A project that will help special educators and students in schools in underserved areas of Kansas recently received an $84,000 grant from the Kansas Board of Regents.
The project, called The Teachers College Special Education Fellows Program (TCSEFP), will pair special education faculty at Emporia State with directors of special education at Kansas school districts and cooperatives. The districts and special education cooperatives will nominate an educator who will then receive instruction through one-on-one meetings, online courses and video conferencing.
School districts and cooperatives identified in the grant to receive the services include Garden City USD 457, North Central Kansas Special Education Cooperative, Northwest Kansas Educational Service Center, Southwest Kansas Area Cooperative, Topeka USD 501 and Wichita USD 259.
“Ultimately this project is about providing highly qualified special education teachers to serve children with disabilities throughout the state of Kansas,” said Dr. Marj Bock, a co-author of the grant proposal and professor of adaptive special education at Emporia State.
Bock explained one of the goals of the project is to provide a 12-month endorsement program for special educators throughout Kansas. A second goal is to provide intensive mentoring for each educator during his or her first year on the job.
Principals from each district will attend an orientation and an evaluation session this spring. They will be part of the summer institutes with teachers this June.