The Institute was established in 1985 on the Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota. We are a federally designated University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD - pronounced U Said), part of a national network of similar programs in major universities and teaching hospitals across the country. We are currently home to over 80 projects and four affiliated centers through which we carry out activities addressing the needs of persons with disabilities across the life span.

Mission
Activities
Program Areas
Affiliated Centers
Partners and Collaborators
Advisory Councils
Funding
Contact Information

Mission

The Institute's mission is to improve the quality and community orientation of services and supports available to individuals with developmental disabilities and their families. Rather than providing direct services itself, the Institute works with community service providers, school districts, advocacy and self-advocacy organizations, policymakers, and researchers around the world to provide state-of-the-art information and practices that support the community integration of individuals with disabilities.

Activities

The Institute conducts the following core activities –

Interdisciplinary Preservice Training, providing support in initial career training for paraprofessionals, professionals, and leadership personnel seeking to better serve persons with developmental disabilities and their families.

Interdisciplinary Continuing Education, offering professional and personal development workshops and presentations for educators, community service providers, families, and individuals with disabilities.

Technical Assistance, offering consultation and program evaluation services to enhance the capacity of existing agencies and services.

Research, improving policies and services affecting persons with developmental disabilities and their families through applied research conducted in collaboration with organizations, agencies, colleges and universities around the country.

Dissemination, sharing information generated by Institute projects and collaborators through newsletters, curricula, training materials, resource guides, reports, brochures, journal articles, books, Web sites, videotapes, and other multimedia materials.

Program Areas

Institute projects are organized into Program Areas reflecting their focus on particular parts of the life span. The program areas are as follows –

Early Childhood Services Program Area. Projects in this area address the social, emotional, educational, and other developmental needs of young children who have (or are at substantial risk for) developmental disabilities, and their family members. See Early Childhood Services Projects for more information.

School-Age Services Program Area. The projects clustered in this area emphasize activities that enhance the full inclusion and support of children with disabilities in educational and social environments within their schools and communities. See School-Age Services Projects for more information.

Transition Services Program Area. Projects focusing on this part of the life span work to enable schools and community service agencies to better prepare youth with disabilities for life as productive, responsible adults in the community. See Transition Services Projects for more information.

Adult Services and Community Living Program Area. The projects in this area address needs in leisure/recreation services, social networks, case management, aging, residential services, family supports, quality care, development of quality services, and a wide range of other issues. See Adult Services and Community Living Projects for more information.

Affiliated Centers

In addition to its 80+ projects, the Institute has six Affiliated Centers, each with its own expertise:

National Center on Educational Outcomes
The Center provides national leadership in the participation of students with disabilities in district, state, and national assessments; standards-setting efforts; and graduation requirements. It conducts research, provides technical assistance, networks funded assessment research projects, and engages in extensive dissemination activities.

National Center on Secondary Education and Transition
The Center provides technical assistance and information dissemination on improved access and success for students with disabilities in secondary and postsecondary education, as well as employment, independent living, and community participation.

North Central Regional Resource Center
The Center seeks to improve education results for children and youth with disabilities through state-level systems change. It provides technical assistance and dissemination support to state and local education agencies in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin as they seek to sustain systems change efforts that improve educational results and accountability for children and youth with disabilities and their families.

Partnership for Accessible Reading Assessments
The Partnership engages in research on and development of accessible reading assessments that provide a valid demonstration of reading proficiency for increasingly diverse populations of students in our public schools, and particularly for those students who have disabilities that affect reading. It is operated by a consortium consisting of the National Center on Educational Outcomes; the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST); and Westat.

Research and Training Center on Community Living
The Center engages in research, training, and technical assistance on community living for persons with developmental disabilities, and maintains a national database on residential and related services. Part of a national network of Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers, it operates in collaboration with the Center on Human Policy at Syracuse University, and the Coleman Institute on Cognitive Disability at the University of Colorado.

Research Institute on Progress Monitoring
The Institute engages in development of a seamless and flexible system of student progress monitoring to be used in K-12 schools across ages, abilities, and curricula. The system that results from the Institute's research will be used to evaluate the effects of individualized instruction on access to and progress in the general education curriculum for students with disabilities, and will result in improved instructional decision-making and more successful instructional programs in general education for students with disabilities.

In addition, the Institute collaborates with the Center for Early Education and Development (CEED) at the University of Minnesota on early childhood activities.

Partners and Collaborators

The Institute conducts collaborative projects with over 220 community organizations, schools, universities and colleges, service providers, government agencies, advocacy and self advocacy groups, and professional associations. For a complete list, please request a copy of the latest Annual Report from the Institute's Publications Office at 612-624-4512 or icipub@umn.edu.

Advisory Councils

University Advisory Council
The University Advisory Council serves as an internal advisory board to establish broad policies, evaluate the impact of the Institute within the University community, ensure continued University commitment to the Institute's work, and advise the director.

Community Advisory Council
The Community Advisory Council serves as an external advisory board to review and recommend broad programmatic directions, to evaluate the impact of the Institute within the state and region, to serve as liaison and advocate for the Institute's involvement in community-based activities, and to advise on critical areas of need that the Institute should address in future planning efforts. Community Advisory Council Members include consumers and family members, providers or directors of collaborating state and local agencies, and policymakers or senior staff from state agencies that collaborate directly the with Institute. To learn more about the Community Advisory Council, please contact Carol Ely at 612-626-3346 or by e-mail at elyxx021@umn.edu.

Funding

The Institute's activities are funded largely through federal, state, and local government agencies and several private sources, with matching funds provided mainly by the University of Minnesota and its College of Education and Human Development. Core funding for the Institute comes from the Administration on Developmental Disabilities, US Department of Health and Human Services (Grant #90-DD0506/01). For a complete list of funding agencies and additional budget information, please request a copy of the latest Annual Report from the Institute's Publications Office at 612-624-4512 or icipub@umn.edu.

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