Additional training and technical assistance is being planned for districts as they implement consolidated plans. Every five years, every district must develop a School Board Five Year Plan focusing on system-wide reform. This Five Year Plan is the basis of a district's consolidated application. These plans have just undergone a peer review and will be returned to districts along with reader comments and recommendations. If a low performing school fails to include goals related to areas of identified academic weakness, the district must assist the school in revising the plan to include appropriate academic goals.
Schools are to have only one plan for improvement.
This plan may be the Title I Schoolwide plan, the state required Improvement Plan, a Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration Program plan or any other appropriate plan. The Division of Special Education has developed a support network similar to the Title I support network. Title I and Special Education are coordinating activities within schools and districts to meet identified needs more effectively. Professional development is offered jointly by Title I and Special Education and is coordinated through the Department's Office of Professional Development. Plans are underway to include special education as a component in the consolidated planning training and in the consolidated application.