Arizona State University’s College of Teacher Education and Leadership has received a $3.19-million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, the largest single award realized by the college’s department of special education.

The grant, funding the Arizona Special Initiative to Recruit and Retain Educators (Project ASPIRE), will be used by the college to recruit and retain mid-career professionals and recent college graduates as special education teachers in high-poverty and remote school districts across the state, including Douglas Unified.  

“This program will have overwhelming significance to our special education program,” says Gail Zamar, DUSD superintendent.  “As other districts are experiencing a shortage of special education teacher, we are not an exception, and we have found that recruiting and maintaining specialized area teachers is more difficult in a rural and more isolated district.”

Zamar, who has been superintendent since 2002, oversees a district that includes five elementary, two middle and one high school, as well as a single preschool and a credit recovery program with the Douglas High School.

Project ASPIRE combines the activities and expertise of two highly acclaimed programs in the college – the Master’s and Arizona Certification (MAC) and the Professional Development School Teaching Excellence Network through Educational Technology (PDS-TENET) – and expands the existing partnerships between ASU and six high-need school districts.  Funds from the grant will be used to prepare and place 145 new special education teachers over five years of project activity in the Osborn Elementary and Avondale Elementary districts in the greater Phoenix area, as well as four remote rural districts: Chinle Unified in the Navajo Nation, Indian Oasis-Baboquivari Unified in the Tohono O’odham Nation, Gadsden Elementary in the southwest corner of Arizona, and Douglas Unified in the southeast corner of the state.

“The Project ASPIRE partnership gives us the opportunity to produce even more effective special education teachers,” says Kathleen Puckett, an associate professor of special education at ASU’s West campus.  “The partnership will offer initial teacher preparation that results in the application of the appropriate skills, as well as critical continued support in a professional development environment.

“Teacher training programs by themselves cannot provide special education teachers with the necessary preparation and support.  Effective special education training must include partnerships with school districts that embrace professional development of the beginner, the novice, and the seasoned professional educator.”

College administrators will initially begin a search in the six partner districts to identify residents who are interested in becoming teachers and working with students in the local schools who have disabilities.  Faculty will offer a master’s-level teacher training program in special education at community locations and deliver the program via a combination of video conferencing and on-site teacher mentoring.  

Participants will have the opportunity to earn Arizona Teacher Certification, as well as a master’s degree in education in three semesters without leaving their communities.  Participants must possess a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university and agree to teach in a high-need school for a period of three years.  Twenty applicants will be selected in each of the first two years of the program, with an increase to 35 in years three-five.

“More and more teachers are needed every year, and finding qualified teachers is especially problematic in high-need urban and remote school districts. “

 We know that 12 percent of the special education teachers in this state are not fully licensed.  Children from high-poverty districts are most affected by this statistic.  We believe Project ASPIRE gives us a greater opportunity to truly impact special-needs students and their teachers.”

Project ASPIRE is funded through the Department of Education’s Transition to Teaching, a program providing five-year grants to state and local educational agencies, or for-profit organizations, non-profit organizations, or institutions of higher education collaborating with state or local educational agencies.  Puckett, who joined fellow-college associate professor Ridley as principal investigator in the grant, notes that the ASU program will focus on the three areas that lead to great special education teachers.

“A great special education teacher has a strong pre-teaching preparation, an attitude of success, and has the good fortune to work in a supportive school environment,” she says.  “Project ASPIRE aims to provide all three of these important areas – providing a high-quality training program, nurturing successful attitudinal factors, and placing our teachers in supportive, caring, and mentored school environments.”

The College of Teacher Education and Leadership, through collaboration with educational and civic communities, prepares and inspires innovative educators to be leaders who apply evidence-based knowledge that positively impacts students, families, and the community.

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