By the Office of Special Education Programs
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Nov. 13, 2024) — The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced it awarded $18.8 million in Fiscal Year 2024 to four state educational agencies the State Personnel Development Grants (SPDG) program.
The SPDG program provides grants to help states reform and improve their systems for personnel preparation and professional development of individuals providing early intervention, educational, and transition services to improve results for infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities.
ED’s Raise the Bar: Lead the World initiative emphasizes eliminating the educator shortage. Programs like the SPDG program can help ensure schools and early childhood programs address their staffing needs, including in high-need shortage areas such as special education and early intervention.
ED designed the SPDG program to support projects that mitigate the barriers to improved educational opportunities, outcomes and functional results for children with disabilities by:
- Increasing the number of well-qualified, fully certified special education personnel;
- Increasing collaborative and effective instruction and services for children with disabilities;
- Expanding the ability of principals to serve as instructional leaders who create an equity-based, cooperative, and inclusive environment; and
- Providing pre-service and in-service personnel with the knowledge, attitudes, skills, and aspiration to [...]