OSEP Communities of Practice TA Initiative

States have documented the need for improvement in their implementation of Part B and C of IDEA through the Office of Special Education Program's (OSEP) Continuous Improvement and Focused Monitoring Systems (CIFMS) as well as their Annual Performance Reports (APR). OSEP has articulated the need for states to demonstrate that services are making a difference for children with disabilities and their families. To support states in demonstrating these improved results, OSEP introduced a new TA initiative referred to as "Communities of Practice".

The OSEP Communities of Practice have the following goals:

1. To increase the use of high quality research-based information, effective policies and practices related to the IDEA
2. To identify solutions to key issues and challenges
3. To enhance shared learning
4. To prevent duplication of effort
5. To facilitate connections and collaboration among many stakeholders
6. To develop new service system capacities
7. To improve the implementation of the IDEA
8. To assure better outcomes for children with disabilities and their families

Community Activities

The Communities use a variety of strategies, activities and events to fulfill their goals of engaging members, sharing expertise, and discussing solutions. One major tool is an electronic communication forum, www.TAcommunities.org/, that supports the Community of Practice effort. In addition to this tool, the Communities make use of other strategies such as teleconferences, listservs, discussion forums, meetings, work groups, resource development, Web pages, think tanks and conferences.

Current Communities

OSEP has formed six Communities that address several key IDEA national implementation challenges. These topics align with OSEP's efforts that promote state improvement and performance. Each community is co-facilitated and managed by a team of staff from the Regional Resource Centers (RRC), OSEP-funded TA specialty centers, and Regional Parent Technical Assistance Centers (RPTAC). To learn more about the individual communities go to the links below:

• Part C - Child Identification
• Part C - Natural Environments and Settings
• Part B - Section 619 Preschool LRE
• Parts B and C - Data Systems (birth-21)
• Part B - LRE (addresses school age)
• Part B - Exiting (addresses school age)