As a partner with the SWIFT Center, TASH congratulates SWIFT on completing the state selection to implement the education initiative called SWIFT (School-wide Integrated Framework for Transformation).
Maryland, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Oregon and Vermont were selected based on a rigorous set of criteria that included multiple sources of data. New Hampshire and Vermont will be regarded as one state education agency based on their existing education consortium. Each of these 4 state agencies had identified 4 local school districts and will work with those districts to identify 4 schools in each district. A total of 64 schools will join SWIFT in 4 cohorts beginning fall 2013.
The SWIFT system is based on more than ten years of University of Kansas research to improve academic and social outcomes for K-eighth grade students that was successfully implemented in several low-income urban schools in California, Kansas City, New Orleans and Washington, D.C. The target of SWIFT inclusive school reform is to assist schools to fully integrate and focus all resources to the benefit of all students through transformation to tiered levels of instructional intensity geared to student need.
TASH will work closely at the state, district, and local level to partner with leaders to assess and align policies and practices that support SWIFT implementation and sustainability. TASH is partnering with the Institute for Educational Leadership to deliver policy technical assistance and stakeholder engagement throughout the SWIFT Center.
National partners with KU in the SWIFT Center initiative include the University of Oregon, the University of New Hampshire, the University of North Carolina, the University of South Florida, Arizona State University, the Council of Chief State School Officers, the National Association of State Directors of Special Education, TASH, the Institute for Educational Leadership and the Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education.
For more information about the SWIFT Center visit www.swiftschools.org.