A $924,000 gift from the Wheeler Foundation will support 30 students in the Department of Special Education’s (SED) new Paraprofessionals Unlocking Licensure in Special Education (PULSE) program over the next two years. The PULSE program will prepare current paraprofessionals to earn a bachelor’s degree in special education and their teaching license with a Learning and Behavioral Specialist endorsement.
“A gift like this is so significant because it allows us to provide scholarship support to many students, and it sets the example of the possibilities for partnerships in the future,” said Dr. Yojanna Cuenca-Carlino, chair of SED. “We are thrilled that the Wheeler Foundation believes in our program and the quality of our curriculum and faculty.”
The Wheeler Foundation’s mission is to provide grants for projects that will serve individuals with special needs. The foundation supports organizations in east central Illinois and west central Indiana to offer resources ranging from manipulatives in the classroom, to equipment in schools, and buildings for developmental vocational training.
“We have two educators on our board, and they wanted to find solutions to help alleviate the severe shortage of special education teachers,” said Bob Swires, Wheeler Foundation board president. “We already provided scholarships for special education students at Illinois State, so we reached out to see how we could expand that partnership.”
The PULSE program will be a two-year, fully online program that is designed to meet the needs of working paraprofessionals and will launch in May 2023. Students will continue working during the program and will student teach in the schools where they are already working.
“We know that the Wheeler Foundation’s gift is going to be so impactful as we work to meet the needs of districts by preparing paraprofessionals who are already in the classrooms to become special education teachers,” said Cuenca-Carlino. “These paraprofessionals are already committed to their schools and communities and will be ready to take special education teaching positions.”
Since SED began recruiting for the PULSE program in late fall, they have received overwhelming interest. SED plans to launch three cohorts in the summer and are already talking with many districts about the possibility of creating cohorts for school districts in coming years.
“This has truly been a team effort to launch this program. A strong team of faculty and staff are behind the development of PULSE, including Drs. Kate Peeples and Allison Kroesch as co-coordinators in charge of curriculum. The team also includes Derrek Drenckpohl, Sara Porter, Melissa Ramirez, Dr. Yun-Ching Chung, Dr. Stacey Jones Bock, and Kelli Appel,” said Cuenca-Carlino.
This program was built based on data from a pilot program in the Peoria area for the last two years. “This is only the beginning of a very bright future, and we are very grateful for the Wheeler Foundation’s support,” said Cuenca-Carlino.
