Educators, parents, and community leaders are concerned about students experiencing learning and behavior problems--students with and without disabilities. Although educators and families can meet the needs of many students, there are situations where assistance is needed. The goal of Student Improvement Teams is to expand the use of various resources and expertise in the schools and communities to individually address student needs.

The Student Improvement Team Training process was initiated in 1993 in response to feedback from educators throughout Kansas. To date, over 5,000 educators representing at least 600 schools have taken advantage of this staff development opportunity. While Kansas has had this initiative growing for 10 years, the necessity of addressing the needs of all students is now reflected in the Federal Legislation No Child Left Behind. Working from the premise that we shall leave no child behind necessitates a renewed commitment to how we serve each child in our school.

The training assists teams of varying backgrounds and expertise who are committed to building supports for students that are experiencing academic or behavioral problems and those who work with them.

The training reflects the recognition that time is necessary during the training for professionals to develop a process which meets the needs of individual schools and communities. This training provides the vision, critical issues to address, and time for teams to work together to create a process individually tailored for their schools.