Database of Federally Funded Technical Assistance and Research Centers

Center for Parent Information and Resources (CPIR)

The Center for Parent Information and Resources (CPIR) is your central “Hub” of information and products created for the network of Parent Centers serving families of children with disabilities.

All the materials found on the CPIR Hub have been created and archived for Parent Centers around the country to help them provide support and services to the families they serve. The CPIR employs a user-centered process, gathering the perspectives of our experienced audience—Parent Center staff members and other experts—every step of the way, to create products and services that increase Parent Centers’ knowledge and capacity in specific domains.

Director(s): Carolyn Hayer, Director

Specialty Area

  • Family Engagement
  • Parents, Families, & Youth

Primary Audience

  • Families
  • Schools
  • Teachers

Services

  • Content Expertise

Regions/States

National

All States

Level of Support

Additional Information

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

IRIS Center

The IRIS Center is a national center dedicated to improving education outcomes for all children, especially those with disabilities, by developing free, online resources about effective evidence-based practices and interventions.

IRIS Modules, our center's signature resource, are developed using adult learning theory and translate the latest research findings into easily understandable, practitioner-friendly language in an interactive, engaging format. Other wraparound resources--case studies, information briefs, fundamental skill sheets, video vignettes--allow learners to delve into module topics in more depth.

Director(s): Naomi Tyler

Specialty Area

  • Early Childhood Educators
  • Educator Effectiveness
  • Educator Preparation
  • Educator Retention
  • Effective Instruction
  • Evidence Based Practices & Scaling Up
  • Intensive Supports
  • Measuring Student Growth
  • Multi-tiered Systems of Support
  • Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports (PBIS)
  • Response to Intervention
  • Teacher Mentoring and Induction
  • Translating Research to Practice

Primary Audience

  • Administrators
  • School Counselors
  • Teachers

Services

  • Content Expertise
  • Research

Regions/States

National

All States

Level of Support

Universal

Additional Information

Other Audiences: College and university faculty; professional development providers

Other Services Provided: Free; online; interactive resources

Other Specialty Areas: Accommodations; assessment; assistive technology; collaboration; content instruction; differentiated instruction; disability; diversity; juvenile corrections; learning strategies; mathematics; reading/literacy/language arts; related services; school improvement/leadership; secondary transition

National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations (NCPMI)

The National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations (NCPMI) is funded by the Office of Special Education Programs to improve state and local capacity to implement, scale-up, and sustain effective practices and policies to equitably support the social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes of young children with, and at risk for, developmental delays or disabilities. The goal of the Center is assisting states and programs in developing sustainable systems for the equitable implementation of the Pyramid Model for Promoting Social-Emotional Competence in Infants and Young Children (Pyramid Model) within early intervention and early education programs. We do this with a focus on: improving the social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes of young children birth to five; eliminating the use of inappropriate and disproportionate exclusionary discipline practices; promoting family engagement; using data for decision-making; increasing the use of trauma-informed and culturally and linguistically responsive practices; and fostering inclusion.

Director(s): Lise Fox, Mary Louise Hemmeter

Specialty Area

  • Early Childhood Educators
  • Early Childhood Leadership
  • Intensive Supports
  • Social and Emotional Learning

Primary Audience

  • Administrators
  • School Districts
  • Schools
  • Teachers

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

Parent Training and Information Centers (PTIs) and Community Parent Resource Centers (CPRCs)

There are nearly 100 Parent Training and Information Centers (PTIs)and Community Parent Resource Centers (CPRCs)in the US and Territories who are working with families of infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities, birth to 26 and are helping parents participate effectively in their children’s education and development. They partner with professionals and policy makers to improve outcomes for all children with disabilities.  This resource will link you to the "Find Your Parent Center" database which is hosted by the Center for Parent Information & Resources.

Director(s): Carolyn Hayer, Director

Specialty Area

  • Parents, Families, & Youth

Primary Audience

  • Families

Services

  • Consulting
  • Content Expertise

Regions/States

National

All States

Level of Support

Individual

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

Regional Parent Technical Assistance Centers (RPTACs)

The Regional PTACs help OSEP’s funded network of Parent Centers address administrative/management challenges and increase their capacities to provide information and training to families of children with disabilities.  This resource takes you to the Center for Parent Information & Resources site where you can find more information about the four Regional Parent Technical Assistance Centers.

Some of the Technical Assistance (TA) Services RPTACs provide to Parent Centers include:

  • One-to-one consultations 
  • Training/Webinars 
  • Training for non-profit board training members 
  • Help with needs assessment 
  • Peer-to-peer mentoring 
  • TA using technology to enhance programs and services 
  • Regional meetings and conferences 
  • Site visits  
  • Non-profit management tools 
  • Newsletters  
  • Family- and Youth-centered service strategies
Director(s): Carolyn Hayer, Director

Specialty Area

  • Parents, Families, & Youth

Primary Audience

  • Administrators
  • State Education Agencies

Services

  • Consulting
  • Content Expertise

Regions/States

National

All States

Level of Support

General

Additional Information