By Herald Staff

HUNTINGBURG — The Southwest Dubois School Corporation will benefit from a grant geared at helping rural schools better provide for their students with disabilities.

The district is one of seven in the state selected to receive services through a grant given to Indiana University’s Center on Education and Lifelong Learning.

The center has received part of a federally-funded $6 million state personnel development grant to the Indiana Department of Education’s Office of Special Education. The center will use the funding it received to continue the work of the Indiana Center on Teacher Quality.

The five-year program will focus on Southwest and six other rural Indiana school districts: Jennings County Schools, Vincennes City School Corporation, Monroe Central School Corporation, Frankton-Lapel School Corporation, Lewis Class Schools, and North Knox School Corporation.

“The grant aligns well with our mission and vision for schools,” said Sandi Cole, director of the Center on Education and Lifelong Learning, “to ensure equitable access for all students to high quality instruction. We are extremely excited to begin our work in the selected rural districts.”

Through the grant, the Indiana Center on Teacher Quality will work to:

• Increase the number of teachers delivering high-quality instruction to students with disabilities in the general education classroom through job embedded professional development at the state, regional, and district levels;

• Maintain and increase the number of licensed special education teachers with improved recruitment, support and retention of teachers for student switch disabilities;

• Increase the capacity of school leaders at the school and district level to develop, implement and sustain inclusive practices through systems of support implemented through the framework of implementation science; and

• Increase support for families of students with disabilities through effective partnerships that support teacher development and student and school improvement.

“Our partnership with the Indiana Department of Education spans over three decades,” Cole said, “and we are honored to continue this partnership with a new opportunity to focus on rural Indiana school districts.”

The Center of Education and Lifelong Learning is one of seven research centers at Indiana University’s Indiana Institute on Disability and Community.

The Indiana Center on Teacher Quality is part of the Center of Education and Lifelong Learning and helps educators throughout the state by providing training, technical support, and resources.