Early Childhood Special Education Teachers Benefit from New Grant Funding

Kaye Standke, an early childhood special education teacher for Bloomington Public Schools, remembers the moment she learned about MSUM's Elevating Early Childhood Special Education Grant.

"When I learned this might be an opportunity I actually started crying," she said. "I was like, 'You've got to be kidding me. This is unreal to have.'"

Elevating ECSE Grant

The grant, sponsored by the Minnesota Office of Higher Education, provides funding for students seeking licensure in Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE), offering up to 6 credits of tuition support. For Standke and 12 other students this fall, the tuition support allowed them to continue their education without a financial burden.

The Elevating ECSE Grant was created to combat the shortages in early childhood special education in Minnesota. The goal is to increase the number of licensed ECSE teachers throughout the state.

Marci Glessner, faculty member and graduate coordinator for Special Education, and Dani Parenteau, an adjunct faculty member in the School of Teaching & Learning, are part of the MSUM team that applied for this grant. The grant's goal resonates deeply for both of them as they see the importance of special education and early intervention firsthand.

"It's such a time of growth for children. They're learning languages, gross motor skills, fine motor skills, and learning the whole aspect of communication and the social nature of life," Glessner said. "For students who might have difficulty in those areas, the earlier we can intervene the better the prognosis is later on."

Glessner and Parenteau both highlighted that early childhood special education goes beyond student interaction, with ECSE teachers collaborating with other providers and the families of the children.

"It's a rewarding, highly collaborative field. If you're a relationship person, you'll use those skills because you'll go from relating with children to working with other providers," Parenteau said.

In the first semester of the grant, $30,000 of support was given out to 13 students. Beyond the financial impact, Parenteau and Glessner host "community of practice" sessions to provide the grant recipients with a space to connect and discuss topics important to their work. Since the ECSE licensure program at MSUM is online, it allows students to build relationships with their peers and professors.

"It builds those connections with each other that you may get in a classroom setting but you don't always get in the online setting," Parenteau said.

Emily Bross, another grant recipient, currently works as a peer coach at Anoka-Hennepin School District, where she supports teachers in their professional development. In this position, she has witnessed the impact of shortages on education.

"I'm energized at the thought of increasing the number of staff who choose an ECSE licensure and that path," Bross said. "They are our youngest learners and of course we want to support as much and as many as we can."

When Bross decided to explore ECSE, she did a lot of research of the programs around her. She knew she needed an online program and when she reached out to Glessner about MSUM's program, she was encouraged by Glessner's helpfulness.

"Her guidance, strong communication, and the information she provided me about the program made me confident that this was the program that was going to work best for me," Bross said.

Because of the grant, neither Bross nor Standke needed to pause their classes due to financial constraints. Both look forward to the doors the licensure will open in a career that energizes them.

"I'm so glad that the work I do is impactful and I can see the impact it has on kids and families. It's so rewarding," Standke said.

MSUM is accepting applications for the Elevating ECSE Grant for Summer 2025 until mid-May.