MCCC To Participate In $1.25 Million Department Of Education Grant Awarded To UT

MONROE, Mich. – Monroe County Community College has been selected to participate in a $1.25 million Department of Education grant awarded to the University of Toledo for a project to enhance the quality of preparation for future early childhood education professionals, Felice Moorman, assistant professor and coordinator of early childhood education at MCCC, has announced. 

The grant was awarded to UT by the Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

UT early childhood education faculty and colleagues at MCCC, Grand Rapids Community College, Mott Community College and a fourth program to be selected will work together on the project, which is titled “Great Start for Higher Education.”  

The grant is for five years.  The awarding process was competitive and based on peer review and ranking of a national pool of applications.

Dr. Laurie Dinnebeil, Judith Daso Herb chair of inclusive early childhood education at UT, and national early childhood education consultant Camille Catlett, an advanced technical assistance specialist emerita at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, will work on the project with Moorman and the other campus and community partners.

Felice Moorman
Felice Moorman

The Great Start for Higher Education project team will provide intensive professional development for MCCC early childhood education faculty, Moorman said.  The emphasis will be on evidence-based practices for supporting children of diverse abilities, cultures, languages and life circumstances -- as well as their families.

An advisory board comprised of Michigan experts, family members of children with disabilities, graduates of community college early childhood programs, representatives from state agencies, and other early childhood and early childhood special education professionals will guide the work of the Great Start for Higher Education project.  

“Participation in the Great Start for Higher Education project will help faculty improve teaching and learning processes to prepare our graduates to effectively support diverse young children and their families,” Moorman said. “This project will also strengthen our program’s national accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children by focusing on the integration of inclusion and diversity practices throughout program curriculum."

About Monroe County Community College

Founded in 1964, Monroe County Community College is a public, two-year institution supported by tax monies from Monroe County, educational funds from the State of Michigan and student tuition.  The college’s mission is to enrich lives in our community by providing opportunity through student-focused, affordable, quality higher education and other learning experiences.  The Main Campus is located at 1555 South Raisinville Road, Monroe, Mich., 48161, with easy access to Toledo and Detroit.  The Whitman Center is located in Temperance, Mich., 48182, near the Ohio-Michigan Border.  Detailed information about MCCC is available at www.monroeccc.edu

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