A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

Biennial Evaluation Report - FY 93-94

Chapter 309

Training Personnel for the Education of Individuals with Disabilities

(CFDA No. 84.029)

I. Program Profile

Legislation: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Part D, Sections 631, 632, 634 and 635, P.L. 91-230, as amended (20 U.S.C. 1431, 1432, 1434 and 1435) (expires September 30, 1995).

Purpose: This program funds grants to improve the quality and reduce shortages of personnel providing special education, related services, and early intervention services to children with disabilities.

Grants are awarded to institutions of higher education, State education agencies, and other appropriate nonprofit organizations: (1) to train teachers and other education personnel, administrators, related services personnel, early intervention personnel, parents, and volunteers; (2) to develop and demonstrate new approaches to personnel training; (3) to support partnerships for personnel training; and (4) to provide assistance to State education agencies in providing a comprehensive system of special education personnel development.

Funding History

Fiscal Year	Appropriation	Fiscal Year	Appropriation
1966	$19,500,000	1988	66,410,000
1970	36,610,000	1989	67,095,000
1975	37,700,000	1990	71,000,000
1980	55,375,000	1991	69,288,099
1985	61,000,000	1992	80,800,000
1986	61,248,000	1993	90,122,537
1987	67,730,000	1994	91,339,000

II. Program Information and Analysis

Population Targeting

Numbers of Special Education Teachers: States, the District of Columbia, and insular areas reported that 297,490 special education teachers and 295,822 non-teaching special education staff were employed for the 1990-91 school year (See Table 1). Teacher aides constituted 55 percent of the non-teaching staff.

Table 1 --
Number of Special Education Personnel to Serve Children with Disabilities, Ages 6-21 (School Year 1990-91)

State	Special Education Teachers		School Staff(non-teachers)
State	Employed	Needed	Employed	Needed
ALABAMA	4,822	410	2,857	429
ALASKA	8015	51	948	78
ARIZONA	3,608	111	3,715	136
ARKANSAS	2,798	70	1,610	57
CALIFORNIA	24,113	1,770	29,963	1,556
COLORADO	3,413	59	3,644	116
CONNECTICUT	4,066	38	5,232	53
DELAWARE	936	90	757	63
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA	780	34	1,027	66
FLORIDA	12,955	2,252	12,862	1,145
GEORGIA	7,498	280	6,454	285
HAWAII	1,159	180	1,432	61
IDAHO	966	65	1,289	154
ILLINOIS	17,017	198	20,578	180
INDIANA	5,562	650	5,339	475
IOWA	4,363	574	4,116	53
KANSAS	3,160	63	4,302	39
KENTUCKY	4,510	330	3,159	421
LOUISIANA	6,385	1,549	7,506	338
MAINE	1,889	142	2,326	126
MARYLAND	6,099	79	6,015	84
MASSACHUSETTS	7,769	410	8,387	0
MICHIGAN	12,852	536	5,468	287
MINNESOTA	6,679	378	7,256	156
MISSISSIPPI	3,484	256	1,506	83
MISSOURI	6,490	624	4,084	0
MONTANA	994	148	1,037	246
NEBRASKA	2,022	34	1,659	15
NEVADA	1,134	105	796	103
NEW HAMPSHIRE	1,703	340	2,989	557
NEW JERSEY	14,406	499	15,170	278
NEW MEXICO	2,843	483	3,151	187
NEW YORK	28,302	6,304	25,002	0
NORTH CAROLINA	6,391	896	5,622	1,612
NORTH DAKOTA	842	39	932	45
OHIO	11,772	469	5,739	611
OKLAHAMA	3,929	172	2,722	73
OREGON	2,477	137	2,070	202
PENNSYLVANIA	12,484	1,993	9,473	736
PURETO RICO	2,649	37	2,032	545
RHODE ISLAND	1,297	14	1,520	12
SOUTH CAROLINA	4,184	495	3,547	482
SOUTH DAKOTA	870	201	1,218	329
TENNESSEE	4,761	226	3,709	174
TEXAS	16,133	1,069	30,666	435
UTAH	1,978	147	2,212	148
VERMONT	851	22	1,529	7
VIRGINIA	7,298	456	7,321	625
WASHINGTON	4,232	170	3,801	164
WEST VIRGINIA	1,885	328	1,963	107
WISCONSIN	6,467	734	5,784	98
WYOMING	771	27	1,240	331
AMERICAN SAMOA	44	10	21	5
GUAM	146	43	304	70
NORTHERN MARIANAS	26	1	73	5
VIRGIN ISLANDS	115	0	253	3
BUR. OF INDIAN AFFAIRS	297	117	433	258
Total, u.s. and Insular Areas	297,490	26,934	295,822	14,906

Source: III.1.

Students served: In FY 1991, 15,020 persons were enrolled as full-time or part-time students in preservice training. About half were studying education fields and half were studying fields in related services areas. Specific categories are shown in Table 2.

Table 2
Full and Part-time Students Enrolled in Preservice Training

Type of Special Education Training	Number of Students	Percentage of All Students
Adaptive physical education	335	2.2
Audiologist	303	2.0
Cross-categorical	997	6.0
Deaf-blindness	92	0.6
Deafness	382	2.5
Hard of hearing	263	1.8
Mental retardation	811	5.4
Multiple disabilities	570	3.8
Occupational therapist	318	2.1
Orthopedic impairments	95	0.6
Other health impairments	14	0.1
Other non-instructional staff	256	1.7
Other personnel	4,809	32.0
Paraprofessional	289	1.9
Physical therapist	234	1.6
Psychologist	160	1.1
School social worker	24	0.2
Serious emotional disturbance	814	5.4
Specific learning disabilities	740	4.9
Speech/language pathologist	2,750	18.3
Supervisor/administrator	104	0.7
Therapeutic recreation therapist	205	1.4
Visual impairments	428	2.8
Vocational education	117	0.8
Total	15,020	100.0

Source: III.1.

Funding: Most of the funding in FY 1993 was awarded to institutions of higher education for personnel training (78 percent); 10 percent was used for State education agency development and training activities; and 12 percent for special projects.

Grantees: A total of 884 awards were made: 721 grants to colleges and universities for personnel training, 105 grants for development and demonstration projects, and 57 grants to State education agencies. One award was made for a technical assistance project to provide support for the State personnel development activities.

Services

Training programs are usually in universities and typically support the costs of a project director/coordinator, student stipends and, in some cases, instructor salaries. All teacher training projects funded in recent years concentrate on preparing students for a baccalaureate or graduate degree in special education or related services areas. Projects have also been funded to develop related services personnel, teacher trainers, researchers, administrators, and other specialists.

The Special Projects competition supports projects to develop and demonstrate new approaches for preparing personnel to serve children with disabilities. This includes the preservice training of regular educators, and the preservice and inservice training of special education personnel, including classroom aides, related services personnel, and regular education personnel who serve children and youth with abilities. Project activities assisted under this priority include development, evaluation, and distribution of imaginative or innovative approaches to personnel prepration; development of materials to prepare personnel to educate children and youth with disabilities; and other projects of national significance. Projects included computer technology; infants, ages birth through 2; adapted physical education; corrections education; emotionally disturbed children; transition from school; parent training, learning, and training to work with assistive devices students exposed to drugs and alcohol.

State education agency grants support States in establishing and maintaining pre- and inservice training of special education and related service personnel. This program also supports recruitment and retention activities.

Outcomes

For school year 1990-91, projects reported that 5,997 students received degrees, including 237 who received doctorates. The number obtaining professional certification totalled 3,389.

Table 3
Number of Degree or Certification Recipients in ED-funded Personnel Development Programs

Type of Special Education Training	Number of Degree Students Getting Degrees	Number of Doctoral Students Getting Degrees	Number of Students Receiving Certification
Adaptive physical education	107	0	106
Audiologist	193	1	73
Cross-categorical	2,562	128	589
Deaf-blindness	8	0	5
Deafness	138	0	134
Hard of hearing	105	0	0
Mental retardation	189	2	228
Multiple disabilities	131	4	179
Occupational therapist	163	10	138
Orthopedic impairments	21	0	10
Other health impairments	12	0	5
Other non-instructional staff	36	2	8
Other personnel	501	18	440
Paraprofessional	7	0	35
Physical therapist	109	0	104
Psychologist	72	30	39
School social worker	2	0	1
Serious emotional disturbance	277	2	301
Specific learning disabilities	258	10	234
Speech/language pathologist	856	23	475
Supervisor/administrator	6	3	51
Therapeutic recreation therapist	69	1	69
Visual impairments	130	3	132
Vocational education	45	0	33
Total	5,997	237	3,389

Source: III.1.

III. Sources of Information

Fifteenth Annual Report to Congress on Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education, 1993).
Program files.
State education agency reports.
Reports from personnel training grant recipients, 1991.

IV. Planned Studies

None.

V. Contacts for Further Information

Program Operations:: Norman Howe, (202) 205-9068
Program Studies:: Nancy Rhett, (202) 401-3630

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[Postsecondary Education Program for Individuals with Disabilities]

[Clearinghouses for Individuals with Disabilities]