The grant will fund two years of tuition for UofL students who earn dual certification in elementary education and moderate/severe intellectual disability.

The idea behind the program, says UofL education professor Robert Pennington, is to create a pipeline of elementary school teachers who can serve students with disabilities.

“There has been a perennial shortage of teachers trained to help special needs children,” said Pennington, who will oversee the program.  “This grant should go a long way toward addressing that problem.”

Pennington said the grant will:

  • Pay two years of tuition for up to 30 education majors who earn dual certification. The first 15 students started this semester; another 15 will begin in spring 2017
  • Include hands-on training with students in high-poverty, persistently low-achieving local schools
  • Leverage and enhance programs offered through Jefferson County Public Schools and UofL’s Kentucky Autism Training Center
  • Fund two intensive summer programs designed to help teachers refine techniques for helping students with disabilities and their families
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Cindy Hess
Cindy Hess has more than 30 years of experience in communications, marketing and investor relations, including more than a decade at UofL. She is "sort of" retired but happy to come back to the Office of Communications and Marketing to help with special projects and assignments.