Ritu Chopra (PI), executive director of The Paraprofessional Research and Resource (PAR2A) Center, and Elizabeth Steed (co-PI), professor in Early Childhood Special Education at CU Denver, have been selected to receive a $997,902 funding stream through 2028, thanks to a recent grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs. Their project titled EPIC-ECEL: Equity-focused Preparation of InClusive Early Childhood Educators and Leaders partners with three Hispanic-Serving Institutions — Community College of Denver, Morgan Community College in Ft. Morgan, and Aims Community College in Greeley — to prepare an ECE workforce equipped with knowledge and skills for meaningful inclusion of young children with disabilities and their families, particularly those who are from racially, ethnically, linguistically and culturally diverse populations. The project will collaborate with other CU and state level initiatives that promote the shared goal of improving the effectiveness of the ECE workforce to equitably support all young children and their families in early childhood settings.
