California Department of Education, Special Education Division’s special project, California Services for Technical Assistance and Training (CalSTAT) is funded through a contract with the Napa County Office of Education. CalSTAT is partially funded from federal funds, State Grants #H027A080116A. Additional federal funds are provided from a federal competitively awarded State Personnel Development Grant to California (#H323A070011) provided from the U.S. Department of Education Part D of the Individuals with Disabilities Education act (IDEA). Opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the position of the U. S. Department of Education.
For the past eight years, CalSTAT has utilized federally allocated grant funds to support training and technical assistance to the field of education. Through collaborative efforts, as well as using workshops, online conferences, meetings, and publications, CalSTAT brings research-based training to schools and families. Hundreds of technical assistance training days have been delivered to schools, districts, county offices of education, and Special Education Local Plan Areas (SELPAs) to foster greater collaboration between special education and general education at their sites.
Technical Assistance is defined as customized problem solving around a specific situation or issue in achieving improved educational results. Interventions prescribed to sites utilize TA methodology specific to the outcomes desired. TA can be customized training, facilitation, coaching, site-visits, information dissemination, and referral.
Training topics communicate common messages to the field about selected topics. These common, or core messages, articulate critical research findings and essential components of effective application. All core messages have been identified by experts in the field and have been approved by the California Department of Education, Special Education Division.
CalSTAT, through grant funds, will support training and technical assistance requests that reflect any or all of the following core message areas listed below:
A full description of each core message area can be found at http://www.calstat.org/cores.html.
While every situation and each school is unique, TA is often needed in order to accomplish the following:
TA can be requested by representatives from the following:
If an LEA qualifies to receive TA funds, they can receive a maximum of ten TA days per training, and a yearly maximum of 20 TA days. Please keep in mind that Technical Assistance funds are not intended to cover the entire cost of the presenters or trainers, and the requesting agency is expected to leverage other resources they may have available to cover these expenses.
Provide the following information via telephone, email, or fax when making a TA request:If you have further questions regarding TA, please contact Lorie Fennell at 707-843-1199, or lorie.fennell@calstat.org