By Michelle Hines, University Relations
Contact: (336) 334-5371
Posted 9-27-07
GREENSBORO, N.C. – UNCG is CREATE-ing a better future for special education statewide.
Funded by a five-year $500,000 federal grant, Project CREATE (Collaboration, Reflection and Excellence: Accountable Teacher Education) boosts UNCG’s teacher training in specific learning disabilities, equipping more teachers to work with those students.
As more and more students with mild and moderate learning disabilities are included in general education classrooms, this is increasingly important, said Dr. Stephanie Kurtts, a professor in Specialized Education Services.
“The foundation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act has always had the presumption of inclusion,” Kurtts said. “We want to make sure all children are getting the educational support they need to be successful.”
UNCG and East Carolina are the only two North Carolina universities to receive the special education training improvement grants. The funds will expand the School of Education’s dual licensure program in general curriculum special education/K-6 general elementary education. That program is designed to bridge the gap between general education and special education.
Interest in the dual licensure program is “exploding,” Kurtts said. She partnered with Dr. Sam Miller, her colleague in Curriculum and Instruction, on the CREATE proposal.
Few teacher education programs in the state offer similar dual licensure programs, she said. “Students want to do the dual major. From the inception of this grant we said this was going to be a model for general education and special education working together.”
CREATE does not seek to eliminate special classes for students with more serious, less common learning disabilities, Kurtts said. She defines mild and moderate disabilities primarily as cognitive disorders involving problems with memory, attention span, and auditory and visual processing.
For more information on CREATE, contact Stephanie Kurtts at (336) 256-1080 or sakurtts@uncg.edu.
