New initiative aimed at increasing number of special ed teachers

U.S. Rep. Michael N. Castle

1:59 p.m., Sept. 28, 2004--The University of Delaware has been awarded a five-year, $1,997,965 U.S. Department of Education grant to increase the number of highly qualified middle and high school special education teachers in the state through recruitment and training.

The grant, awarded to UD’s Delaware Center for Teacher Education in the College of Human Services, Education and Public Policy, was announced by U.S. Rep. Michael N. Castle (R-Del.) and by Bob Baker, a representative of U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige, during a press conference Tuesday, Sept. 28, in Daugherty Hall on the campus.

Castle said the funding is through the Department of Education’s Teacher Quality Enhancement grant program, which is highly competitive, as part of the No Child Left Behind Act. “The higher quality of teachers we can provide students, the better off we are all going to be,” he said.

“No Child Left Behind is based on a belief that all children can learn,” Baker said. “This project will provide special needs students the opportunities they need to reach their full potential.”

“It is the measure of a society’s greatness that it will provide the resources to support aspirations of all its citizens and not just a privileged few. As such, the University of Delaware is pleased to accept the award of this grant,” UD President David P. Roselle said.

Bob Baker of the U.S. Department of Education

He added the grant would not have been awarded if not for “a great deal of cooperation” among leaders in the state, including the Congressional delegation, UD faculty and staff and school district officials.

Delaware, like many other states, faces a critical shortage of special education teachers, according to Carol Vukelich, director of the Delaware Center for Teacher Education, who headed the grant proposal process.

“Quality pre-service and in-service professional education programs are vital to preparing highly qualified teachers who possess the content knowledge and teaching skills to be effective in meeting diverse students' needs,” Vukelich said. “These funds allow us to redesign our pre-service special education program and to develop a professional development program for current special education teachers, both aimed at strengthening these teachers' content knowledge background.”

Vukelich, who is the L. Sandra and Bruce L. Hammonds Professor of Teacher Education at UD, said a 2003 survey of school districts in the state showed a critical need for special education teachers. Two-thirds of the districts surveyed identified the filling of special education teaching positions as a major problem.

The grant will be used to recruit and prepare new special education teachers, and to provide additional training for teachers already in the schools to help them be more effective in teaching special education students.

Timothy Barnekov, dean of the College of Human Services, Education and Public Policy

The new grant supports mandates of the federal No Child Left Behind Act and legislation proposed through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to increase the number of special education teachers and to improve the training provided them.

Through the grant, the center will work with UD faculty and school districts in the state to:

Define what middle and high school teachers need to know in core special education content areas and to develop appropriate courses that will lead to a major or a course of study in each of those areas;
Redesign educational programs for prospective middle and high school special education teachers, requiring them to earn a major or its equivalent in a core content area to receive status as a highly qualified teacher;
Design training programs for pre-service teachers, those who are preparing to enter the field, and in-service teachers, those already in the schools who can help train their peers; and
Develop a recruitment program aimed at attracting 25 pre-service and 25 in-service teachers annually to gain highly qualified status.

Vukelich said the grant bears witness to strong interdisciplinary work among colleges, centers and faculty and staff at UD and to the “wonderful collaborative relationship we enjoy with our colleagues in Delaware school districts.”

The grant is the result of work by faculty and staff in both the College of Human Services, Education and Public Policy and in the College of Arts and Sciences.

In addition to the Delaware Center for Teacher Education, other UD units that have been involved in the project include the Mathematics and Science Education Resource Center, the Delaware Education Research and Development Center and the Office of Educational Technology.

Carol Vukelich, director of the Delaware Center for Teacher Education

Delaware school districts involved in the project are Christina, Colonial and Red Clay.

LaVerne Terry, Christina assistant superintendent and chief academic officer, said the districts are “very excited about this opportunity.”

“What teachers do in the classroom has a profound effect on students,” Terry said, adding the grant will provide special needs students with equal access to quality teachers and to quality course content. “This is very good news,” she said.

Article by Neil Thomas
Photos by Duane Perry

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