UH disabled program wins $1.9M

The two federal grants will fund isle research projects

The U.S. Department of Education awarded two grants totaling $1.9 million to the Center on Disability Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa's College of Education, the university said in a news release.

The funding will benefit indigenous students with disabilities in Hawaii and nationally.

The Institute for Education Sciences awarded a three-year, $1.5 million grant to support research to improve the content and process of Individualized Education Plans for students with disabilities from indigenous cultures. High schools in Hawaii, Alaska and Utah were identified for their high concentrations of indigenous students with disabilities, and will serve as the target group for this study.

The Office of Special Education Programs also awarded a two-year, $400,000 Steppingstones of Technology Innovation for Children with Disabilities grant to investigate use of text-to-speech software with students with learning disabilities. Studies will take place at two high schools in Hawaii that rank among the lowest in the state in student reading test scores, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. The target group consists of ninth- and 10th-grade students who have been identified as learning-disabled and as nonreaders.