Special ed training at YSU to grow

There is a nationwide shortage of licensed special education teachers.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Youngstown State University has received a $200,000 state grant to expand a special education teacher training program launched last year.
The money from the Ohio Department of Education came to YSU's Beeghly College of Education and will be used in combination with a state $187,500 grant to the Mahoning County Educational Service Center to continue and expand an alternative licensing process that allows special education teacher candidates to become licensed more quickly.
"This is an accelerated, fast-paced program designed to get additional licensed teachers into special education classrooms," said Dr. Mary Lou DiPillo, associate dean of Beeghly College of Education.
Shortages all over
About 98 percent of the nation's school districts report shortages of qualified special education teachers, according to the Center on Personnel Studies in Special Education.
The Ohio Department of Education reported 1,426 vacancies statewide in that field in 2002.
The shortage led Ohio and other states to issue temporary special education teaching licenses to fill classrooms.
The state gave the county educational service center a $200,000 grant last year to work with YSU in establishing the Mahoning Charter College for Teacher Education, a pilot program for teachers to earn permanent special education licenses.
The Youngstown City School District and a dozen temporarily licensed special education teachers in Mahoning County got involved in the effort as well, and the result was a program offering evening and weekend classes, distance-learning classes and a performance-based curriculum that allows teacher candidates to learn while teaching.
The latest grant is based on the early success of that program and is expected to expand the effort to a larger population.
Take it to them
Rather than have the teachers come to campus, the training can be taken to them, said Dr. Sally Lewis, YSU assistant professor and project director.
The expanded program can accommodate up to 35 teacher candidates from Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties.
Teachers holding temporary certificates and teaching in special education classes should call Lewis at (330) 941-7240 to find out if they qualify for this program.