SELPA Resource Lead Agency System

Legislative Authorization

The 2018 Budget Act (Chapter 29, Statutes of 2018) appropriated $10 million to implement the requirements of Assembly Bill 1808 (Chapter 32, Statutes of 2018) for the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE) and the California Department of Education (CDE) to select at least three, but no more than ten, Special Education Local Plan Areas (SELPAs) or a consortia of SELPAs to serve as special education resource leads to work with lead agencies selected pursuant to Sections 52073 and 52073.1, and other county offices of education (COEs), to improve pupil outcomes as part of the California Statewide System of Support.

Purpose

To further develop California's Statewide System of Support, the SELPA Resource Leads (SELPA Leads) will consist of two types of statewide special education leads: SELPA Systems Improvement Leads and SELPA Content Leads. The main goal of the SELPA Leads is to grow differentiated assistance provided to Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) with a focus on improving the outcomes of students with disabilities (SWD).

SELPA Content Leads further support SELPAs to help LEAs in developing and implementing evidence-based practices for SWD. SELPA Content Leads will have existing expertise establishing systems, data practices using cycles of improvement in at least one of the following areas, and will serve as a statewide lead for other SELPAs:

• Increasing access to inclusive environments (Least Restrictive Environments)
• Increasing access to quality curriculum and instruction
• Reducing suspensions and expulsions
• Reducing disproportionality in all areas
• Improving supports for English learners with disabilities

SELPA Leads

SELPA System Improvement Leads

The purpose of the SELPA System Improvement Leads (SIL) Project is to work collaboratively within the Statewide System of Support to build the capacity of SELPAs and LEAs with a common goal to improve outcomes for students with disabilities. If partnerships are built between SELPAs, LEAs, COEs, Statewide Leads Agencies, the CDE, and the CCEE and the capacity of SELPAs is built to support LEAs in 1) data use and governance, 2) continuous improvement, and 3) implementation of high leverage practices; then SWD will have access to cohesive and effective school systems intentionally designed to provide the necessary supports and interventions for educational and post-secondary success.

The SELPA Improvement Leads are:

• El Dorado County SELPA
• Riverside County SELPA
• West San Gabriel Valley SELPA

SELPA Content Leads

SELPA Content Leads will further develop the capacity of SELPAs to support the LEAs they serve in developing and implementing evidence-based practices for students with disabilities in particular areas of need.

The SELPA Content Leads are:

• Marin County SELPA
  • As a Content Lead, the Marin County SELPA works in partnership with the California Autism Professional Training and Information Network (CAPTAIN) to scale up the use of evidence-based practices.
• Placer County SELPA
  • The Open Access Project, which focuses on Universal Design for Learning, Assistive Technology, and Augmentative and Alternative Communication strategies, is operated through the Placer County SELPA.
• South County SELPA
  • South County SELPA brings together teachers, special education providers, parents, and district administrators to confidently and proactively address the issue of disproportionality in special education.
• Imperial County SELPA
  • Imperial County SELPA is committed to be of assistance to the statewide system of support by offering collaborative consultation services to SELPAs who have identified needs associated with improving outcomes for English learners with Disabilities, and provides statewide in-person and virtual training opportunities for teachers, teacher-leads/coaches, support personnel, general and special education service providers, and administrators.

Calendar of Events

2021–22 System of Support Events

Resources

• Seeds of Partnership
  • Seeds of Partnership provides assistance on behalf of the CDE, Special Education Division to support the direction, initiatives, and activities in the State Performance Plan (SPP) related to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Indicators; increase improvement of partnerships; and provide professional learning resources that will assist LEAs seeking to improve their family engagement practices and educational outcomes.
• Supporting Inclusive Practices
  • The Supporting Inclusive Practices (SIP) Project, a partnership between the CDE, Riverside County Office of Education, and El Dorado County Office of Education, operates a culture focused on building capacity at all levels via collaborative systems and structures through the creation and implementation of policies which remove structural and procedural barriers that impede the change of inclusion. The SIP Project fosters practices that are responsive to student diversity, encourage student-directed learning, are evidence-based, and developed via ongoing collaboration between staff, students, and community; and believes that a cohesive leadership team that is distributed across levels and is committed to driving change across the organization is an essential element for inclusion.
• Desired Results Access Project
  • The Desired Results Access Project (DR Access) supports special educators, administrators, and families in implementing the CDE’s Desired Results Developmental Profile (DRDP [2015]). DRDP (2015) includes all infants and toddlers with Individualized Family Service Plans and all preschool-age children (age 3 through age 5, not enrolled in transitional kindergarten or kindergarten) who have Individualized Education Programs.
• State Performance Plan Technical Assistance Project
  • Through a contract with the Napa County Office of Education (NCOE), the State Performance Plan Technical Assistance Project (SPP-TAP) provides a system of technical assistance for LEAs working to address performance and compliance problems relating to disproportionality and significant disproportionality.

Funding Results

Each SELPA Lead is selected for a term ending no later than June 30, 2023.

View funding results by year:

2018–19

2018–19 SELPA Awardees and Amounts

2018–19 SELPA Content Lead Awardees and Amounts

Request for Application

The CDE is not currently accepting Requests for Applications (RFAs). RFAs were announced for SELPA Systems Improvement Leads (PDF) and SELPA Content Leads (PDF).

Application Workshop

The CDE conducted two SELPA Leads webinars – one for the SELPA Systems Improvement Leads and one for the SELPA Content Leads – to provide an overview of the RFA and offer potential applicants an opportunity to ask clarifying questions.

The SELPA Systems Improvement Leads webinar (held on September 21, 2018) was intended to provide an overview of the RFA, and offer potential Systems Improvement Leads applicants an opportunity to ask clarifying questions. A video of this webinar can viewed at:

SELPA Resource Leads – Systems Improvement Leads RFA Webinar (Video; 31:22)

The SELPA Content Leads webinar was held on November 30, 2018, from 10 a.m.–12:30 p.m.