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Purpose
This project has two major goals: (a) to recruit, prepare, and retain a sufficient number of special education teachers and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) to meet the need of a rapidly growing specialeducation population; and (b) to improve early literacy/reading and math skills for students with disabilities by using Standards-Based Reform (SBR) practices within a Response to Intervention (RTI) framework.
Method
The project will implement the following activities: (a) the Arizona Education Employment Board's Web site will be enhanced so that it attracts and provides for 70% of the new special education teacher and SLP hires; (b) the Career and Technical Education (CTE) program, Education Professions, will be expanded to more than 50 new high schools; (c) three Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) will increase their capability to train SLPs; (d) the Parent Training and Information Center (PTI) (Raising Special Kids) will provide 200 preservice teachers with annual professional development addressing the critical role that families play in the education of their children; (e) incentives/stipends will be provided annually for 35 special education teachers and paraeducators to attain full certification; (f) online and weekend courses will enable emergency certified teachers to attain full certification; (g) IHE partners and the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) will provide mentor training and ongoing support for building administrators and teachers; (h) IHEs, Local Education Agencies (LEAs), ADE, PTI, and mentors will participate in semi-annual professional development mentoring strategies; and (i) IHEs, LEAs, ADE, and School Safety and Prevention will provide positive behavior intervention supports (PBIS) training for school teams and 100 new teachers.
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