OSEP Awards Nearly $19 Million To Help States Expand Personnel Development Efforts to Improve Results for Children with Disabilities
By the Office of Special Education Programs
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Nov. 13, 2024) — The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced it awarded $18.8 million in Fiscal Year 2024 to four state educational agencies through the State Personnel Development Grants (SPDG) program.
The SPDG program provides grants to help states reform and improve their systems for personnel preparation and professional development of individuals providing early intervention, educational, and transition services to improve results for infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities.
ED’s Raise the Bar: Lead the World initiative emphasizes eliminating the educator shortage. Programs like the SPDG program can help ensure schools and early childhood programs address their staffing needs, including in high-need shortage areas such as special education and early intervention.
ED designed the SPDG program to support projects that mitigate the barriers to improved educational opportunities, outcomes and functional results for children with disabilities by:
- Increasing the number of well-qualified, fully certified special education personnel;
- Increasing collaborative and effective instruction and services for children with disabilities;
- Expanding the ability of principals to serve as instructional leaders who create an equity-based, cooperative, and inclusive environment; and
- Providing pre-service and in-service personnel with the knowledge, attitudes, skills, and aspiration to engage effectively with families.
This competition included four competitive preference priorities. The first priority encouraged applicants to provide affordable pathways to becoming fully certified special education teachers and provide a robust preservice classroom experience. One such pathway could include registered teacher apprenticeship programs that would allow a candidate to earn their teaching credentials while also earning a salary.
The other competitive preference priority areas included supporting emergency certified special education teachers to become fully certified, person-centered individualized education programs that support instructional progress, and principals as instructional leaders who support collaborative service provision.
The following table details the states and organizations awarded a SPDG in Fiscal Year 2024 and the one-year and the planned five-year funding amounts they received.
| Location | Organization | Amount | Planned 5-Year Funding |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Hampshire | Department of Education New Hampshire | $653,710 | $3,526,640 |
| North Dakota | North Dakota Department of Public Instruction | $500,000 | $2,055,634 |
| Wisconsin | Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction | $2,523,696 | $10,499,997 |
| Wyoming | Wyoming Department of Education | $552,043 | $2,748,945 |
| Total | $4,229,449 | $18,831,216 |
About the Grantees
New Hampshire Department of Education
New Hampshire Department of Education’s Bureau of Special Education designed their proposed State Personnel Development Plan, “Bridging the Gap in the 603,” to create a scalable, sustainable model of professional learning for educators, instructional leaders, and families, particularly those supporting students with disabilities.
New Hampshire stated their expected outcomes include meeting the evolving needs of the education workforce, enhancing local educational agency (LEA) systems, cultivating instructional leadership, building school and family capacity, and improving outcomes for students with disabilities.
Contact Krisha Dubreuil, project director, for more information.
North Dakota Department of Public Instruction
The North Dakota Department of Public Instruction’s (NDDPI) Grad 701 initiative will focus on ensuring all students, especially those with disabilities, emotional disturbances, and Native American backgrounds, graduate Choice Ready.
NDDPI stated that by providing targeted interventions, professional development, and evidence-based practices, the initiative aims to close graduation gaps, improve support systems, and boost outcomes for these students. Expected outcomes include higher graduation rates, broader use of early warning systems, increased fidelity in implementing evidence-based practices, enhanced family engagement, and improved principal training to support equitable academic success across North Dakota.
Contact Lea Kugel, project director, for more information.
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
The Educators Forward proposal from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction aims to improve outcomes for students with disabilities by increasing the number of well-qualified, fully certified special educators and expand the ability of administrators to serve as instructional leaders who create an equity-based, cooperative, and inclusive environment through a multilevel system of personnel development supports.
The department stated that all special educators will have access to a module-based toolkit and social media campaign; a targeted group of special educators and leaders will participate in an induction program; and the intensive level of support will install a teacher residency program in fifteen mid-sized districts.
Contact Courtney Jenkins, project director, for more information.
Wyoming Department of Education
The purpose of the Wyoming SPDG is to reform the personnel development system to increase alignment among state initiatives and increase:
- the number of teachers on emergency certification who become full certified,
- the number of person-centered individualized education programs (IEPs) that address students with disabilities’ employability skills needs, and
- the capacity of LEA leaders and educators to develop systems and use strategies that build trust and engagement with families.
Contact Susan Shipley, project director, for more information.
Last modified on November 13, 2024