TCU’s College of Education receives gift to support special education programs

Fort Worth, TX

5/14/2008

TCU’s College of Education received a $100,000 gift from the Amon G. Carter Foundation to support special education through TCU’s Laboratory Schools and the Alice S. Neeley Special Education Institute.

The gift from the Amon G. Carter Foundation would pay the startup costs for special education programs sustaining them for approximately three years. The programs include a kindergarten-level transition program called LEAP (Life, Experience And Promise) that prepares children to move from early intervention settings into more inclusive general education classrooms. LEAP, and model programs based on LEAP, would be accessible for Tarrant County school districts, general and special education programs.

“Far too often we hear from parents that their child was prepared for inclusion, but the child’s teacher wasn’t prepared for them,” said Nancy Meadows, education professor and director of TCU’s Alice S. Neeley Special Education Institute. “The funds from the Amon Carter Foundation will allow us to work not just with our children, but also with teachers, administrators, and others in the child’s receiving school and in their community to provide a successful transition and general education experience.”

TCU first began LEAP as a successful pilot program, a small experimental class from 2005 until 2008. In Fall 2008, TCU will implement the program in a full-size class on a permanent basis. They will also begin a partnership with the Fort Worth ISD to develop a Collaborative LEAP Classroom, an extension of the original LEAP model.

The Alice S. Neeley Special Education Institute has developed an additional slate of programs designed to make the LEAP model also accessible to other Tarrant County school districts and special education programs. These programs include state-approved professional development offerings, a speaker series, a curriculum and transition guide, a lending library of curriculum and assessment resources, presentations at education conferences, consulting with other special education programs, and opportunities to involve students, parents, and teachers in the LEAP model and the Alice S. Neeley Institute.

Among laboratory schools connected with higher education, a few function as college preparatory programs, but most -- like TCU’s -- are tied to a teacher preparation program. TCU is the only institution that operates two laboratory schools in special education. Laboratory schools are valuable to teacher preparation programs for the following purposes research, experimentation, clinical teaching experience, and curriculum and staff development.

TCU’s two laboratory schools include KinderFrogs and Starpoint Schools. KinderFrogs School is a special-education preschool that provides early-intervention education from ages 18 months to 6 years for children with Down syndrome. Starpoint School is a special-education primary school for grade 1-6 children with learning disabilities.

For more information, contact Nancy Meadows at n.meadows@tcu.edu.