Jerome receives funding to help teachers support students with severe disabilities, autism

Marci B. Jerome, Severe Disabilities Program Coordinator, Kellar Institute for Human disAbilities, received $454,955 from the U.S. Department of Education for: “Virginia Consortium for Teacher Preparation in Special Education Adapted Curriculum: Supporting Students with Severe Disabilities and Autism.”

The Virginia Consortium for Teacher Preparation in Special Education Adapted Curriculum (Adapted Curriculum Consortium) is composed of six universities in Virginia. The mission of the consortium is to develop and implement a statewide program to meet the initial and continuing education needs for teachers of students with severe and multiple disabilities across the Commonwealth of Virginia including rural and urban areas. Utilizing distance education and a shared program of study and coursework, participating universities will provide course work and internships for initial endorsement in special education: adapted curriculum K-12; add-on endorsement programs; and continuing education courses to enable teachers to meet the state-required competencies for instruction of students with severe disabilities and, thus, helping to reduce the continued, critical low-incidence teacher shortage in the Commonwealth.

This funding began in October 2019 and will conclude in late September 2021.

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