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Special Education

Office of Special Education

Personnel Shortage Projects

A variety of professional development resources are available from the New York State Education Department (NYSED), Office of Special Education to address personnel shortages areas. 

Visually Impaired

Intensive Teacher Institute for Teachers of the Blind and Visually Impaired (ITI-TVI) is designed to provide tuition assistance to students and teachers interested in becoming TVIs to address the shortage across the State. Individuals who enroll in the ITI-TVI must serve as TVIs in New York State for a minimum of two years following completion of the program.

For more information about the ITI-TVI, please contact the two colleges offering programs leading to certification as a TVI:

Bilingual Special Education

The Bilingual Education and Special Education Educator Shortage Project (BSE Project) is designed to address the shortage of bilingual special education (BSE) professionals in New York State, with a specific focus on addressing the identified shortage of the following educators and pupil personnel service (PPS) professionals available to work for the New York City Department of Education:

  • Special education teachers who hold a Bilingual Education extension and a teaching certificate in one of the following areas: early childhood education, childhood education, English to speakers of other languages, or a core subject area (English, mathematics, science, or social studies);
  • Special education teachers with a Bilingual Education extension;
  • Speech and language disabilities (“SLD”) teachers with a Bilingual Education extension; and
  • PPS professionals (school psychologists, school counselors, and school social workers) with a Bilingual Education extension.

The BSE Project supports a wider availability of bilingual education and special education educator preparation programs through the City University of New York (CUNY) colleges system and provides tuition assistance to enable in-service and pre-service educators to obtain certification in the identified shortage areas referenced above.  The BSE Project also supports expansion of CUNY’s current online bilingual education programs to allow special education teachers, SLD teachers, and PPS to access online coursework for the Bilingual Education extension.

For more information, please contact: Erika Abelon - erika.abelon@cuny.edu or the CUNY Teacher Education Programs webpage at www.cuny.edu/teachered.