Franklin native and teacher Charley Jo Allen is pursuing her master’s degree in special education through WKU’s Project PREP initiative. The program, which stands for “Preparing Rural Educators and Professionals for Students with High-Intensity Needs,” welcomed its first cohort of Speech Language Pathologists and Special Education teachers in the fall of 2020.
These students will collaborate on combined graduate coursework and field experiences to serve K-12 students with high-intensity needs. This initiative, first announced in January 2020, comes in light of the national special education teacher shortage – a critical issue that Allen knows personally.
“I have experienced budget cuts that resulted in special education assistants being laid off,” Allen said. “Due to this critical shortage, teachers are often hired for special education positions without appropriate certification. When this happens, teachers are without the necessary skill-set required to teach and make appropriate decisions for the students they service.”
Allen, who is a special education teacher in Simpson County, is already extremely well-versed in efforts and initiatives aimed at improving the lives of students of all abilities. “As an undergraduate, I was the Vice President of the Student Council for Exception Children at WKU,” Allen said. “I am [also] a graduate of the TopPrep program and hold dual certifications in Special Education: Learning Behavior Disorders and Elementary Education.”
