The NATIONAL CENTER FOR LEADERSHIP IN INTENSIVE INTERVENTION-2 (NCLII-2), a consortium funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), prepares special education leaders to have expertise in meeting the “intense service needs” of students with complex and comorbid learning disabilities and behavior disorders (CLBD) – that is, students with high-incidence (e.g., learning disability [LD], emotional disturbance [ED]) and low-incidence (e.g., Autism Spectrum Disorder [ASD], intellectual disability [ID]) disabilities who require intensive intervention due to persistent and severe academic (i.e., reading and/or math) and social/behavioral difficulties.

The project provides generous support (i.e., tuition, stipend, research funding) for 28 doctoral scholars at partner institutions in a consortium that includes Vanderbilt University, Michigan State University, University of Connecticut, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Georgia, University of Minnesota, and University of Texas at Austin.

Scholars participate in a core curriculum focused on intensive intervention and contribute to this website to advance research on and implementation of intensive intervention for students with CLBD. The project provides opportunities for scholars to participate in cross-institutional research activities.

In addition, the consortium provides opportunities for scholars to intern with national centers supported by OSEP (i.e., Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform [CEEDAR], National Center on Intensive Intervention [NCII], and the IRIS Center at Vanderbilt University).

The National Center for Leadership in Intensive Intervention-1, funded from 2014-2019, prepared 28 scholars to become experts in research on intensive intervention for students with disabilities who have persistent and severe academic (e.g., reading and math) and behavioral difficulties.