$1.6M to prepare Native Hawaiian, Asian, Pacific Islander special education teachers
To increase and retain more well-prepared bilingual/multilingual teachers of color, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa College of Education (COE) Department of Special Education (SPED) was awarded a $1.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) Augustus F. Hawkins Centers of Excellence Program.
Project Equal Access, under the direction of SPED Professor and Chair Jenny Wells, aims to create a more diverse teacher workforce to serve students of color in rural and remote communities.
“We are deeply honored to be acknowledged as a Center of Teaching Excellence by the USDOE,” Wells said. “This award will enable us to enhance our teacher preparation programs and increase our ability to prepare and support diverse special educators. We are committed to the goals of the Hawkins programs and are eager to begin this work in conjunction with our COE and Hawaiʻi Department of Education partners.”
