休斯顿大学获125万美元联邦拨款：五年培养42名特教教师，首期申请11月15日截止
位于美国德克萨斯州哈里斯县 Houston 的休斯顿大学（University of Houston）教育学院近日宣布，获得美国教育部特殊教育项目办公室（Office of Special Education Programs）125万美元联邦拨款，启动「BRIDGE 项目」（Project BRIDGE，全称 Building Reading Instruction and Dyslexia Guidance Expertise），在五年内为 Houston 地区学区培养42名特殊教育教师，首期学员2027年1月开课，申请截止日期为2026年11月15日。
该项目为学员全额支付学费及部分相关费用，学员在线修读特殊教育教育硕士（M.Ed.）学位，并同时取得结构化读写干预方向的 BRIDGE 证书。申请者须持有学士学位与有效教师资格证，并有至少两年课堂教学经验。项目聚焦阅读科学、阅读障碍（dyslexia）识别与干预，回应德克萨斯州特教教师长期短缺与学生阅读达标率不足两项难题——研究显示，德克萨斯州约一半学生在三年级时阅读仍未达到年级水平。
项目首席研究员、休斯顿大学教授 Kristi Santi 表示：「我们的目标是让更多教师接受阅读科学训练、取得全国认证，成为各自学区的阅读专家。培养这42名教师，是为了让这些知识扩散开来，影响普通教育与特殊教育两边的学生。」联合首席研究员 Hope Rigby-Wills 负责结构化读写课程，共同研究员 Heather Dulas 曾在德克萨斯州与明尼苏达州任高中特教教师21年。
休斯顿大学表示，该拨款的奖项编号为 H325K260091，项目将运行至2031年；第二期（2027年秋季入学）申请截止日期为2027年4月1日。
University of Houston Receives $1.25 Million Federal Grant to Train 42 Special Education Teachers Over Five Years; Applications Due November 15
The University of Houston College of Education, in Houston, Harris County, Texas, has secured a $1.25 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs to launch Project BRIDGE (Building Reading Instruction and Dyslexia Guidance Expertise). The program will train 42 special educators from Houston-area school districts over five years, with the first cohort starting in January 2027; applications for the first cohort close on November 15, 2026.
The grant covers full tuition and some associated costs for participants earning an online Master of Education in Special Education along with the BRIDGE Certificate in structured literacy intervention. Eligible applicants must hold a bachelor's degree, a valid teaching certificate and at least two years of classroom experience. The initiative targets both the shortage of certified special education teachers and student reading deficits — studies show around half of Texas students are not reading on grade level by third grade.
"The goal is to get more teachers trained in the science of reading, to earn their national certification so they can become reading specialists in their own districts," said Kristi Santi, professor and principal investigator. "By training 42 teachers, the idea is to have that knowledge spread and impact students in the general education population and in special education." Co-principal investigator Hope Rigby-Wills leads the structured literacy curriculum, and co-investigator Heather Dulas taught high school special education for 21 years in Texas and Minnesota.
The award number is H325K260091. Project BRIDGE will run through 2031, and the application deadline for the fall 2027 cohort is April 1, 2027.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：休斯顿大学校园内的 Fertitta Center（资料图）。照片：Michael Barera，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。Photo: The Fertitta Center on the University of Houston campus (file photo). Photo: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
