Puerto Rico

How Eight State Education Agencies in the Northeast and Islands Region Identify and Support Low-Performing Schools and Districts
This report describes and analyzes how eight state education agencies (SEAs) in the Northeast and Islands Region—those of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York , Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, and Vermont—identify and support low-performing schools and districts under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). Focusing on direct state supports and interventions, the report finds that the eight agencies have created supports and rationales to put federally defined accountability principles into practice in response to their specific contexts, local needs, and capacities.

Key Features of State Response to Intervention (RTI) Initiatives in the Northeast and Islands
The report analyzes the RTI-related initiatives, policies, regulations, and structures for support in all nine REL-NEI jurisdictions. It finds that the six New England states and New York support RTI as an overall school instructional-improvement approach or an approach to determining special-education eligibility. It also finds that RTI documents in the seven jurisdictions address the eight core features of RTI as defined by the National Research Center on Learning Disabilities.

Do States Have Certification Requirements for Preparing General Education Teachers to Teach Students with Disabilities? Experience in the Northeast and Islands Region
More than 6 million students with disabilities are served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2004. Two-thirds of these students are in at least one course taught by general education teachers. Due to the increased inclusion of students with disabilities in general education classrooms, it is essential for general education teachers to have the knowledge and skills needed to teach students with disabilities. This report on teacher certification requirements in the Northeast and Islands Region finds that eight of the nine jurisdictions require some coursework in teaching students with disabilities for initial licensure of general education teachers.