Montana's Big Sky Country: A CSPD Runs through It!

Abstract

Montana, known as Big Sky Country, is a vast, varied, and sparsely populated state. Montana is rural and Montana's educators face the perennial problems of rural educators nationwide–professional isolation, inadequate funding and resources, and few professional development opportunities. In order to restructure and strengthen special education services throughout the state, Montana has supported growth of its Comprehensive System of Personnel Development (CSPD) Council at the state level and has initiated a council in each of the five special education regions. Montana's organizational structure for CSPD and the systems approach used for state and regional strategic planning provide a model for other rural states to consider.