State Improvement Grant

Project Mission, Goals & Organization

What is SIG?

The Tennessee State Improvement Grant (SIG) supports children with special needs, preschool through high school, and their families in the development of language, communication, pre-literacy and literacy skills to ensure academic achievement.

The Tennessee State Improvement Grant is administered through the Tennessee Department of Education, Division of Special Education, and works with collaborating schools across the state. SIG is a five-year initiative (2003-2008) and will expand services and numbers of collaborating schools each year.

The goals of SIG are accomplished through:

Identifying and disseminating scientifically research-based practices for supporting literacy and pre-literacy skills
Providing and supporting current educators with professional development in reading and literacy
Supporting family participation and providing technical assistance and information on reading and literacy to families of children with special needs
Integrating with and supporting Reading First and other educational initiatives in place in collaborating schools

Project Organization

Role	Description	Assignment
Executive Sponsor	Has ultimate authority over and is responsible for a project and/or a program, its scope and deliverables.	Commissioner Lana Seivers
Project Sponsor	Assists in developing the project charter and project plans, executes project reviews, tracks and disposes of issues and change requests.	Assistant Commissioner Joseph Fisher
Project Director	Develops and maintains project charter and project schedules, executes project reviews, tracks and disposes of issues and change requests, manages the budget, and is responsible for overall quality of the deliverables.	Kathy Strunk
Project Team	Is responsible for performing the activities necessary for implementation of the project.	Kathy Strunk, Ann Hampton, Donna Parker, Cara Alexander.
Key Customer(s)	Provides expert business understanding of the organization, and represents are for which the project is intended to support/serve.	US Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), parents, legislators, institutions of higher education, local education agencies and the general public.