Grants starting at $500 to Massachusetts public school districts and educational collaboratives serving special needs students for professional development activities designed to help educators meet the needs of their disabled students. Funding will support professional development activities needed to enhance the knowledge, skills, and capacity of educators to meet the diverse needs of students, resulting in improved educational results and functional outcomes for these students.

Group 1:
Districts with a special education determination of Meets Requirements - At Risk or Needs Technical Assistance. Public school districts that are in special education determination categories Meets Requirements - At Risk (MRAR), or Needs Technical Assistance (NTA) are assigned to Group 1.

Priority Focus
Districts in Group 1 must choose one of the following priorities for the focus of FY2016 activities supported under Fund Code 274 and described in detail in the Required Forms section below. The selected priority should align with current district improvement initiatives. While proposed PD activities may have some overlap into multiple priority areas, districts must target grant outcomes to one of the priorities outlined in the RFP.

- Improving Social-Emotional Instruction and Disciplinary Practices for Students with Disabilities Grades PreK-12;
- Enhancing Family, School and Community Engagement;
- Special Education Paraprofessional Professional Development;
- Promoting Student Self-Determination; or
- Using Data to Improve Teaching and Learning in Special Education.

Group 2:

(a) Districts with a special education determination of Meets Requirements, Meets Requirements - Provisional, Needs Intervention, and
(b) Educational Collaboratives

Public school districts that are in special education determination categories Meets Requirements (MR), Meets Requirements - Provisional (MR-P), Needs Intervention (NI), Needs Substantial Intervention (NSI), or do not have an accountability rating (NR), e.g., educational collaboratives, are assigned to Group 2.

Priority Focus:

Districts and educational collaboratives in Group 2 are directed to select one Indicator from the State Performance Plan (SPP) and Annual Performance Report (APR) for the focus of FY2016 activities supported under Fund Code 274, and ensure that the identified related activities leverage current improvement initiatives and are focused on improving successful educational outcomes for students with IEPs.