OSEP-Funded Early Childhood Projects

Part D of the IDEA authorizes a variety of activities to help states and local communities facilitate systemic change toward improvement and positive results for children, youth and families, from birth through 21. These activities include research, deaf-blind, training and professional development, parent training and information centers, demonstration and outreach projects, state improvement projects, dissemination, technical assistance, congressionally mandated and technology applications. Often called "discretionary projects," these are supported by competitive federal grants, cooperative agreements or contracts by the U.S. Department of Education. A brief summary of the history of funding for early childhood discretionary projects covers 1971 - the present.

Early Childhood Programs and Projects Under IDEA (PDF: 216kb) is a one page summary of the types and numbers of projects funded through FY 2015.

OSEP Project Directors' Conference Web Site - Each year the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) hosts a conference for Personnel Preparation (including Leadership) Project Directors, State Improvement and State Personnel Development Grant Project Directors, Research and Innovation Project Directors, Technical Assistance and Dissemination Project Directors, Technology and Media Project Directors, and CSPD Coordinators. The most recent Project Directors’ Conference took place on July 18-20, 2011 in Washington, D.C. This Web site contains archives of previous conference materials and provides announcements about next year's conference, which will be held on July 23-25, 2012 in Washington, D.C.

OSEP’s Early Childhood Personnel Development Web Site - OSEP and the National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (NECTAC) are working together to support OSEP-funded personnel development project grantees. This web site is meant to be a place where project staff can find OSEP resources, view webinars and presentations, share documents, and participate in topical discussion groups. New features and information will be added regularly.

OSEP encourages grantees to identify their project-developed resources and products with the IDEAs that Work logo. Various file formats are available at OSEP Logo Files for Download.