UTPB School of Education awarded $800,000 grant to train special education teachers

The United States Department of Education has awarded an $800,000 grant to The University of Texas of the Permian Basin to fund the training of special education teachers.

“There is shortage of highly qualified special education teachers in the Permian Basin area,” said grant writing project director Karen Smith, UTPB Associate Professor of the School of Education. “We need to have our best teachers working in special education because they will require additional specialized training,” she said. Also participating in the grant writing process were UTPB Assistant Dean of the School of Education Rebecca Oekerman, UTPB Lecturer Yolanda Ramirez, and UTPB Visiting Lecturer Jim McElhone. Ms. Ramirez, a UTPB alumnus and lecturer who is completing a doctoral degree, will serve as grant coordinator.

The focus of the program, Project SHARE, is to prepare 39 teachers to work with students with disabilities over the course of the four-year period of the grant. The initial award is $198,360 with similar amounts to be awarded through 2008.

Smith said that “Project SHARE: Preparing Highly Qualified Special Education Teachers to Work with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students” also addresses skills that teachers will need to “work with students with disabilities in linguistically and diverse settings.”

The grant will also offer the students in the program opportunities to participate in cultural proficiency programs and to attend national and state conferences in special education.

Potential special education teachers will receive funding for tuition, books and fees needed to complete an intensive teacher certification program with full licensure in special education and English as a Second Language.