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• National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems (NCCRESt)

NCCRESt Activities

• 1st Annual Creating Opportunities to Learn: A Forum Addressing Disproportionality
• 1st Annual National Forum entitled, Creating Opportunities to Learn: A Forum for Addressing Disproportionality
• 2007 Leadership for Equity and Excellence: Transforming Education
• A Cultural, Linguistic, and Ecological framework for Response to Intervention with English Language Learners
• A culturally and linguistically responsive ecological RTI model
• View all.

Center Overview

The Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems and Evidence-Based Practices will support state education agencies (SEAs) and local education agencies (LEAs) in their efforts to effectively address and reduce incidences of disproportionate representation of minorities in special education resulting from inappropriate or ineffective educational practices. The Center will build on the findings and recommendations of the National Research Council, reports, and other literature so that students, families, practitioners, policy makers, and researchers can coalesce around scientifically based interventions and strategic improvements in practice and policy to help close the achievement gap between minority students and their peers and reduce inappropriate referrals to special education.

Methods

The Center will fulfill four main goals: (a) continuous improvement, through the Continuous Improvement Core Team, in increasing knowledge and understanding at the policy level, through evaluation of current practice, change efforts, and impact; (b) research and practice synthesis and product development, through the Research and Development Core Team, to promote systemic change; (c) professional development to build state and local capacity, through the Professional Development Core Team, for SEA's and LEA's leveraging existing technical assistance networks; and (d) networking and dissemination, through the Networking and Dissemination Team, to engage a national discourse in local, professional practice, and policy communities on improving educational outcomes for linguistically and culturally diverse students. To accomplish this work will require close partnerships in the development of state-level teams that engage in careful analysis and interpretation of their state-level data on representation of minority populations in special education. These teams will prepare annual technical assistance and professional development plans for educational program and practice improvement in early intervention, literacy, and behavior. The project will collaborate with families, state policy makers, SEA representatives, LEA superintendents, special education directors, and teachers. Building a coherent professional development and technical assistance plan will require close partnerships with the Regional Resource Centers, parent information centers, and professional organizations to ensure that high quality family and professional development and technical assistance are delivered.