New OSEP 2024 Discretionary Grant Awards (2024)

The purpose of the State Personnel Development Grants is to assist state educational agencies in reforming and improving their systems for personnel preparation and professional development in early intervention, educational, and transition services in order to improve results for children with disabilities.

The purpose of the National Center on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), and Other Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) to Diversify the Workforce Serving Children with Disabilities priority is to support HBCUs, TCCUs, and other MSIs to build to access and successfully implement Federal grants to improve or develop high-quality degree or certification programs of study, and to prepare scholars to work in early intervention and special education fields.

The purpose of the Preparation of Special Education, Early Intervention, and Related Services Leadership Personnel priority is to increase the number and improve the quality of leadership personnel who are well qualified for, and can act effectively in, leadership positions as researchers and special education/early intervention/related services personnel preparers in institutions of higher education, or as leaders in state educational agencies, lead agencies under Part C of the IDEA, local educational agencies, early intervention services programs, or schools.

The purpose of the Doctoral Training Consortia Associated with High-Intensity Needs priority is to increase the number of highly skilled doctoral leaders, including increasing the number
of multilingual leadership personnel and leadership personnel from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds, who provide, or prepare others to provide, services to children with disabilities with high-intensity needs to prepare and increase the number of personnel who are well qualified for, and can act effectively in, leadership positions as researchers and special education/early intervention/related services personnel preparers in institutions of higher education, or as leaders in State educational agencies, lead agencies under Part C of the IDEA, local educational agencies, early intervention services programs, or schools.

The purpose of the Personnel Preparation of Special Education, Early Intervention, and Related Services Personnel at HBCUs, TCCUs, and Other MSIs priority is to prepare and increase the number of personnel, including personnel from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds and personnel who are multilingual, who are fully credentialed to serve children with disabilities.

The purpose of the Preparation of Related Services Personnel Serving Children with Disabilities who have High-Intensity Needs priority is to increase the number and improve the quality of related services personnel, including multilingual personnel and personnel from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds, who are fully credentialed and licensed to serve children with disabilities who have high-intensity needs.

The Preservice Improvement Enhancement Grants to Support Related Service Providers to Effectively Serve Children with Disabilities and Their Families priority funds projects aimed to achieve, at a minimum, the following:

1. Increased number of related services providers, including those who are multilingual and from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds, equipped with the competencies necessary to deliver services to children with disabilities and their families in early intervention, early childhood, and school-based settings.
2. Increased number of institutions of higher education, including HBCUs, TCCUs,  and other MSIs,  with related services personnel preparation programs  at the associate degree, bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, educational specialist, or clinical doctorate degree level that include sufficient coursework, assignments, and clinical experiences in early intervention, early childhood, and school-based settings to support students in developing competencies to serve children with disabilities and their families.
3. Increased capacity of related services faculty to design and implement enhanced degree programs at the associate degree, bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, educational specialist, or clinical doctorate degree level that prepare related services providers to deliver services to children with disabilities and their families in early intervention, early childhood, and school-based settings.

The purpose of this priority is to fund Preservice Development Grants at HBCUs, TCCUs, and other MSIs to Diversify Personnel Serving Children with Disabilities. Projects are expected to achieve, at a minimum, the following expected outcomes:

• Increased number of early intervention, early childhood special education, special education, or related services personnel who are multilingual and from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds, and who have the competencies to work with infants, toddlers, children and youth (children) with disabilities and their families within early intervention, early childhood programs, or school settings;
• Increased variety of degrees, including associate degrees, bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, educational specialist degrees, and clinical doctorate degrees, and certifications in early intervention, early childhood special education, special education, and related services offered at HBCUs, TCCUs, and other MSIs; and
• Increased faculty capacity at HBCUs, TCCUs, and other MSIs to design and deliver programs of study in early intervention, early childhood special education, special education, and related services.

The purpose of the Model Demonstration Projects to Develop Equitable Family Engagement with Underserved Families of Children with Disabilities priority is to establish and operate evidence-based model demonstration projects that implement sustainable, schoolwide policies, practices, and strategies that systemically engage underserved families of children with disabilities as partners and leaders in creating more equitable and inclusive schools that lead to improved outcomes for children with disabilities.

The purpose of the National Center for Systemic Improvement is to provide sustained technical assistance to state educational agencies to support them to effectively implement the IDEA, build the capacity of state directors and state-level staff to meet the requirements of IDEA and build statewide systems to advance educational equity, mitigate state educational agency turnover, and improve academic and functional outcomes for children and youth with disabilities.

The purpose of the Stepping-up Technology Implementation grants is to support the implementation of an evidence-based technology-based tool or approach that integrates artificial intelligence to improve outcomes for students with disabilities.

The purpose of the National Center on Digital Access in Education is to improve the quality, availability, and timely provision of accessible digital educational materials and instruction, for children with disabilities. The Center will improve digital access to learning for children with disabilities in all learning environments in which children with disabilities are served under Part B and Part C of the IDEA.

The purpose of the National Technical Assistance Center to Improve State Capacity to Collect, Report, Analyze, and Use Accurate IDEA Part B Data is to provide technical assistance to help States better meet current and future IDEA Part B data collection and reporting requirements, improve data quality, and analyze and use section 616, section 618, and other IDEA data to identify and address programmatic strengths and areas for improvement. The Data Center will also focus on providing technical assistance on collecting, reporting, analyzing, and using Part B data on children with disabilities ages 3 through 21 required under sections 616 and 618 of IDEA.

The purpose of the National Technical Assistance Center to Improve State Capacity to Collect, Report, Analyze, and Use Accurate Early Childhood IDEA Data is to provide technical assistance to improve State capacity to collect, report, analyze, and use high-quality IDEA Part C early intervention data and IDEA Part B preschool special education data on children with disabilities; and to enhance and streamline Part C and Part B preschool special education data systems by sharing, linking, and integrating statewide, child-level early childhood data (to improve the analyses of IDEA data to address critical policy questions that will facilitate program improvement, improve compliance accountability, and improve outcomes or results for children served under Part C and Part B preschool special education programs.

The Special Olympics Education Programs provides opportunities for individuals with intellectual disabilities to engage in sports training and competitive activities, leading to improvements in the quality of life.