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University of Wyoming

Special Education faculty members Martin Agran and Dorothy Jean (D.J.) Yocom are providing leadership in implementing key parts of the Wyoming State Personnel Development Grant (SPDG).  Guidelines for the competitive U.S. Department of Education grant, which was awarded to the Wyoming Department off Education this past fall, required that applicants address two broad areas in their proposals: recruiting new special education teachers and meeting the needs of the state submitting the application. Specifically, Wyoming’s five-year, $2.65 million federal grant focuses on four goals:

  • Goal One: Increasing the number of Wyoming schools implementing the Response to Intervention (RtI) and Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) models.
  • Goal Two: Replicating the RtI and PBIS models in Wyoming preschools.
  • Goal Three: Increasing the number of special education teachers and infusing RtI and PBIS skills and knowledge into the Wyoming Teacher Education Program (WTEP).
  • Goal Four: Promoting family and active student involvement in educational programming and decision making.

Agran led the development of this successful grant proposal. Parties involved in that process included:  the Wyoming Department of Education, the Wyoming Department of Family Services, parent groups, preschools, community colleges, developmental preschools, school districts, the Wyoming Department of Health, organizations serving adjudicated youth, and the UW College of Education.

The Wyoming Department of Education intends to “scale up” efforts to incorporate the RtI and PBIS models in local districts, learning from districts that have already taken steps to adapt their approach to identifying and assisting students who may have special needs.

“Both of those initiatives (RtI and PBIS) involve schoolwide efforts to deal with academic and behavioral needs,” Agran says. “If you can intervene early in a schoolwide process, then a number of students who would otherwise be referred to special education may not end up there.”

One of the benefits of the grant is that it will create new partnerships acoss general education, special education, and other state services. “It’s an optimal situation, where special education and general education overlap – and have the chance to work together collaboratively,” according to Agran. “The historical difference between the two disciplines is being removed.”  In addition to supporting that adoption process, Agran will draw upon his expertise to support Goal Four efforts to identify ways to encourage older students (16+) to take a more active role in defining and driving their educational plans.

Yocom will support implementation of Goal One, continuing to act as a local resource for districts. She also will take a lead role in work toward Goal Three, focusing her efforts on infusing RtI and PBIS into the general education teacher development curriculum at UW. That work may take a variety of forms, including Yocom visiting classes as a guest instructor or team teaching lessons with general education faculty.  “In the long run, we’re hoping for the content to be learned by the general education faculty so they can infuse it throughout the program,” Yocom says.  The Department of Special Education will take an active role in recruitment of special education teachers, via its newly revised master’s program leading to certification. That program has drawn approximately 25 students since its fall 2006 launch.