The Vermont State I-Team Then and Now: Twenty-five Years of Technical Assistance and Training to Support the Education of Students with Severe Disabilities
Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online March, 2001
The Vermont State I-Team Then and Now: Twenty-five Years of Technical Assistance and Training to Support the Education of Students with Severe Disabilities
Vermont's State I-Team has provided technical assistance and training to educational team members of children with disabilities for twenty-five years. The I-Team has been funded since 1977 by the Vermont Department of Education and administered through the Center on Disability and Community Inclusion, The University Affiliated Program (UAP), at the University of Vermont. The work of the I-Team has been enhanced by its relationship with other state and federally funded projects that support model program development and research in the field of disability. The authors generated questions relevant to the I-Team and others providing technical assistance, training, and support in rural settings and collected data generated through literature reviews, product review, and interviews. Data analysis resulted in the articulation of two major themes: a) the changing context of service delivery, and b) characteristics of I-Team service delivery. Themes are discussed for the years 1976–79 (The Beginnings), 1980–89 (Expansion), and 1990–99 (Inclusion). There are concluding comments about the characteristics of successful programs that are sustained over time.
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