$9 million in state funds will support children with disabilities

Syracuse University’s School of Education received $9 million in state funding to develop three centers to improve educational experiences for students with disabilities.

The New York State Department of Education’s funding is part of a system to support school districts in need of improved curriculum for students with disabilities, said Christine Ashby, associate professor of inclusive special education and disability and co-principal investigator of the grant.

The three centers will operate out of the School of Education. Specialists in SU’s Mid-State Regional Partnership Center will work with teachers and faculty in regional school districts to improve conditions for students with disabilities. The other two centers will work directly with parents and families who have children with disabilities.

“This is about improving the educational experiences of students with disabilities in the state,” said Alan Foley, associate professor in the Department of Cultural Foundations of Education and co-investigator of the grant. “For the university, it’s a great way to connect [the] region to schools and communities in ways that it’s not always easy to.”

The state Department of Education issued a call for proposals last spring, said Joanna Masingila, dean of SU’s School of Education.

“I think they recognized our expertise that we have in the School of Education as well as the work we’ve been doing through our institutes and centers that we already had,” Masingila said.

The two Family and Community Engagement Centers, one for young children and the other for school-age students, will replace the Syracuse University Parent Assistance Center and SU’s Early Childhood Direction Center.

More than $6 million out of the total $9 million will go toward the regional partnership center, Foley said. The remaining portion which will go toward the new engagement centers.

The regional partnership center will provide professional development and regional training to 51 school districts in the mid-state region, including the Syracuse City School District, according to an SU News release.

“It’s more us working closely and collaboratively with school districts to help them bring about change in their districts,” Ashby said.

Having the center on campus will allow for education students to learn from the professionals on staff who will participate in classes and give guest presentations, Ashby said.

Foley said he’s looking forward to continuing the work that the Parent Assistance and Early Childhood Direction centers have been doing for years.

“I always liked seeing the outcomes of the differences in students’ lives that people being able to go out and work in the community can make,” Foley said. “That’s what I’m most excited about, is just being able to support more people, getting out and making differences in the lives of students and helping teachers do their work.”