U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today announced the award of $11.6 million in grants to help develop highly qualified teachers for students with disabilities, especially in areas where chronic shortages exist.

The money will also be used to train specialists in early intervention and other aspects of services for students with disabilities, recognizing that the earlier children can be identified as being in need of services, the greater the likelihood they can reach their education potential.

"We want to increase the number and quality of teachers who are fully credentialed to serve children with disabilities," Secretary Spellings said. "When we say we won't leave any child behind, we mean it, and that includes students with disabilities."

A total of 59 grants averaging $196,500 will be provided to higher education institutions in 25 states and the District of Columbia under the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services' "Personnel Preparation to Improve Services and Results for Children With Disabilities."

Among the projects being funded:

• Hunter College of City University of New York, "Preparation of Teachers for Learners with Severe Disabilities including Deaf-Blindness from High-Poverty, Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Urban Populations," $200,000.

• San Francisco State University, "Project Mosaic: Preparing Highly Qualified Educators to Meet the Unique Needs of Students with Autism in Diverse Settings," $198,464.

• University of Utah, "University of Utah's Distance Teacher Education Program (DTEP) in Severe Disabilities," $199,120.

• Florida State University, "Preparing Personnel to Teach Students with Visual Impairments," $200,000.

• Vanderbilt University, "Project PREPARE: A Comprehensive Approach to Preparing Teachers to Serve Students with Emotional Disturbances," $198,645.

• University of Illinois, Teacher Leaders for Children: Bilingual Special Educators (Project TLC)," $194,743.

• University of Colorado, "Rural Special Education Double Endorsement Project," $196,047.

• Wichita State University, "Recruiting, Supporting, Retaining, and Preparing Three Special Groups of Trainees Who Will Serve Children With Speech-Language and Hearing Disabilities in rural, Often Remote Communities of Kansas and Eastern Colorado: A Cost Sharing Approach," $199,914.

• University of Massachusetts Boston, "Support for Early Intervention/Early Childhood Network (SECEN) at UMass," $198,106.

Individual projects will last up to 48 months with grant recipients addressing state-identified needs for developing highly qualified personnel and ensuring that the people who work with students with disabilities have the skills found to be successful through research and experience.

For more information on the "Personnel Preparation to Improve Services and Results for Children With Disabilities," visit http://www.ed.gov/programs/osepprep/index.html.

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