Education
State, schools reduce special ed teacher shortage
|
By JORDAN BRADLEY
Capital News Service
LANSING – As the Michigan Consortium for Teacher Endorsement for Deaf/Hard of Hearing and Visually Impairment gains interest, more teachers will be prepared for jobs in high-shortage areas. To address shortages in specific areas of special education, the Department of Education partnered with 14 colleges and universities across the state and country to create the consortium in 2012. It offers classes online and seminars for teachers to earn an additional endorsement for education students in grades K-12. The endorsement would take an average of two years to complete. The Michigan institutions participating in the consortium are Aquinas College and Saginaw Valley State University in the field of deaf/hard of hearing and Western Michigan University and Eastern Michigan University in the field of blind/visual impairment.