University of Guam Receives Grant Awards in Excess of $1 Million for CEDDERS Program
Technical Assistance and Dissemination Grants to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities throughout the Pacific

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—September 28, 2006—Washington, DC—

Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo announced today that the U.S. Department of Education has awarded the University of Guam six separate 1-year grants totaling $1,298,480.  The funds are authorized under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) as part of a General Supervision Enhancement Grant (GSEG) for the Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research and Service (CEDDERS) at UOG.  The multiple awards range from a low of $188,103 to a high of $237,093.

"I sincerely commend the hard work and diligence of Dr. Heidi San Nicolas and the University of Guam CEDDERS staff responsible for attracting the multiple awards that benefit children with disabilities throughout the Pacific Basin region," Congresswoman Bordallo said. "As a result of their collaborative efforts, educators and associated stakeholders can serve and provide for children with disabilities on Guam and the Northern Marianas, American Samoa, Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands, through effective special education research and assessment."

Under the GSEG program, funds are designed to provide the technical support for each Pacific Basin entity to improve capacity for accurately reporting performance and participation of students with disabilities in the jurisdiction assessment system. A partnership between Guam CEDDERS-University of Guam, the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO)-University of Minnesota, and the Western Regional Resource Center (WRRC)-University of Oregon, establishes the foundation for the design of each entity’s GSEG PAC Implementation Project.

Guam CEDDERS serves as a major catalyst for change by linking the local expertise of each entity with the regional expertise of the University of Guam and the national expertise of NCEO and other assessment consultants on large-scale assessments, assessment accommodations, alternate assessments, and special education.

The projects also provide for critical follow-up on-site technical assistance, in collaboration with WRRC, in support of each entity’s development and implementation of appropriate assessment accommodations and alternate assessment based on alternate achievement standards within the jurisdiction assessment system.

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Contact: Joseph E. Duenas in Washington, D.C. at 202-225-1188 or Joy James at

671-477-4272/4.

joseph.duenas@mail.house.gov or joy.james@mail.house.gov

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www.house.gov/bordallo

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