Special Education Resource Leads

Legislative Authorization

The 2022 Budget Act provided $12 million annually, pursuant to California Education Code sections (EC) 52073 and 52073.2, to improve pupil outcomes as part of the Statewide System of Support (SSOS). The California Department of Education (CDE) in conjunction with the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE) worked to select no more than ten SERLs to build capacity within special education local plan areas (SELPAs), county offices of education (COEs), and local educational agencies (LEAs).

Purpose

The SERLs selected will and join a statewide leadership team, which includes the CDE, and the State Board of Education. The leads will work collaboratively with the SSOS, other COEs, SELPAs, districts, charter schools, and external partners such as family support organizations to build the capacity of the system at the local and regional levels to improve outcomes for students with disabilities (SWD).

Individually and collectively, all grantees will be responsible for the following:

• Effectively build the capacity of LEAs to improve outcomes for SWD and support their families.
  
  
• Extend equity of access to high quality technical assistance and resources statewide.
  
  
• Provide support to both LEAs with identified needs, including LEAs identified by the CDE as needing assistance through Compliance and Improvement Monitoring and Differentiated Assistance, as well as those who opt-in for continuous improvement support.
  
  
• Develop, support, and participate in a robust communication network amongst all entities in the SSOS, including the state agencies and other leads.
  
  
• Establish qualitative and quantitative goals to evaluate the capacity built within LEAs statewide to provide high-quality assistance and expertise to member LEAs across multiple measures.
  
  
• Participate in a network with other agencies serving in the SSOS and serve as a conduit in connecting LEAs to the other branches of the system.
  
  
• Facilitate integration and partnerships across all levels of the system (SELPAs, COEs, to LEAs, to individual classrooms).
  
  
• Submit all newly developed and ongoing resources to CDE for uploading to the California Technical Assistance Network website, including any updates to previous resources.

Special Education Resource Leads

Individualized Education Plan Best Practices Leads

San Diego COE: East County and Santa Clara SELPAs

Information regarding Individualized Education Plan (IEP) Best Practices Leads is available on the High Quality IEPs web page

Building Capacity Leads

El Dorado COE and Riverside COE: El Dorado County SELPA and Riverside County SELPA

Information regarding the El Dorado COE and Riverside COE, Building Capacity Leads is available on the System Improvement Leads web page

Los Angeles County SELPA, Head Start and Early Learning Division Los Angeles COE, Community Partner: Special Needs Network (non-profit)

Information regarding the Los Angeles County SELPA, Building Capacity Leads is available on the Los Angeles COE web page

Santa Clara COE

Information regarding the Santa Clara COE, Building Capacity Leads is available on the Santa Clara COE web page

English Learner Leads

Imperial County SELPA

Information regarding English Learner Leads is available on the Improving Outcomes for Multilingual Student with Exceptional Needs web page

Alternative Dispute Resolution Leads

Ventura County SELPA and Tehama County SELPA, Community Partner: Rainbow Connection Family Empowerment Center

Information regarding Alternative Dispute Resolution Leads is available on the Pathways to Partnership website

Universal Design for Learning Leads

Placer COE: Placer County SELPA

Information regarding Universal Design for Learning Leads is available on the Open Access Learning and Participation for ALL web page

Funding Results

Each SERLs are selected for a term ending no later than June 30, 2024. Information about funding results is available on the CDE Funding Results web page.