Holmes Program Partners with Early Childhood Intervention Personnel Center for Equity

AACTE is partnering with the Early Childhood Intervention Personnel Center on Equity (ECIPC-E), a national center federally funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs, to assist states in building comprehensive systems of personnel development to improve outcomes for infants and young children with disabilities and their families.   

More early childhood leaders and practitioners with the requisite skills and knowledge are required to meet the needs of children aged birth – 5 years old.  As a 5-year sub-awardee, AACTE will be directly addressing this issue, in part, by providing targeted mentorship, professional development, and financial support to doctoral students of color pursuing a Ph.D. or an Ed.D. in early childhood and early childhood special education.  AACTE will recruit a cohort of twelve Holmes Scholars pursuing doctorates in early childhood and early childhood special education.  If you are an active Holmes Scholar in a special education and/or early childhood education program, this cohort might be right for you!  We encourage you to review ECIPC-E and Holmes Partnership FAQ before filling out the Application for Holmes Scholars. 

If you have questions about the application, please contact Nicole Dunn at ndunn@aacte.org.

In addition to supporting their scholarship and professional development as emerging experts and leaders in the field, this partnership will produce a report that examines the national landscape of early childhood and special education degree programs and graduates. The report will analyze trends in the number of programs and graduates within early childhood and special education and compare them to the demand for professionals that can provide these services. To meet demand, it is imperative that policies and systems be in place to sustain efforts to recruit and retain these professionals, which is why the report will also include a special analysis of states that have legislated funding for early childhood special education services and have implemented successful models to attract, prepare and retain early childhood and early childhood special education personnel.