ESU among recipients of commonwealth grants for special education teacher training

The commonwealth of Pennsylvania has awarded nearly $1 million in grants to 11 higher education institutions, including East Stroudsburg University, to provide an accelerated pathway to certification for special education teachers in training.

East Stroudsburg University is a three-time recipient of the grant. The University collaborates with Northampton Community College and has partnerships with Colonial Intermediate Unit 20 and local school districts to remove roadblocks that can prohibit a student from becoming special education professionals. A total of 32 students completed the accelerated special educator certification through the first two rounds of grant funding.

“East Stroudsburg University is thankful to receive grant funding once again for the Accelerated Special Educator Certification. The objective of this grant falls in line with a variety of other initiatives ESU’s College of Education is working on to help put well-prepared teachers in classrooms and alleviate the teacher shortage in the commonwealth,” said Dr. Brooke Langan, Dean of ESU’s College of Education. “We are always working closely with area school districts to address the need for teachers including creating post-baccalaureate opportunities such as this accelerated special educator certification program.”