The U.S. Office of Special Education Programs has awarded two grants totaling over $2 million to two special education programs in West Virginia University's College of Human Resources and Education.

Project HI-TECH (Harnessing Technology to Integrate Technology for Children with Severe Disabilities into a Personnel Preparation Program) will prepare special educators who serve children and adolescents with severe/multiple disabilities in rural schools settings across West Virginia and surrounding states. The projected $1.2 million five-year grant will support the implementation of an innovative distance education model that utilizes online delivery of coursework and on-the-job supervision of practicum experiences. A significant portion of the grant provides financial assistance and other support for 70 rural special educators to complete the part-time program with a teaching certification in severe/multiple disabilities and a master's degree in special education.

The second grant, Project PIPPIN (Preparing Interdisciplinary Personnel to Promote Inclusion for Young Children with Special Needs), updates an existing personnel preparation program, develops and field tests an innovative distance education model, and delivers a part-time program that will prepare 50 practicing rural special educators. The $800,000 of Federal funding across a four-year period will provide financial assistance and other support to facilitate completion of all certification and degree requirements for 50 part-time students who will receive a teaching certification in preschool special needs and a master's degree in special education by the end of the project period.

Both of these projects will have significant impact on the field of special education through: the preparation of additional educators to serve students with severe/multiple disabilities and young children with special needs, the development of new materials to enhance educators' skills, and the design and field-testing of two unique Web-based delivery systems.

As Barbara Ludlow, professor in the Department of Educational Theory & Practice stated, "These two grants provide us the opportunity to develop an innovative delivery system that allows us to focus on educators from rural areas who would not have access to training."

Anne H. Nardi, (former) Dean of the College of Human Resources agrees and commented that, "Barbara Ludlow is nationally recognized in her field. She cares deeply about making the best teaching practices available to special education students, no matter where they live. Out of this has come her innovative work capitalizing on technology to make this program available to teachers in West Virginia and beyond."