• Identifying and training highly effective teachers to serve as instructional leaders in Title I schoolwide programs.
• Modifying the school schedule to allow for collaboration among the instructional staff.
Federal funding of $11.3 billion through IDEA, Part B helps defray the states’ and districts’ additional costs associated with educating students with disabilities. Additionally, the stimulus provides $400 million for the IDEA preschool program and $500 million for the IDEA infants and toddlers program.
It is important to note that under the existing IDEA rules, districts can reduce their state and local IDEA expenditures by as much as 50 percent of the federal increase in IDEA appropriation and instead apply those funds to Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) activities. The U.S. Department of Education suggests that districts take “advantage of this flexibility to focus the freed-up local funds on one-time expenditures, such as the equitable distribution of effective teachers and the quality of assessments,” according to guidance documents.
• Intensive, districtwide professional development for special education and regular education teachers that focuses on evidence-based, schoolwide strategies in reading, math, writing, and science as well as on positive behavioral supports to improve outcomes for students with disabilities.
• State-of-the-art assistive technology devices and training in their use to enhance access to the general curriculum for students with disabilities.
• Developing the capacity of preschool programs to expand inclusive placement options for preschoolers with disabilities.
The State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF) allocates $48.6 billion to states based on population. The formula distributes 61 percent on the basis of relative population of 5- to 24-year-olds and 39 percent on the basis of the state’s relative share of the total U.S. population. States must then use their share of the funding in two ways: to restore education funding and for public safety and other government operations.
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