School Psych Faculty Awarded New Student Leadership Grant

Albers, Garbacz, and Kratochwill Awarded OSEP Training Grant to Prepare School Psychology Doctoral Students for Leadership Careers in Academia

School Psychology faculty members Craig Albers and Andy Garbacz, in addition to School Psychology Professor-Emeritus Tom Kratochwill, were awarded a 5-year, $1.25 million U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Program (OSEP) Preparation of Leadership Personnel training grant.

The project, entitled Preparing School Psychologists to be the Next Generation of Leaders in School Psychology Evidence-Based Practices for Students with Disabilities, will provide five years of student funding and support for up to six school psychology doctoral students interested in pursuing careers in academia.

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The program will emphasize the development of expertise in evidence-based prevention programs for use with diverse children at risk for disabilities, high-need children with disabilities, and high-need schools and districts. Trainees will receive in-depth training in research, scholarship, teaching, mentoring, and supervision as well as prevention science and evidence-based prevention practices.

“This training grant opportunity addresses two areas of tremendous need within school psychology. The first is the need to address the faculty shortages that exist within school psychology. The second is the need for faculty trained in prevention and early intervention practices, who will then assist in training the next generation of practicing school psychologists,” explains Albers. “This training opportunity will provide unique and explicit training in both of these areas. We’re confident that graduates of the program will be in high demand when they enter the job market.”

OSEP’s Preparation of Leadership Personnel awards assist states in meeting their responsibility for providing personnel to serve children with disabilities. The program supports competitive awards to help address state-identified needs for qualified personnel in special education, related services, early intervention, and regular education to work with children with disabilities as well as to ensure that those personnel have the skills and knowledge that are needed to serve children with disabilities, and that such skills and knowledge are derived from practices determined to be successful through research and experience.

Program funds support projects in a variety of areas, including leadership personnel and personnel to serve children with low- and high-incidence disabilities. The program also supports projects of national significance that address personnel issues with broad applicability.

Albers is an associate professor and Director of Training within the School Psychology doctoral program, Chair of the UW’s Prevention and Intervention Sciences minor and graduate certificate program, Co-Director of the Rural Education Research and Implementation Center (RERIC), and Editor-Elect of the Journal of School Psychology.

Garbacz is an assistant professor within the School Psychology doctoral program, Director of the Department of Educational Psychology’s Prevention, Intervention, and Enhancement Graduate Training Program, and Co-Director of RERIC.

Kratochwill is professor emeritus, having served on the School Psychology faculty for 33 years. He is recognized as one of the most influential scholars within school psychology, having published more than 200 journal articles during his career.

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