Mount St. Mary’s University’s Anthony F. and Alice G. Agnone School of Education was awarded a $970,000 Maryland Elevates grant through the Maryland State Department of Education, focused on addressing Maryland’s shortage of special education teachers. The grant provides funding for tuition, licensure testing requirements, and coaching support for graduate and adult undergraduate students seeking certification in special education programs. The Mount’s most recent Elevates grant program builds on the success and momentum of a $1,000,000 Maryland Leads grant and a $297,010 Maryland Elevates grant.
Dr. Stacey Brown-Hobbs, Dean of the Anthony F. and Alice G. Agnone School of Education, noted, “Funding opportunities like the Maryland Elevates grant provide our adult students, many of whom are working in support roles, the opportunity to build their knowledge and skills in the profession while increasing the number of highly qualified special education teachers in Maryland.”
The online program serves conditionally certified educators and paraprofessionals in attaining dual certification (elementary education/special education) or triple special education (elementary education/special education/early childhood education) certifications. The FY2026 Maryland Elevates award includes educational community partnerships with Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Frederick, and Washington County Public Schools—emphasizing an intensive effort to increase the number of special educators in Maryland.
"Mount St. Mary’s University was awarded this competitive Maryland Elevates grant in recognition of its commitment to preparing dedicated paraprofessionals and conditional educators to become highly qualified special education teachers," said Dr. Tenette Smith, Chief Academic Officer for the Office of Teaching and Learning at the Maryland State Department of Education. "By removing financial barriers and pairing rigorous coursework with personalized coaching, this partnership strengthens Maryland’s special education workforce and improves outcomes for Maryland’s students with disabilities."
In addition to removing financial barriers and increasing access to certification, the program provides job-embedded coaching and supervision in addition to ongoing mentoring and performance support. Collaborations between teacher candidates and coaches have been a unique differentiator for the program. The personalized and non-evaluative approach works not only to bridge the gap between theory and practice but to enhance teacher effectiveness and student engagement.
Graduate student Michael Lafferty, who was dashing out of a classroom at the Mount’s Frederick campus, is a month away from completing his second and third courses in the Mount’s Master of Arts in Teaching program. He’s working hard to manage his academics alongside a busy work and life schedule. Currently, he’s at New Market Middle School teaching three grades of history, a functional life skills class, an eighth-grade science class—and providing case management and other supports, as needed, to his students.
“The grant funds made this opportunity possible. My coach, Julie Ketchum, was wonderful. If there was a rating system, she would get five out of five,” he said. “With the money for tuition and the supports in place, I have really appreciated everything the Mount has done to make it easier to get through the program. No pain, no gain, right?” he said as he kept moving.
Inside a loud classroom, Julie Ketchum is seated with other coaches, teachers, and students. Ketchum started her career in 1989 with Montgomery County Public Schools and held various positions, including classroom teacher and reading interventionalist in the primary grades. She then took a leave of absence to be home with her children before easing herself back to education at the Mount, where she has been for a decade as a clinical educator. Her experience in the classroom, as a private tutor, and as a parent, makes her especially well-equipped to coach students wherever they are in their personal and professional lives. Ketchum’s students can call, text, or email her with questions or for advice on everything from finding resources for lesson plans to navigating certain systems that exist in their schools.
“I wish I’d had something like we offer back when I started,” she says. “This program has been so wonderful, and I think with all the experience that we have around the table, it’s been so helpful to the students. I think it’s the best part.”
Graduate student Madison Foltz currently works at Eastern Elementary School and thinks her kids, as she calls them, are the best part. Her coach, Jenny Powell, stops by to confirm their Saturday meeting at 2:15 p.m. to practice interviewing. Foltz is getting triple certified, so she has two interviews for special education positions in Washington and Frederick Counties, as well as a general education and early childhood education interview in Frederick County.
Foltz has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and has worked as a registered behavioral technician assisting children with autism. After a career change, she got a job as a paraprofessional at Potomac Heights Elementary School, the school she attended decades ago. One of her teachers still works there. By December 2027, Foltz will complete the program. The Maryland Elevates grant will have paid tuition for her summer and fall sessions.
“Nobody goes into education for the money,” she says, admitting she works a second job in retail. “But being in an educational setting again just felt right. I know there’s a lot to be said for going into education—but that’s where my heart is.”
Lafferty and Foltz heard about the Maryland Elevates grant through Dean of the School of Education Stacey Brown-Hobbs, Ph.D., C’85, and Chair and Director of Teacher Education Angela Mucci-Guido, Ph.D., who also serves as director of the Center for Catholic School Excellence. Both assumed their roles in July 2025 when Barb Marinak, Ph.D., accepted the role of Provost after joining the Mount’s faculty in 2011, progressing from associate professor to chair of the Education Department to professor to dean in 2017. The trio has been crucial to securing and stewarding more than $2 million in funding from state, federal, and private sources, guided by a mission to recruit, train, and retain students and teachers through a structured, supported certification pathway.
Beginning this summer, the Elevates coaches will begin organizing their work to develop a coaching guide. Using the work from monthly meetings, the group will develop a guide to cover many themes of coaching including: building relationships, understanding the needs of mentees, differences between supervising and coaching, self-care, and understanding the program requirements of the mentee. An unexpected outcome of this work, the guide will be foundational in providing an extra layer of support to future teacher candidates who are balancing the role of pre-service teacher while employed as conditional teachers or paraprofessionals.
The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) is guided by its mission to “ensure a rigorous and world-class educational experience for every Maryland student, in every neighborhood, that prepares each to be college and career-ready, through strategic direction and leadership, policy making and resource allocation, and engagement and advocacy.” The MSDE vision is to “be a system of world-class schools where students acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for success in college, career, and life.”