B-CU to Use $1.25 Million Grant to Offer Fully Online Master's in Exceptional Education

The Bethune-Cookman University College of Education was awarded a $1.25 million Office of Special Education Personal Preparation grant.  The grant will be used to launch Project Child.

Project Child will provide competitive scholarships for the new fully online master’s degree in Exceptional Student Education (M.Ed. ESE). “We are proud of our faculty’s success in securing this grant because it will strategically address the critical shortage of early childhood special education teachers, specifically in the areas of Pre-K Disability and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD),”said Dr. Willis Walter, dean of the College of Education.

Project Child will also support the national need for increasing the   development of highly effective, culturally competent and responsive early childhood special education teachers, Walter said. Findings from Project Child will contribute to the research-based best practices for young children with disabilities, he added

Project Child will recruit, retain and graduate 70 master level scholars who embrace innovative technologies in education and who meet the growing need for highly qualified Exceptional Student Education (ESE) teachers. Co-principal investigators are Dr. Marcey Kinney and Dr. Leslie Sena.

“Over the five year period this project will clearly have a profound impact on thousands of young children with disabilities and their families,” Kinney said.

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Bethune-Cookman University was founded in 1904 and serves the community via three campuses in Daytona Beach, Deltona and Hastings. For more information, visit www.cookman.edu.