Special Education Leadership Impact Series

The 2025–2026 Special Education Leadership Impact Series is a grant initiative administered by the Texas Education Agency (TEA), with funding authorized by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Part B, Section 611. With a total of $425,000 in federal funding allocated for this cycle, the grant is designed to build sustainable special education leadership systems across Texas by equipping district-level leaders—beginning with Special Education Directors—with scalable, flexible training content that translates complex policy requirements into actionable systems. This initiative responds to a critical gap in coherent, practice-ready leadership development pathways that align with state and federal compliance expectations. Anchored in the Special Education Performance Diagnostic (SPD) framework, the Leadership Impact Series delivers a blended model of asynchronous, cohort-based, and facilitated content. These include self-paced modules, facilitation decks, and application-based activities created through iterative cycles and stakeholder engagement. The materials aim to increase alignment with existing TEA initiatives, reduce duplication, and provide leaders with contextually relevant tools that improve special education system implementation. Participating districts are expected to demonstrate measurable improvements in data literacy, compliance practices, program quality, and leadership capacity over time. Applicants are required to integrate feedback loops with internal TEA teams, Education Service Center liaisons, and district/campus leaders to ensure content fidelity and relevance. The program emphasizes real-world applicability, such as improved IEP development and monitoring, strategic staffing, SHARS funding processes, and data-informed budgeting. Alignment with tools like the Effective Schools Framework (ESF), Results Driven Accountability (RDA), and other state systems is a priority to promote coherence across multiple accountability structures. The grant requires the development of supporting materials including facilitator guides, participant workbooks, and logic models. Grantees must also field-test the content with districts, collect and analyze stakeholder feedback, and revise deliverables accordingly. A comprehensive set of project management activities—such as maintaining engagement logs, meeting records, and summary reports—are essential to compliance. Funded costs may include payroll, travel within Texas, contracted services, consumables, and approved capital outlay, while administrative costs are limited to approved indirect costs only. Pre-award costs are not permitted. This funding opportunity is non-renewable and does not require any local cost sharing or match. The eligible applicant is exclusively The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk at The University of Texas at Austin. Shared services arrangements are not allowed, and the grant will operate on a reimbursement basis through TEA's Expenditure Reporting system. The application window opens on February 23, 2026, and closes on April 24, 2026. All applications must be submitted by the deadline using the Standard Application System (SAS), which includes both narrative and budget components. Performance will be evaluated through TEA's established metrics, including on-time deliverable completion, stakeholder engagement tracking, and feedback integration. Grantees must maintain regular communication with TEA project staff and provide quarterly reports. No additional attachments beyond the SAS are required. Contact Samora Davis ([email protected] | 512-463-9578) for program inquiries, and Elizabeth Sanchez ([email protected] | 512-463-8525) for funding-related questions.