CDS HI-PRO Project

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Center on Disability Studies has been awarded a $1 million dollar grant to support Hawaiʻi state-identified needs for personnel preparation to work with children, including infants, toddlers, and youth with disabilities. The five-year grant funded through the U.S. Department of Education Special Education – Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities project purpose is to ensure that those personnel have the necessary skills and knowledge from evidence-based inclusive practices that have been determined to be successful in serving those children, and increase collaboration between 4-year institutions of higher education (IHEs) and community colleges to support career to increase the number of associate degree program (ADP) graduates who enter bachelor’s degree programs.

The HI-PRO project will partner with Leeward Community College, Hawaii Community College and Maui Community College to 1) support faculty in designing and delivering curriculum content that prepares associate degree students to work with young children with disabilities and their families, including those who are multilingual and from racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse populations, and support their full and equitable participation, development, and learning in early childhood programs;  2) increase the number of early childhood program personnel with associate degrees who have the competencies to meet the needs of our diverse population through exposure to high quality evidence based inclusive practices, and; 3) partner with Pathways Hui statewide group to support pathways to increase the number of  graduates who enter bachelor’s degree programs.

Contact: Dr. Holly Manaseri, principal investigator at hmanaser@hawaii.edu for more information