UNR receives grant to train aspiring special education leaders

To help counter a decline in special education teachers and leaders in recent years, professors in the University of Nevada, Reno’s College of Education & Human Development will use a U.S. Department of Education grant to train aspiring special education leaders.

Project SELF (Special Education Leaders of the Future) is a 325D grant from the education department’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation. It is designed to prepare scholars to become future leaders in special education and disability studies. The grant will provide tuition, a monthly stipend and graduate student insurance for six doctoral students. Recruitment began this fall.

Scholars in the program will be enrolled in the College’s Special Education and Disability Studies doctoral program. Within the structure of this grant, there are three research seminars that will take them from working as a group on research to eventually conducting independent research. Upon graduation, the students will be ready to accept leadership roles at the school district or state level in advocacy or policy areas or at the university level teaching special education.

"We want scholars to really have to solve research problems that are meaningful, and that they understand from beginning to end what it looks like to do research," Shanon Taylor, associate professor of special education who leads the project, said.

The $1.25 million grant led by Taylor includes her collaborators Associate Professors of special education Lindsay Diamond and Randall Owen, who is also director of the Nevada Center of Excellence in Disabilities. Together they have teamed up with multiple partners that gives project scholars the opportunity to analyze data gathered from local school districts, the Nevada Department of Education and University partners in order to develop research skills by participating in real-life projects.

"These partnerships will allow us to have scholars acquire experience in different areas to understand what research looks like in these capacities and the impact their research can have on the field," Diamond said.

While this grant provides in-depth preparation for the graduate students admitted, the impact of this program will be greater than just the six scholars who are selected, extending to special education teachers who will be working with the project scholars. These Project SELF scholars will have been special education educators previously, and their participation in this program will allow them to further their skills, assume leadership positions and provide mentorship to special education professionals.

The Nevada Center for Excellence in Disabilities will provide the students opportunities to participate in ongoing, real-world experiences. The Center has projects in Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support, Schoolwide Multitiered Systems of Support, assistive technology, and family support, among many others.

“We are looking forward to hosting scholars from this program in our current projects to help them better understand the range of contexts that people with disabilities face,” Director Owen said. “It’s important that special educators, especially those who may fill leadership positions, have a solid understanding not only of special education, but of the community and how it relates to disability, as well.”

With a background in emotional/behavior disorders and behavior management, Taylor takes the lead with the Project SELF grant, overseeing all the scholars' training. Diamond, with a specialization in autism and early childhood, will mentor the scholars in anticipation that they will go on to mentor future special education teachers. Owen has a background in disability studies and will contribute to the supervision as well, especially in regards to understanding the lived experience of people with disabilities. He will also coordinate the data obtained throughout this program.

"The whole point is to prepare special education professionals, and these types of grants have been around for decades because the U.S. Department of Education and Congress recognized how significant the shortage is of special education professionals," Taylor said. "Without leaders, the system falls apart, affecting the foundation of special education.”

The Special Education and Disability Studies program has received funding from this grant source twice in the past; the first grant prepared a number of special education leaders across Nevada, and the second produced graduates who have taken positions in higher education in Nevada and across the country.

For more information: https://www.unr.edu/nced