Brenda Bilton, Maria Darling, Jenna Dotts, Katie Greenberg, Bethany Hicks, and Kyle Rehder awarded 2017 Special Education Fellowships

Brenda Bilton, Maria Darling, Jenna Dotts, Katie Greenberg, Bethany Hicks, and Kyle Rehder of UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School have received 2016-2017 Special Education Fellowships. These fellowships, made possible by Dick and Peggy Lamb, support aspiring special education teachers who are dedicated to a long-term professional commitment of working in school settings with students who qualify for special education services, as well as with their families.

All six of the fellows are candidates in UC Santa Barbara’s Teacher Education Program working on their Education Specialist Credential (ESC). The ESC program provides future special educators the knowledge and experience to teach a wide range of diverse students with moderate and severe disabilities. The California Education Specialist Credential authorizes program graduates to teach students with autism, orthopedic impairments, cerebral palsy, developmental or intellectual disabilities, emotional and behavioral disorders, visual impairments, and other areas of need. The credential authorizes graduates to teach grades K–12, as well as transition programs for adults through age twenty-two. ESC Program graduates are prepared to become education interventionists who can effectively design and implement a range of special education models, such as inclusion programs and special day class programs in public schools and other settings such as, non-public schools, special schools, home/hospital settings, correctional facilities, non-public school and agencies, and resource rooms.