Sec. 105. National Technical Assistance Center and National Coordinating Center for Inclusion of Students with Intellectual Disabilities
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Section 777 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1140q ) is amended to read as follows: From amounts appropriated under paragraph (5), the Secretary shall award a grant to, or enter into a contract or cooperative agreement with, an eligible entity to provide for the establishment and support of a National Technical Assistance Center. The National Technical Assistance Center shall carry out the duties set forth in paragraph (4). The program under this section shall be administered by the office in the Department that administers other postsecondary education programs in consultation with the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
In this subpart, the term eligible entity means an institution of higher education, a nonprofit organization, or partnership of two or more such institutions or organizations, with demonstrated expertise in— transitioning students with disabilities from secondary school to postsecondary education; supporting students with disabilities in postsecondary education; technical knowledge necessary for the dissemination of information in accessible formats; and working with diverse types of institutions of higher education, including community colleges.
The duties of the National Technical Assistance Center shall include the following: The National Technical Assistance Center shall provide information and technical assistance to students with disabilities and the families of students with disabilities to support students across the broad spectrum of disabilities, including— information to assist individuals with disabilities who are prospective students of an institution of higher education in planning for postsecondary education while the students are in secondary school; information and technical assistance provided to individualized education program teams (as defined in section 614(d)(1) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) for secondary school students with disabilities, and to early outreach and student services programs, including programs authorized under subparts 2, 4, and 5 of part A of title IV, to support students across a broad spectrum of disabilities with the successful transition to postsecondary education; research-based supports, services, and accommodations which are available in postsecondary settings, including services provided by other agencies such as vocational rehabilitation; information on student mentoring and networking opportunities for students with disabilities; and effective recruitment and transition programs at postsecondary educational institutions.
The National Technical Assistance Center shall provide information and technical assistance to faculty, staff, and administrators of institutions of higher education to improve the services provided to, the accommodations for, the retention rates of, and the completion rates of, students with disabilities in higher education settings, which may include— collection and dissemination of best and promising practices and materials for accommodating and supporting students with disabilities, including practices and materials supported by the grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements authorized under subparts 1, 2, and 3; development and provision of training modules for higher education faculty on exemplary practices for accommodating and supporting postsecondary students with disabilities across a range of academic fields, which may include universal design for learning and practices supported by the grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements authorized under subparts 1, 2, and 3; and development of technology-based tutorials for higher education faculty and staff, including new faculty and graduate students, on best and promising practices related to support and retention of students with disabilities in postsecondary education.
The National Technical Assistance Center shall be responsible for building, maintaining, and updating a database of disability support services information with respect to institutions of higher education, or for expanding and updating an existing database of disabilities support services information with respect to institutions of higher education. Such database shall be available to the general public through a website built to high technical standards of accessibility practicable for the broad spectrum of individuals with disabilities.
Such database and website shall include available information on— disability documentation requirements; support services available; links to financial aid; accommodations policies; accessible instructional materials; other topics relevant to students with disabilities; and the information in the report described in subparagraph (E). The National Technical Assistance Center shall work with organizations and individuals with proven expertise related to disability support services for postsecondary students with disabilities to evaluate, improve, and disseminate information related to the delivery of high quality disability support services at institutions of higher education.
Not later than three years after the establishment of the National Technical Assistance Center, and every two years thereafter, the National Technical Assistance Center shall prepare and disseminate a report to the Secretary and the authorizing committees analyzing the condition of postsecondary success for students with disabilities. Such report shall include— a review of the activities and the effectiveness of the programs authorized under this part; annual enrollment and graduation rates of students with disabilities in institutions of higher education from publicly reported data; recommendations for effective postsecondary supports and services for students with disabilities, and how such supports and services may be widely implemented at institutions of higher education; recommendations on reducing barriers to full participation for students with disabilities in higher education; and a description of strategies with a demonstrated record of effectiveness in improving the success of such students in postsecondary education.
In hiring employees of the National Technical Assistance Center, the National Technical Assistance Center shall consider the expertise and experience of prospective employees in providing training and technical assistance to practitioners. There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this subsection $10,000,000. In this subsection, the term eligible entity means an entity, or a partnership of entities, that has demonstrated expertise in the fields of— higher education; the education of students with intellectual disabilities; the development of inclusive higher education programs for students with intellectual disabilities; and evaluation and technical assistance.
From amounts appropriated under paragraph (7), the Secretary shall enter into a cooperative agreement, on a competitive basis, with an eligible entity for the purpose of establishing a coordinating center for institutions of higher education that offer inclusive higher education programs for students with intellectual disabilities, including institutions participating in grants authorized under subpart 2 to provide— recommendations related to the development of standards for such programs; technical assistance for such programs; and evaluations for such programs, including systematic collection of data on the experiences and outcomes of individuals with intellectual disabilities.
The program under this subsection shall be administered by the Office of Postsecondary Education, in collaboration with the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. The Secretary shall enter into a cooperative agreement under this subsection for a period of five years. The eligible entity entering into a cooperative agreement under this subsection shall establish and maintain a coordinating center that shall— serve as the technical assistance entity for all inclusive higher education programs and comprehensive transition and postsecondary programs for students with intellectual disabilities; provide technical assistance regarding the development, evaluation, and continuous improvement of such programs; evaluate such programs using qualitative and quantitative methodologies for measuring program strengths in the areas of academic access, academic enrichment, socialization, competitive integrated employment, attainment of a degree, certificate, or recognized postsecondary credential, and independent living; evaluate participant progress by creating and maintaining a database of student-level information and data related to the experiences and outcomes of youth who participate in each inclusive higher education program that receives a grant under this subpart; create and maintain a mechanism for continuing to collect outcome information from students who participated in inclusive higher education programs that were developed in previous grant award cycles; assist recipients of a grant under this subpart in efforts to award a meaningful credential and to seek institution of higher education approval for any newly developed credentials; create and maintain a database of student and program level data reflecting implementation of the inclusive higher education program that receives a grant under this subpart; create and maintain a mechanism to consolidate follow up data on student outcomes collected by inclusive higher education programs funded through previous grant cycles; assist recipients of grants under subpart 2 in efforts to award a degree, certificate, or recognized postsecondary credential to students with intellectual disabilities upon the completion of such programs; identify model memoranda of agreement for use between or among institutions of higher education and State and local agencies providing funding for such programs; develop recommendations for the necessary components of such programs, such as— academic, career and technical, social, and independent living skills; evaluation of student progress; program administration and evaluation; student eligibility; issues regarding the equivalency of a student’s participation in such programs to semester, trimester, quarter, credit, or clock hours at an institution of higher education, as the case may be; and access to student housing for students participating in the inclusive higher education programs, including accommodations and services that support independent living; review and analyze— the impact of Federal and State legislation on inclusive higher education and inclusive higher education policy; and funding streams for such programs; provide recommendations regarding the funding streams described in subparagraph (H)(ii); develop mechanisms for regular communication, outreach and dissemination of information about inclusive higher education programs for students with intellectual disabilities under subpart 2 between or among such programs and to families and prospective students; host a meeting of all recipients of grants under subpart 2 not less often than once each year; and convene a work group to continue the development of and recommendations for model criteria, standards, and components of inclusive higher education programs and comprehensive transition and postsecondary programs for students with intellectual disabilities, that are appropriate for the development of accreditation standards— which work group shall include— an expert in community college education; an expert in career technical education; an expert in 4-year institutions of higher education; an expert in special education; a disability organization that represents students with intellectual disabilities; a representative from the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity; and a representative of a regional or national accreditation agency or association; and the work group will carry out the following activities:
Conduct outreach to accrediting agencies. Develop a technical guidance document to support implementation of the model standards. Develop and conduct a protocol for field testing and implementing the model standards. Update recommendations for the model standards, criteria, and components of such programs, as applicable. Not later than 5 years after the date of the establishment of the coordinating center under this subsection, the coordinating center shall report to the Secretary, the authorizing committees, and the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity on the activities described in paragraph (5).
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this subpart such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2019 and each of the five succeeding fiscal years. . Section 778 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 is repealed.
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Sec. 105
National Technical Assistance Center and National Coordinating Center for Inclusion of Students with Intellectual Disabilities
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