Alverno College Receives $1.24 Million Grant From the Department of Education

Alverno College has been awarded a five-year, $1.24 million grant by the U.S. Department of Education. The funds will be used to train personnel from diverse backgrounds at Minority-Serving Institutions to serve children with disabilities.

“We celebrate this opportunity that highlights Alverno's commitment to serving a variety of learners with our innovative education programs,” said Thor Stolen, PhD, project director for the grant. “We model inclusivity and are purposeful in training our special education candidates to promote inclusive teaching strategies through an ability, not disability, mindset. This grant allows us the opportunity to access, celebrate and welcome a more diverse group of teacher candidates.”

The state of Wisconsin is in an ongoing crisis to staff special education classroom teacher positions. In response to this need, Alverno’s Developing Diversity in Exceptional Educator Preparation (DDEEP) program will support students as they attain their teaching license while also supporting them to be retained as teachers. Highlights include:

• Providing up to 24 scholarships to racially, ethnically, linguistically and ability diverse students per academic year that substantially cover the costs of receiving a special education degree through Alverno’s special education teacher licensure programs. These include Alverno’s weekday college undergraduate program, the paraprofessional to teacher licensure bachelor's degree program, the post-bachelorette licensure program and the graduate license to master program.
• Improving the quality of personnel who are fully credentialed to serve children with disabilities by preparing these scholars to provide effective, equitable, culturally and linguistically responsive instruction, interventions and services through a revised special education curriculum.
• Implementing a supportive model, including adaptive learning environments, intensive advising and mentoring, and early and continuous academic support to assist DDEEP scholars as they prepare for the special education classroom and serve in their first year as K-12 educators.
• Developing new pathways to the license at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Current and future Alverno students who meet the eligibility criteria and are committed to serving as a special education teacher for at least two years for every year they receive the scholarship are eligible to receive the scholarship.