Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research and Service

This project was a collaboration between the University of Connecticut Center for Excellence on Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service (UCEDD), Central Connecticut State University, the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut, LEARN (a regional education service center), the Arc of CT, and private inclusive educational consultants. The purpose of this project was to develop, implement and evaluate a Student Technical Assistance Response (STAR) Team that provides technical assistance to school districts and parents of children with significant disabilities in general education settings. The goals of the project were to (a) provide referring school districts and/or families with student-specific technical assistance from a cadre of professionals with expertise in educating children with significant disabilities in general education settings, thus increasing the number of students with access to the general education curriculum and environment; (b) collect and disseminate data on effective, evidence-based interventions, thus increasing the availability of knowledge and resources in this area; and (c) develop and validate a replicable collaborative consultative process for technical assistance that will be made available for use by school district personnel as well as other private inclusive educational consultants.

• Priority for participation was given to students with intellectual disabilities from the 43 Connecticut school districts that were identified by the State Department of Education as having the poorest record of including children with intellectual disabilities in the general education curriculum and environment.
• A protocol for using collaborative consultation was developed.
• Data was collected on the effectiveness of the STAR teams and the satisfaction of participants.
• Various annual and quarterly progress reports were produced.
• Brochures and a project poster were disseminated at various conferences and meetings across the state.