HOW OFFICE OF SPECIAL ED PROGRAMS (OSEP) ANNOUNCE GRANT RECIPIENTS TO IMPROVE SERVICES ... (420 hits)
For Immediate Release From OSEP!
U.S. Department of Education Awards More Than $1 Million in Grants to Develop Evidence-Based Models of Family Engagement and Improve Services to Children with Disabilities.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 15, 2024) — The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) at the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced, it will fund three model demonstration projects that will develop strategies to involve parents as partners in creating equitable and inclusive schools, with a focus on engaging with military-connected families.
These projects will improve outcomes for children with disabilities from underserved populations through systematic family empowerment and by building the capacity of school personnel to engage with families and communities.
Recipients of these three five-year cooperative agreements are the University of Cincinnati, University of Connecticut, and Virginia Commonwealth University. The first year of awards will total $1,025,103, with an estimated $4.5 million being awarded over five years.
“ED is committed to ensuring every child receives a rigorous education in a learning environment that supports their development and well-being and leads to promising pathways after high school. This grant award is one step toward realizing this vision for children and families who are systematically disconnected from schools,” said Glenna Wright-Gallo, assistant secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, which includes OSEP.
The grantee universities will establish and operate evidence-based model demonstration projects at school sites across the country, including several with high populations of military-connected families.
“With their focus on scaling equitable and evidence-based family engagement strategies, these grants have the potential to improve outcomes for many families and communities. This includes military-connected children with disabilities whose classroom needs are often not met due to the highly mobile nature of their parents’ careers,” Wright-Gallo said.
The models will focus on implementing sustainable schoolwide policies, practices, and strategies that systemically engage underserved families of children with disabilities as partners and leaders in creating more equitable and inclusive schools for children with disabilities.
“Model demonstration projects like these are an important part of delivering on our commitment to serve individuals with disabilities and their families. When we invest in successful projects, they will lead to practices and policies that can be replicated and sustained across settings, positively impacting children and families at scale,” Wright-Gallo said. “It is by bringing research and evidence-based practices to bear in every school across the country that we will change outcomes for all children.”
