November 1, 2004

Training Grant Awarded To UCSD Program
For Support Of Teachers Of Deaf Children

By Pat Jacoby

A training grant of nearly $1 million has been awarded by the U.S. Department of Education to the Teacher Education Program (TEP) at the University of California, San Diego to support the preparation of teachers of deaf and hard of hearing children.

The five-year grant will provide financial aid for up to six new teachers per year in a two year Master of Arts program which uses an innovative training curriculum to prepare teachers to work with culturally and linguistically diverse deaf and hard of hearing children.

“The teacher preparation program in deaf education at UCSD is committed not only to easing the critical shortage of teachers for deaf and hard of hearing children in California, the western regions and the nation, but also to addressing the need to increase the quality of such teachers,” noted Tom Humphries, TEP associate director.

“TEP is doing this by intensifying the training to include two California teaching credentials: the deaf and hard of hearing specialist credential, and the (bilingual) multiple subject credential. Candidates in this program also are trained to incorporate ongoing research into the design and implementation of classroom learning environments for their young students,” he said.

The program places a strong emphasis on recruiting candidates to the program who are deaf or disabled and who are from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. With the Department of Education funding, the teacher education program hopes to offer support to candidates who, after surviving a rigorous admission process, might otherwise be unable to enroll for financial reasons, Humphries said.

Recruitment for 2005 admissions is underway and will continue to Feb. 1, 2005. Program and admission requirements, as well as online application, are available by clicking here.

Media Contact: Pat JaCoby, (858) 534-7404