Our Mission

The State Improvement Grant Team commits itself to promote urban education through the delivery of educator, school, community, and district supports designed to increase achievement for all students.  The DC-SIG focuses on instruction, behavioral support, early intervention/prevention and family engagement as critical areas to the improvement of both general and special education services. The DC-SIG keeps foremost in mind the diversity of our community to ensure that we are culturally responsive to our audiences.

The District of Columbia Public Schools Board of Education under its "State" function was awarded a five-year State Improvement Grant (SIG) by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs in 2004. The purpose of this grant is to implement systemic change initiatives to improve the quality of education for all students, and thereby improve results for children and youth with disabilities. For clarity with this grant, the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) refers to all public and Charter schools within the District of Columbia.

STUDENT SUCCESS: A systems approach to building stakeholder capacity and improving student outcomes is a collaborative effort designed to assist all District of Columbia Public Schools in becoming schools that will help all students succeed. STUDENT SUCCCESS is the culmination of a series of stakeholder discussions and planning sessions, needs assessments, strategic planning sessions, and current review of evidence-based practices, conducted by DCPS and key stakeholders, over a three-year period. The purpose of the SIG is to implement-school wide approaches that support the academic and behavioral needs of learners resulting in increased student achievement and decreased need for special education services.

The DC-SIG focuses on instruction, behavioral support, and family engagement as the most critical areas to the improvement of both general and special education services within DCPS. This includes the necessity to (a) increase the capacity of special and general education staff to support the academic and behavioral needs of all students, (b) improve outcomes for students, and c) offer opportunities for families to obtain information/training that supports the needs of their children.

The SIG works in collaboration with the District's six-year Reading First Initiative to offer literacy training and outreach that focuses on:

• Increased professional development.
• Scientifically-based instructional programs, materials and instruction.
• Valid and reliable screening, diagnostic and on-going classroom assessments.
• State and District-wide accountability and leadership structures.

The SIG also collaborates with Dr. George Sugai and the OSEP Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). PBIS is a nationally recognized program that focuses on creating safe school environments that are conducive to learning and building the capacity of schools to meet challenges through early behavioral interventions. PBIS can help schools:

• Increase students' time on tasks.
• Reduce episodes of violent or disruptive behavior.
• Decrease office referrals, suspensions and expulsions.
• Increase school attendance.
• Present meaningful staff development opportunities that address behavioral concerns.
• Gather and analyze behavior related data to aid in making instructional decisions.

The SIG offers ongoing, research-based professional development for personnel and families related to the academic and behavioral needs of all learners.