$1.14 million grant awarded to UAB to advance special education

The five-year IPPSE grant will address the critical personnel shortage in education by graduating participants early, making a difference in the lives of P-12 students with disabilities in the Birmingham metro area.The University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Education has received a $1.14 million grant from the United States Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs to recruit, train and retain special education teachers and school psychometrists in Birmingham metro area schools. 

Deborah Voltz, Ed.D., professor and director of the UAB Center for Urban Education, and Stephanie Corcoran, Ph.D., assistant professor and school psychometry program coordinator, will use this five-year Interdisciplinary Preparation of Professionals in Special Education grant to focus on recruiting, training and retaining special education teachers and school psychometrists in targeted school districts. 

“We are excited to have the opportunity to implement IPPSE with our school district partners,” Voltz said. “Together, we will expand the pool of fully certified special educators who are well-prepared to promote the academic success of students with disabilities.”

To accomplish these goals, Voltz and Corcoran will partner with Birmingham City Schools, Bessemer City Schools and Tarrant City Schools to train 20 special education teachers and 10 school psychometrists using a collaborative, interdisciplinary model. IPPSE’s program of study can be completed in approximately two calendar years and is delivered by both in-person and online formats designed for those who work full time and need part-time study after work hours. 

Coursework targeted to the IPPSE cohort will be co-taught by UAB special education faculty and master educators from the partnering school districts. Every training team will include a particular education expert and a school psychometry expert, thus exemplifying the interdisciplinary nature of the program. 

“A major component of IPPSE is learning to work together as collaborative interdisciplinary teams,” Corcoran said. “The IPPSE scholars will learn to synthesize the discipline-specific expertise of each team member by obscuring the boundaries that typically divide the fields to jointly solve problems, plan and implement effective evidence-based interventions for children with disabilities.”