Background
One of the project goals for the New York State Improvement Grant (SIG) is to enhance the quality of teacher performance in the State's schools by (1) supporting the development of quality inclusive teacher preparation programs and (2) building linkages between the institutions that offer those programs and selected high need schools in the various regions of the State. The resulting partnerships will build a capacity for better teacher preparation and particularly teacher preparation programs that address the challenges of teaching in high need schools. They will also build a capacity of schools and districts to understand and respond to the challenges they face in serving all learners, in part by drawing on the resource college and university teacher educators offer in research, data analysis, and professional development.

To these ends, we established the New York Higher Education Support Center (HESC) for SystemsChange, at Syracuse University. The key vehicle by which we carry out our work is the Task Force (TF) on Quality Inclusive Schooling. Members of the TF have committed to two key objectives:

1. to develop and implement a quality inclusive teacher preparation program, or to sustain such a program already in effect;


2. to engage in and support the professional development efforts of selected high needs schools and districts that have been identified in each of the state's seven regions.

The TF is divided into seven regional groups, matching the seven Regional School Support Centers (RSSCS) established by the State. Each regional group is represented by a TF Liaison, selected within the region, who serves to lead the regional members and to communicate with the HESC on matters of meeting agendas and planning for initiatives. As the TF has grown in recent years, we have come to appreciate the capacity of regional groups to support teacher preparation programs and to work with local high need schools. The leadership provided by the TF Liaisons has been important to the success of the regional groups.

Through the HESC, we are now working to provide and encourage opportunities for the professional development of teacher educators at institutions of higher education regarding inclusive schooling practices, and teacher preparation for teaching in inclusive schools, and collaboration with local schools on the challenges of student achievement. By expanding opportunities for the professional development of teacher educators at the State's colleges and universities, we will build the capacity of the entire system to respond to present and future work in meeting the needs of all learners.

Given the nature and needs of college and university teacher educators, professional development takes forms that vary from that which is common in schools and school districts. While information dissemination may be a part of professional development at this level, more often it takes the forms of independent research and study, study groups, program exchanges, visitations, material reviews and critiques, and/or experimentation with new concepts and practices. Through the HESC, we are providing many opportunities such as these in the form of new initiatives and ongoing support to the TF members and to other teacher educators across the State.

Duties of the Regional Task Force Liaison

Each region will identify one or more persons to serve as a liaison between the Regional Task Force Group, the Statewide Task Force on Quality Inclusive Schooling and the New York Higher Education Support Center for SystemsChange. Liaisons are appointed by census within their regions and then submit proposals under this initiative. Liaison tasks include:

• to continue to assist the HESC staff in planning for statewide meetings, and to attend each TF meeting, chairing the regional TF group meeting, and sometimes serving in roles of facilitator and presenter;


• to continue to foster communication among relevant parties in the region, and to assure that developments, needs, issues, and resolutions of regional matters be addressed within the region, and that appropriate communications about those matters be shared with the HESC staff;


• to maintain a current and accurate membership list for each region;


• to schedule and chair at least four meetings of the regional TF group, across the span of the year;


• to develop a regional needs assessment to ascertain the type of technical assistance required by the colleges and universities within the region;


• to meet, on a scheduled basis, with the HESC staff helping to shape the design and the direction of HESC activities and initiatives, and to serve as a channel of communication between the HESC and the relevant parties in the region;


• to recruit, within the region, selected institutions of higher education who have not yet joined the TF to do so and to participate meaningfully in various aspects of the work of the TF;


• to visit, observe, support, and report on the progress of regional colleges and universities in developing their inclusive teacher preparation programs;


• to visit, observe, support, and report on the progress of regional colleges and universities in forming partnerships with regional high need schools;


• to support the work of college and university teacher educators in ongoing professional development, including the initiatives offered and coordinated through the HESC;


• to assist with materials distribution and other communication from the HESC, VESID, and SED to the regional TF membership;


• to orient new higher education faculty within the region, or faculty new to the work of the HESC or the TF, to the mission, procedures, and opportunities of these organizations.

This regional liaison role will engage the TF Liaisons in shaping and delivering the professional development needed by college and university teacher educators. These regionally selected personnel will have greater credibility with their colleagues in higher education, at the same time bringing to the regions a heightened awareness of the purposes and efforts of the TF and the HESC. In performing these duties, the TF Liaisons will be coordinated and supported by the HESC staff and others, as appropriate.

Proposals submitted in response to this rfp will also outline regional goals and activities planned for the upcoming year. While the two goals of the Statewide Task Force on Quality Inclusive Schooling set the context for all of the work supported by the New York Higher Education Support Center, Regional Goals should reflect a consensus of needs and interests, which characterize the ongoing work unique to each region.

The budgeted funds will be distributed across the seven regions accounting for such variations in the regions as the number of institutions of higher education to be served, the geographic spread of the region, and other factors as are reasonable. In no case will a TF Liaison region receive less than $10,000; and in no case more than $30,000. While the bulk of the work described above will naturally occur during the academic year, TF Liaisons would also be called on during the summer months on a limited basis as needed.

Funds will be awarded as a sub-contract from Syracuse to the TF Liaison's institution of higher education, with appropriate budget plans in place to account for costs such as faculty salaries for released time, travel, supplies, and institutional overhead charges. All original proposals must be completed and submitted on line by October 31, 2005. The contract will run from September 1st to August 15th of each year, congruent with the HESC fiscal year. A mid – term report consisting of a narrative of the liaison’s activities and budget expenditures is required by March 15th of each year. A final report consisting of a narrative of the liaison’s activities and a budget approved and signed by an institution’s financial officer is due by August 15th.