Southeastern NEWS

                                                       Southeastern Louisiana University
                                           Public Information  Office
                                           publicinfor@selu.edu
                                           SLU 10880, Hammond, LA 70402
                                           504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
    Date: 3/22/00
      Contact:                           Carol Dotson 25

SOUTHEASTERN'S  PROJECT RENEW RECEIVES GRANT

     HAMMOND -- Southeastern Louisiana University's Special Education program has
received a three-year, $585,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education for Project ReNew,
a program which allows current certified general education teachers to receive state certification
to teach children with mild/moderate disabilities. 
     According to federal government data, Louisiana is experiencing a critical shortage of
certified teaching personnel in all areas of special education.
     "The trend today is to include students with disabilities into regular classrooms, which is
great," said Myra Rogers, Project ReNew  coordinator.  "The problem is that many general
education classroom teachers are not prepared or certified in special education and do not know
how to  include those students with disabilities successfully." 
      The Project ReNew  program is designed to alleviate the critical shortage of certified
special education teachers in Louisiana and significantly improve the availability of special
education teachers in the state, particularly in high poverty, rural and inner-city areas.
     The grant, which provides $195,000 per year will pay tuition for the four semester
program, and give the teachers a $250 per semester stipend. 
      Project ReNew participants must be certified teachers who wish to receive special
education certification in the area of mild/moderate disabilities.
     Southeastern will offer Project ReNew  in Tangipahoa, Livingston and Orleans parishes. 
The Tangipahoa Parish cohort began spring semester 2000 with 15  teachers selected to
participate. The New Orleans portion will begin in the summer and Livingston will be added in
spring 2001. 
                                              -more-

Project ReNew/ ADD ONE

     Another aspect of Project Renew is a collaborative partnership with the University of
New Orleans. As a subcontract of the project, UNO faculty and doctoral students will work
closely with the project coordinators and the Orleans Parish participants.   
     Southeastern Louisiana University special education faculty Gayle Melville and
department head Suzanne Martin are the co-directors of the grant.  For more information about
Project ReNew, contact Southeastern's Special Education and Communication Sciences &
Disorders department at 504-549-2214. 


                                                         -SLU-
          This press release is available on the World Wide Web:
          www.selu.edu/NewsEvents/PublicInfoOffice/newsp00.htm