Initiative Description
In partnership with the Delaware Department of Education (DDOE), the Center for Disabilities Studies—home of the DATI—secured funding from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs to design and launch the Special Education Administrative Leadership (SEAL) Program. SEAL is an 18-month alternate route program leading to certification in the State of Delaware as a Special Education Administrator. Assistive technology is prominently represented in the curriculum in both coursework and specialty sessions. One specialty session this year featured Ron Hager, Managing Attorney for Education and Employment at the National Disability Rights Network, who has extensive experience in special education and assistive technology, and Beth Mineo, director of the Delaware Assistive Technology Initiative and co-director of the SEAL Program.
Lessons Learned/Replication
Our first cohort of scholars will complete the program shortly. We expect them to move into district and building leadership roles in the coming years, and they will bring with them a contemporary perspective on the responsibilities of the education system relative to AT access. They have familiarity with tools such as the QIAT Matrices and the SETT Framework that they can implement for quality improvement, and with the services that they can access through the Delaware Assistive Technology Initiative. The DDOE also provides funding for the SEAL Program, and it is our intent for the program to be sustained after federal funding ceases through a combination of DDOE support and tuition paid by the scholars.