IUP awarded funding to accelerate special education certifications
INDIANA, Pa. – Indiana University of Pennsylvania is one of 14 post-secondary institutions receiving funding to boost special education teaching certifications, the state Department of Education announced Friday.
IUP was awarded $99,330 as part of a $1 million aid package from Gov. Josh Shapiro's administration.
"Pennsylvania's educator workforce shortage will take flexibility, innovation and creativity to solve," acting state Secretary of Education Carrie Rowe said in a release, "and initiatives like the Accelerated Special Educator Certification Program demonstrate how thinking outside the box can produce critical and much-needed results for the commonwealth."
The accelerated offering makes grants available to college and universities with approved pre-K through 12th grade special education certification programs to partner with one school district, at least, career and technical centers, private school, charter and cyber charter schools, as well as intermediate units.
Those partnerships are then used to provide students with summer field experiences, coaching and mentoring during the school year, and deliver a post-baccalaureate program for pre-K through 12th grade special education teacher certification within 18 months.
There are 142 news special educators set to enter classrooms across the state, according to PDE, and hundreds more who will take advantage of this opportunity.
For more information, visit www.pa.gov/agencies/education.
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