It will also help promote another ASC project that involves transcription of professional journals onto CD-ROM for graduate students who may be many miles away from an academic library. The four-year DOE grant, which officially began in August, pays for full tuition, books, computers, printers and Internet access for 44 teachers from southern Colorado and northern New Mexico. Participants will still need to take some summer classes on the ASC campus, which also will be covered by the grant. The shortage of fully certified teachers is well documented in the region, but is most critical in special education. Both the New Mexico and Colorado departments of education issue more emergency licenses in special education than in any other field.
Special education is also a federally designated critical teacher shortage area.
Colorado Department of Education studies find those shortages are even more critical outside the state's urban and suburban centers, especially among low-income, rural minority populations. Baldwin said that rural areas with the greatest need for special education are often the hardest places to gather enough people for more traditional graduate programs. If you'd like to have your professional activities or department events published, please contact Julie Waechter .