Special Education and Support Services
Illinois ASPIRE
Funded by a five-year (2005-2010) State Personnel Development Grant under Part D of IDEA 2004, Illinois ASPIRE (Alliance for School-based Problem-solving and Intervention Resources in Education) will establish and implement a coordinated, regionalized system of personnel development that will increase the capacity of school systems to provide early intervening services, aligned with the general education curriculum, to at-risk students and students with disabilities. This goal will be accomplished through four project objectives, which are to:
- Deliver research-based professional development and technical assistance to schools.
- Increase the participation of parents in decision-making across district sites.
- Incorporate the professional development content into IHE general and special education preservice curricula.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of project activities.
More detailed information about the project is available via the links below and at www.illinoisaspire.org. General questions about Illinois ASPIRE may be directed to Kathryn Cox at kcox@isbe.net or 217-782-5589. Questions regarding regional training and technical assistance activities may be directed to the regional Illinois ASPIRE Centers (see link below for contact information).
- Illinois ASPIRE Centers
To implement the project, ISBE has established four regional Illinois ASPIRE Centers—one in the city of Chicago, and one each in the northern, central, and southern parts of the state - Illinois
ASPIRE Regions
- School Demonstration/Data
Collection Sites
To facilitate school and student level data collection and evaluation, school demonstration/data collection sites will be identified within each region through a Request for Proposals (RFP) process. The RFPs will be posted here as they become available. - Illinois ASPIRE Training Events & Conferences
- Project Partnerships
Partnerships are a key component of Illinois ASPIRE, in that school districts, special education joint agreements, Regional Offices of Education, institutions of higher education and parents all play an important role.
Project-Related Documents
- ISBE Federal SPD
Grant Application
- Illinois ASPIRE Regional Centers
RFP
This competition is now closed, but the Request for Proposals can still be viewed for informational purposes.
Resources
- Illinois Standards-Aligned
Classroom (SAC) Initiative
This site contains resources and information about ISBE’s SAC Initiative. - Illinois
Reading First
This site contains information about Reading First and other literacy resources. - Illinois
School Psychologists Association
This website houses all of the resources from the former Flexible Service Delivery System (FSDS) site, including PowerPoint presentation files, key readings/research, forms, documents, grants, calendar events, more links, etc., all related to RtI, Flex, Problem Solving, and 3-Tiered intervention models.
