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Stonehill Faculty Awarded $1.1 Million Grant to Address Special Education Teacher Shortages
The grant will support Project CAPE, an initiative to create a new professional pipeline for future educators from Cape Cod and the Islands.
Reflecting their expertise and leadership in teacher preparation, Stonehill College Associate Vice President/Dean of Graduate & Professional Studies Elizabeth Stringer Keefe and Director of Graduate Teacher Education Rebekah Louis have secured a $1,106,348 grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
The award will support Project CAPE (Credentialing, Advancing, and Preparing Educators in Special Education), designed to expand and strengthen the special education workforce on Cape Cod and the Islands through new licensure and advanced credential pathways. Stringer Keefe and Louis will research factors influencing the recruitment and retention of special educators in the region to add to the field’s understanding of how teacher educators can prepare and sustain teacher workforces in rural, geographically isolated and island communities.
Through the grant, 24 prospective teachers will receive comprehensive support, including tuition, to earn Massachusetts special education licensure and/or a Master of Education degree, creating a new pipeline of highly qualified teachers for the region. An additional 20 early-career Cape Cod teachers will receive support to earn the Massachusetts Autism Endorsement through a 15- to 18-credit graduate certificate, helping to build internal school and district expertise, as well as strengthening special education services in this geographic area.
“We are honored to receive this grant, which is an endorsement of the excellence that students can expect when they choose Stonehill,” Stringer Keefe said. “Over the past several years, the College has expanded its presence on the Cape, investing significant time and resources to make our offerings accessible to future practitioners from the region. Project CAPE will build upon that foundation in many meaningful ways.”
Director of Graduate Teacher Education Rebekah Louis (left) and Associate Vice President/Dean of Graduate & Professional Studies Elizabeth Stringer Keefe (right) stand together on Donahue Hill at Stonehill College.
Project CAPE will operate through Stonehill on Cape Cod. Launched in 2021, this weekend master’s degree program allows students pursuing their initial licensure in special education to complete coursework in Sandwich, Massachusetts. Stonehill maintains a satellite instructional site at the Riverview School, an approved special education school which serves students ages 11 to 21 with disabilities.
The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has identified special education as a high-need workforce area. Challenges faced by school districts are often pronounced in geographically isolated and rural communities. Under the Massachusetts State Office of Rural Health’s definition, 15 of the 23 municipalities on Cape Cod and the Islands (approximately 65%) are classified as rural. Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard qualify as rural under several federal designation systems.
By building a sustainable local educator pipeline in an area with limited access to higher education institutions, and by improving educator effectiveness and retention through extended clinical experience and other supports, Project CAPE aims to establish a new partnership model that expands access to qualified special educators and improves inclusive opportunities.
“At a time when communities across Massachusetts face shortages of special educators, this is a meaningful investment that will expand access to quality training, strengthen the pipeline of experienced educators across the Cape and advance this exceptional partnership providing the locally rooted, forward-looking solution we need,” Congressman Bill Keating said. “The efforts of Stonehill College, the Riverview School and the educators leading this important work will strengthen schools across the region and improve educational opportunities for students with disabilities for years to come.”
The grant supporting Project CAPE was awarded through the federal government’s Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities program, which was established to address needs for personnel preparation in special education and early intervention.