The Virginia Department of Education uses part of the Federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funds for a system that provides support to local educational agencies for professional development. The Training and Technical Assistance Centers (T/TACs) are located in the eight regions represented by school division superintendents throughout the state.

Mission Statement

The mission of Virginia's T/TAC system is to improve educational opportunities and contribute to the success of children and youth with disabilities (birth - 22 years). The T/TACs provide quality training and technical assistance in response to local, regional, and state needs. Their services increase the capacity of school personnel, service providers, and families to meet the needs of children and youth with disabilities by enhancing the knowledge, skills, abilities, and performance of all personnel who work with them.

The T/TAC at George Mason University carries out this mission by:

• Consulting with school-based teams
• Providing information services, including periodic newsletters
• Linking and networking resources together
• Managing a lending library of multi-media resources and assistive technology
• Facilitating long-term technical assistance to schools
• Referring to other services
• Developing and conducting workshops
• Presenting information about T/TAC services
• Managing the T/TAC Online Web site

T/TAC GMU Region 4 provides assistance to the following school systems:

Cities

• Alexandria
• Falls Church
• Manassas
• Manassas Park
• Winchester

Counties

• Arlington
• Clark
• Culpepper
• Fairfax
• Fauquier
• Frederick
• Loudoun
• Madison
• Orange
• Page
• Prince William
• Rappahannock
• Shenandoah
• Warren
• Winchester

The T/TAC at George Mason University is located at the The Helen A. Kellar Institute for Human disAbilities (KIHD)

KIHD supports the mission of the statewide T/TACs through management of a web-based community, T/TAC Online. T/TAC Online provides a calendar of events, online training, the Virginia Standard of Learning(SOL) Enhanced Scope and Sequence PLUS, resources related to the various assessment options in Virginia, and other information that promotes shared knowledge of best practice and policy related to improving education for children and youth with disabilities. T/TAC Online can be accessed at http://www.ttaconline.org