Current Projects

Topics:

NCASE

The Nevada Collaborative on Autism and STAR Endorsement (NCASE) graduate certificate program is a partnership involving CCSD’s Student Services Division and the UNLV Department of Early Childhood, Multilingual, and Special Education (EMS Department). Funding for the program is provided through CCSD and EMS Department’s Rodman Scholarship Grant. The first cohort produced 76 total graduates, who predominantly (87%) went to teach in an autism classroom. Of those graduates, 38% were able to maintain their licensure, while 62% attained new licensure following the program completion. The second cohort produced 31 total graduates, 27 (87%) of whom started their first year of teaching in an Autism classroom in 2025. This cohort saw 94% of the graduates attain their IRC licensure for the first time. 

Connected Researchers:

Catharine Lory, Ph.D. 

Heather Van Ness, Ph.D.

Joseph Morgan, Ph.D 

NVPIE

The Nevada Partnership for Inclusive Education (Nevada PIE) brings together the talents and resources of the Clark County School District, the Nevada System of Higher Education, parents, corporations, and community leaders. The NVPIE Inclusive Practices Symposium, a half-day professional development event held on the UNLV campus, offers training for both novice and experienced  educators on furthering inclusion on school campuses. Since 2024, 383 educators have attended a symposium, with 94% of those participants finding it highly engaging. When asked about what they learned, attendees overwhelmingly reported the event to be very useful (97%) and wanted to know about more sessions being available in the future and if they can be provided to school administrators and staff. Additionally, NVPIE has provided grant support to individual school campuses to implement site-based professional development aligned to create more inclusive environments. 

Connected Researchers:

Joseph Morgan, Ph.D 

Rodman

The Rodman Scholars Program provides funding for undergraduate and graduate students pursuing degrees in special education. Since 2018, 81 undergraduate students have received funding from the Rodman Scholars program and graduated. A quarter of all undergraduate students obtained an additional specialized licensure within special education and 77% of the undergraduate students went on to teach for a minimum of one year in CCSD, with 57% still teaching as of 2025. The 77 graduate student scholars are still completing their coursework in autism, early childhood, and general special education. 

In future years, this program hopes to serve additional undergraduate and graduate students, with the purpose of ameliorating the special education teacher shortage in Nevada and increasing the number of highly qualified teachers in our community.

Connected Researchers:

Joseph Morgan, Ph.D 

Southern Nevada Caregiver Coaching Project

Southern Nevada families of children with developmental disabilities (e.g., autism, intellectual disability) often do not have adequate access to evidence-based practices to improve outcomes. This project provides telehealth support, via video calls, to families of children with autism and other developmental disabilities in Southern Nevada. 

We have developed several resources for professionals related to this project. Please contact Stephanie Gerow (contact below) for additional information.

Stephanie Gerow, Ph.D., BCBA-D

stephanie.gerow@unlv.edu 

This project was previously funded by a grant from the State of Nevada Department of Health and Human Services. The opinions and conclusions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions or policy of the State of Nevada Department of Health and Human Services.

Connected Researchers:

Stephanie Gerow, Ph.D., BCBA-D