Educational Services
Region 9 provides broad-based and comprehensive educational services to support children, families, member school districts, and communities. Direct services include early identification and intervention services for children, support for preschool and school-age students with special needs, support for students to transition into the post-secondary setting, and technical assistance for member districts in the areas of regulatory compliance, service delivery, program implementation, and professional growth.
Professional Development and Technical Assistance
Region 9 provides training and support for principal and teacher mentorship, curriculum alignment, lesson planning, Common Core State Standards, NM teacher evaluation, crisis prevention, instructional coaching, Student Assistance Team, Section 504, Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, among other educational regulation requirements for general and special education.
Child Find
Child Find screenings are conducted to help districts identify students who might be in need of early intervention services. Comprehensive screenings provide valuable information to schools and families regarding the developmental needs of children. Free developmental screenings are provided in collaboration with communities and member school districts through Region 9 to help locate, identify, and evaluate children with developmental delays or disabilities ages three through 21. Collaboration between community resources, early childhood program providers, and school districts increases the efficiency of services to children and families and maximizes their educational support.
Special Education Compliance
Region 9 provides targeted professional development and technical assistance to support member districts with the provision of special education and related services under the Individuals Disabilities Education Act and the New Mexico Administrative Code. This includes the development and implementation of the IEP, monitoring performance of students with disabilities, and the timely, accurate, and reliable reporting of data. Additionally, Region 9 supports member districts with yearly updates to the Handbook of Special Education Procedures. Region 9 provides targeted professional development and technical assistance to support staff in conducting full and comprehensive individual evaluations following NM guidelines, as outlined in the New Mexico Technical Assistance Manual (NM TEAM).
Related Services
Region 9 supports the provision of related services for special education programs for member districts. Related service personnel provide supports that are required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education instruction. Related services include speech/language pathology, audiology services, physical and occupational therapy, psychological services, school social work, early identification and assessment of disabilities in children, vocational rehabilitation counseling, orientation and mobility services, and nursing services.
Post Secondary Transition
The outcome of the post-secondary transition service is to provide young adults with the necessary skills to become successful adult citizens. Transition services are incorporated into special education programming and focus on supporting students to achieve their vision for the future. Region 9 staff members provide training in the development of transition services within school districts and also serve as liaisons with outside agencies to facilitate successful transitions.