School of Education Secures Special Education Grant

A new grant will help the School of Education attract new teachers in the field of special education. 

The $14,000 grant, from the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network, has three main objectives. First, it will allow Christiana Pheiffer, Ph.D., assistant professor of special education, to invite guest speakers to her class to introduce first-year students to the wide range of options available in special ed. 

“It’s incredible how many different roles there are in special education. In high school, you could have an academic special educator working on math and reading, or specifically with students with autism, or focused solely on life skills. Being able to expose our students to that range from the very beginning of their education is really important and valuable.” -Katrin Blamey, Ph.D., education department chair and director of M.Ed. programs 

The grant will also help fund on-campus events and a speaker panel for the Best Buddies club, while encouraging students—both education and non-education majors—to get involved. Best Buddies is a nonprofit organization that provides social inclusion, support, and employment opportunities to adults and children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. 

Finally, the grant will allow education students to work closely with the PLACE Program, a unique, non-degree offering designed and taught by Elisabeth Felten, assistant professor of accounting, for adult learners who are denied a traditional college education due to their disabilities. Students will create units of study for the program in four key areas—world cultures, creative writing, math, and science. 

“The role of special educators doesn’t stop after high school,” says Blamey. “There are still adults with special needs who need specialized support and care, and there’s a role for that here on our campus. That’s why we love what Libby is doing, and we want to connect our students to that learning experience.”  

This is the second round of grants that the School of Education has received from PATTAN in the last few years. The first, which covered from 2020-2024, focused solely on graduate students.