Audience

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

Services

  • Consulting
  • Content Expertise
  • Convening Stakeholders
  • Facilitation

Regions/States

National

All States

Level of Support

Tiered

Additional Information

Other Primary Audiences: State Deaf-Blind Projects

Other Services Provided: Assisting State Deaf-Blind Projects to Implement Systems Change in Their States; Assisting State Deaf-Blind Projects to Provide Effective Child-Specific TA to Educational Teams; Comprehensive Website on Deaf-Blindness and Technical Assistance

Other Specialty Areas: Early Identification and Intervention; Transition to Adulthood; Assessment; Planning and Instruction; Annual Child Count of Children Who Are Deaf-Blind; Supporting Intervener Services Infrastructure

National Center on Intensive Intervention (NCII)

The Mission of the National Center on Intensive Intervention (NCII) is to build the capacity of state and local education agencies, universities, practitioners, and other stakeholders to support implementation of intensive intervention in literacy, mathematics, and behavior for students with severe and persistent learning and/or behavioral needs, often in the context of their multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) or special education services. NCII’s approach to intensive intervention is data-based individualization (DBI), a research-based process that integrates the systematic use of assessment data, validated interventions, and intensification strategies.

Director(s): Rebecca Zumeta Edmonds, Ph.D., Center Director, Sarah Arden, Ph.D., Deputy Director

Specialty Area

  • Educator Preparation
  • Effective Instruction
  • Evidence Based Practices & Scaling Up
  • Family Engagement
  • Intensive Supports
  • Measuring Student Growth
  • Multi-tiered Systems of Support
  • Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports (PBIS)
  • Response to Intervention
  • School Climate & Behavior
  • Special Education
  • System Alignment

Primary Audience

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

Services

  • Consulting
  • Content Expertise
  • Convening Stakeholders
  • Facilitation

Regions/States

National

All States

Level of Support

Tiered

Additional Information

Other Specialty Areas: Intensive Intervention; Data-based Individualization

National Center on Systemic Improvement (NCSI)

The National Center for Systemic Improvement (NCSI) helps states transform their systems to improve outcomes for infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities. NCSI provides states with technical assistance to support development, implementation and evaluation of their 6-year state systemic improvement plan and build capacity among their school districts and local early intervention service programs to improve educational results and functional outcomes for children and youth with disabilities.

Director(s): Rorie Fitzpatrick, Project Director

Specialty Area

  • Early Childhood Educators
  • Early Childhood Leadership
  • Education Leadership
  • Educator Effectiveness
  • Evidence Based Practices & Scaling Up
  • Family Engagement
  • Measuring Student Growth
  • Multi-tiered Systems of Support
  • Response to Intervention
  • Social and Emotional Learning
  • System Alignment
  • Transforming State Systems

Primary Audience

  • Administrators
  • School Districts
  • Schools
  • State Education Agencies

Services

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

Regions/States

National

All States

Level of Support

Tiered

Additional Information

Other Specialty Areas: Systems Change; Students with Disabilities

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 Implementation and Scaling up of Evidence Based Practices Center (SISEP)

The purpose of the State Implementation and Scaling up of Evidence Based Practices Center (SISEP) is to help to establish implementation and scaling capacity in State, regional, and district educational systems.  SISEP provides content and technical assistance toward establishing large-scale, sustainable, high-fidelity implementation of effective education practices.  Our shared goal is to maximize academic and social outcomes of all students, especially those students with disabilities.

The SISEP Center provides States, Regional, and Local Education Agencies with:

  • Intensive technical assistance to establish an effective and affordable infrastructure to support implementation of evidence based programs
  • Coordinated and shared professional learning via webinars and communities of practice
  • Online and off-line coaching, teaching and education about implementation, scaling, and system reinvention
  • Tools and resources for conducting this work, including formative and summative evaluation tools for action planning, monitoring and outcome assessment.

In addition, the SISEP center provides technical assistance to:

  • Establish implementation capacity in Technical Assistance Centers and projects funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs
  • Increase implementation capacity of Local Education Agency Superintendents and other leaders
  • Increase knowledge of evidence-based implementation supports for evidence based practices in Charter Management Organizations.
Director(s): Caryn Ward, Director, Dale Cusumano, Assistant Director

Specialty Area

  • Education Leadership
  • Evidence Based Practices & Scaling Up
  • Multi-tiered Systems of Support
  • System Alignment

Primary Audience

  • Administrators
  • School Districts
  • Schools
  • State Education Agencies

Services

  • Coaching
  • Consulting
  • Content Expertise
  • Facilitation

Regions/States

National

Colorado, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin

Level of Support

Intensive

Additional Information

Other Primary Audiences: Technical Assistance Centers

Other Specialty Areas: Implementation Science and Improvement Science