CESA #4 is pleased to be selected as a contractual partner in the State Improvement Grant (SIG) to support the goals of Wisconsin's State Improvement Plan for Children with Disabilities. Funds have been awarded to CESA #4 to support and promote inclusive early learning environments, one of the priority areas of the State Improvement Plan. This funding is intended to support the activities of the IDEA Preschool Implementation Minigrant Project, a statewide initiative currently managed by CESA #4.

SIG funding will be used to sponsor the Miningrant Informational Meeting, Thursday, Oct. 14, 2004, to be held in conjunction with the 50th Annual WI Early Childhood Care and Education (Formerly WI Early Childhood Association/WECA) Conference, at the La Crosse Center, Oct. 14-16, 2004. This professional development opportunity is designed to support the efforts of the combined CESA #2 and #4 minigrant recipients, but is open to all interested parties within the state. In addition, state agencies have been engaged in a collaborative effort to develop Early Learning Standards (ELS) for programs serving children 3 to 6 years of age. A portion of CESA #4's SIG award will be used to support statewide training and dissemination of the ELS.