The U.S. Department of Education today announced the award of almost $11.8 million in grants to institutions in 25 states to help improve services and results for children with disabilities—including infants and toddlers—by developing quality early intervention providers, special education teachers and related services personnel.

The grants are intended to help fill a need expressed by officials at state agencies, university training programs, local schools and community-based groups who have cited the importance and difficulty of upgrading training programs for personnel to serve infants, toddlers, and children with disabilities.

"The national demand for fully credentialed early intervention, special education, and related services personnel to serve infants, toddlers, and children with disabilities exceeds available supply," said U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. "This federal support is intended to improve both the quality and supply of these vitally important individuals."

The grants were awarded for projects to train personnel in four areas:

• Serving infants, toddlers and preschool age children with disabilities.

• Serving school-age children with low-incidence disabilities, including visual and hearing impairments, significant cognitive impairments (severe mental retardation), orthopedic impairments, autism, and traumatic brain injury.

• Providing related services, speech-language services, and adapted physical education to infants, toddlers, and children with disabilities. And,

• Training personnel in minority institutions to serve infants, toddlers, and children with disabilities.

For more information about the Special Education Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities Program, including funding opportunities for FY 2009, see http://www.ed.gov/programs/osepprep/applicant.html#84325k.

Following is a list of the grant recipients for this year's program.

U.S. Department of Education
Office of Special Education Programs
Grants for Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities
Combined Priority for Personnel Preparation
CFDA 84.325K
FY 2008

Focus Area A: Training Personnel to Serve Infants, Toddlers, and Preschool Age Children with Disabilities
CA — San Diego State, $199,997
CA — San Francisco State University, $193,869
PA — Penn State University, $200,000
VA — University of Virginia, $200,000
Total — $793,866

Focus Area B: Training Personnel to Serve School Age Children with Low Incidence Disabilities
AL — Auburn University, $200,000
AZ — University of Arizona, $200,000
CA — California State University, East Bay, $200,000
CA — California State University, Los Angeles, $200,000
CA — Claremont Graduate University, $199,094
CA — Sacramento State, $199,721
CA — Touro University, $199,978
CO — University of Northern Colorado, $199,958
FL — Florida State University, $199,990
FL — University of Central Florida, $200,000
MA — Boston College, $199,095
MA — University of Massachusetts, $200,000
MD — University of Maryland, $199,934
NC — East Carolina University, $200,000
NY — LaGuardia Community College, $199,999
NY — Pace University, $199,477
OR — Portland State University, $199,963
OR — Western Oregon University, $200,000
OR — Western Oregon University, $200,000 (two grants)
SC — University of South Carolina, $186,739
TX — Texas Tech University, $200,000
TX — University of North Texas, $199,959
WV — West Virginia University, $199,817
Total — $4,583,724

Focus Area C: Training Personnel to Provide Related Services, Speech/Language Services, and Adapted Physical Education to Infants, Toddlers, and Children with Disabilities
AZ — Arizona State University, $195,808
CA — California State University Long Beach, $175,354
CA — University of Southern California, $200,000
CO — University of Colorado, $200,000
FL — Florida State University, $200,000
KS — University of Kansas, $199,995
NC — University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, $194,417
NC — Western Carolina University, $196,168
NE — University of Nebraska-Lincoln, $200,000
NM — New Mexico State University, $199,973
NY — SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, $200,000
OH — Kent State University, $199,280
OK — University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, $199,948
PA — Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, $195,815
PA — Lehigh University, $199,988
PA — Penn State, $199,494
PA — Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, $187,904
PA — University of Pittsburgh, $199,958
SC — University of South Carolina, $197,725
SC — University of South Carolina, $198,246
UT — University of Utah, $182,623
UT — University of Utah, $174,971
UT — Utah State University, $150,000
Total — $4,447,667

Focus Area D: Training Personnel in Minority Institutions to Serve Infants, Toddlers, and Children with Disabilities
AL — University of Alabama at Birmingham, $199,730
CA — California State University, Los Angeles, $200,000
CA — Fresno State, $199,757
CA — San Diego State University, $200,000
FL — University of Miami, $199,057
LA — Xavier University of Louisiana, $199,992
MO — Fontbonne University, $174,628
ND — United Tribes Technical College, $199,688
NV — University of Nevada, $199,809
TX — University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, $199,924
Total — $1,972,585

Grand Total — $11,797,842

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