In October 2015, the Iowa Department of Education was awarded a five-year State Personnel Development Grant (SPDG) from the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) to implement their initiative, Ensuring Effective Specially Designed Instruction (SDI). The purpose of the initiative was to develop a statewide technical assistance system that would provide personnel preparation and professional development on specially designed instruction using Iowa’s SDI Framework. The goal was to improve literacy outcomes for learners with disabilities by building the capacity of educators to effectively diagnose, design, and deliver instruction and engage learners and families. In 2020, Iowa received a one-year No Cost Extension (NCE) because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in school closures in the spring of 2020 and the temporary suspension of grant activities.

Over the six-year grant period, 171 schools and 83 districts located across the state were engaged in state-level support that were organized by the following four focus areas: Preschool, K-6 Literacy, Significant Disabilities, and Family and School Partnership. Design teams from each focus area provided ongoing professional development in a variety of formats including full-day sessions, half-day webinars, Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), and summer/spring retreats. The PD content progressed through the components of the SDI Framework, introduced various tools, and emphasized the use of site-based data and child-find studies to guide SDI implementation. At the same time, trained SDI Coaches collaborated with school-based SDI teams that included AEA personnel, school administrators, special and general education teachers, and other support staff. Together, they developed and implemented SDI action plans to support and improve the implementation of SDI practices in their schools. Finally, the grant provided additional funds to schools so that they could purchase materials and resources—such as intervention programs, tools, and assessments—to support the needs of learners with disabilities at their schools.

Measurement Incorporated, a national education assessment and research evaluation firm, was contracted by the Iowa Department of Education to conduct an independent evaluation of the SPDG grant. The evaluation provided formative and summative data to support Iowa’s decisions regarding the development and implementation of grant activities. Key findings from the evaluation were published in periodic evaluation briefs, called the SPDG Spotlight. Collectively, these briefs documented numerous successes of the SDI initiative. Chief among them are (1) educators’ increased capacity to effectively implement SDI practices, (2) positive relationship between SDI-related coaching supports and teachers’ use of SDI practices, and (3) significant improvements in literacy outcomes for students with disabilities, particularly in schools where teachers increased implementation of SDI practices.