OSERS: OSEP: Associate Degree Preservice Program Improvement Grants to Support Personnel Working with Young Children with Disabilities

Overview

The purposes of this program are to (1) help address State-identified needs for personnel preparation in special education, early intervention, related services, and regular education to work with children, including infants, toddlers, and youth with disabilities; and (2) ensure that those personnel have the necessary skills and knowledge, derived from practices that have been determined through scientifically based research, to be successful in serving those children.

This competition includes one absolute priority, which includes two competitive preference priorities within the absolute priority.

Absolute Priority: Associate Degree Preservice Program Improvement Grants to Support Personnel Working with Young Children with Disabilities.

For FY 2023 and any subsequent year in which we make awards from the list of unfunded applications from this competition, we consider only applications that meet this priority. The purpose of this priority is to fund Associate Degree Preservice Improvement Grants to Support Personnel Working with Young Children with Disabilities to achieve, at a minimum, the following expected outcomes:

(a) Increased capacity of community college faculty to design and deliver curriculum content that prepares associate degree students to work with young children with disabilities and their families, including those who are multilingual and from racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse populations, and support their full and equitable participation, development, and learning in early childhood programs.

(b) Increased number of early childhood program personnel with associate degrees who have the competencies to work with young children with disabilities and their families, including those who are multilingual and from racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse populations, and support their full and equitable participation, development, and learning in early childhood programs.

(c) Increased collaboration between 4-year institutions of higher education (IHEs) and community colleges to support articulation agreements and career pathways in early intervention and early childhood special education, to increase the number of associate degree graduates who enter bachelor’s degree programs. 

Competitive Preference Priorities:

Within this absolute priority, we give competitive preference to applications that address the following two priorities. Applicants should indicate in the abstract if one or both competitive preference priorities are addressed.

Competitive Preference Priority 1: Applications from Historically Black Colleges and Universities  (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and other Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) (0 or 3 points).

Competitive Preference Priority 2: Partnership with HBCU Community Colleges, TCU Community Colleges, or other MSI Community Colleges (0 or 3 points). Under Competitive Preference Priority 2, an applicant must have a letter of commitment that demonstrates at least one of its community college partners is an HBCU community college, TCU community college, or other MSI community college.

Estimated Range of Awards: $190,000–$200,000.

Estimated Average Size of Awards: $195,000.

Maximum Award: We will not make an award exceeding $200,000 for a single budget period of 12 months.

Pre-Application Webinar Information:

No later than February 28, 2023, OSERS will post pre-recorded informational webinars designed to provide technical assistance to interested applicants. The webinars may be found here.