MSU Special Education receives Bush Foundation grant

MINOT, N.D. – Minot State University special education programs have received a Bush Foundation award to continue to recruit, train, and retain special education teachers to serve in rural communities.

Minot State was notified in late July by the Bush Foundation that it had received the award for Project PIPELINE (Partnership Initiative to Prepare Educators for Licensure in ND (special) Education) Expansion. The five-year, $5.25 million grant will support the growth of a robust special education personnel preparation pipeline, which begins with high school career exploration and culminates in graduate-level leadership preparation.

This collaborative project is led by Minot State University and Certification Central (CC), North Dakota’s alternative special education teacher licensure program. Co-project directors are Holly Pedersen, professor of special education at MSU, and Katherine Terras, CEO of Certification Central.

“We are thrilled to continue our partnership with Certification Central and expand the special education personnel pipeline for our state,” said Pedersen. “Minot State has a rich history of preparing high-quality special education personnel for more than 60 years. We’ve been able to do this by being innovative and responding to changing needs in the field. We pioneered the special education para-to-teacher model in our state, and Certification Central pioneered the special education technician model — our partnership now allows students to move along a career path that includes different options to meet different needs, ensuring a strong workforce to support students with disabilities.

“This support from the Bush Foundation ensures this important work will continue, and we look forward to more collaborative problem-solving with our stakeholders around the state.”

Project PIPELINE seeks to integrate on-the-job learning, reduce coursework redundancy, and shorten the time spent in post-secondary education, without compromising quality preparation. This multi-pronged effort will ensure that high-quality personnel are available at all levels to support students with disabilities in public schools.

“Because of the Bush Foundation, Certification Central and Minot State University are able to continue our collaborative, transformative PIPELINE. CC and MSU remain dedicated to envisioning a seamless pipeline for pre-professionals in high school interested in special education, for paraprofessionals desiring to become special education technicians, for technicians working toward teacher licensure, and for teachers becoming leaders in the field,” Terras said. “The Bush Foundation embraces innovation and supports the removal of ineffective silos and archaic barriers, which is a guiding framework for our work. Our immediate focus is to launch Project PARA that will provide North Dakota with Personalized, Accessible, Resources for Advancing the knowledge and skills of paraprofessionals working with students who have disabilities. We remain grateful for this opportunity.”

Pedersen and Terras received an initial Bush Foundation grant in April of 2022, which developed the framework for PIPELINE through curriculum development, technology for distance delivery, student tuition support, mentor recruitment and training, and stakeholder engagement.

“Minot State is leading some exciting work that has the potential to transform the special education teacher pipeline in North Dakota,” said Tony LookingElk, grantmaking director at the Bush Foundation. “This work builds on past success where they laid the groundwork for initial parts of a pilot program, and now, they are well-positioned to have even greater impact. Establishing a pipeline that begins in high school career exploration and ends in graduate-level leadership preparation will open many doors for many people throughout the state to enter and remain in the special education profession. We hope this work will serve as a model to address this challenge across the region and even nationally.”

Founded in 1953 by Archibald and Edyth Bush, the Bush Foundation has made grants and investments to support organizations and people who think bigger and think differently about solutions to problems in their communities.