Introduction / Rationale: There is a critical shortage of fully-qualified school-based occupational therapists (SBOTs) to serve students with disabilities (SWD). The need for diverse pre-service school personnel is emphasized in education literature.
Objectives: The overarching goal of the OT Prep Project is to improve SBOT services for SWD by increasing the number of multilingual, racially/ethnically diverse, and/or disabled OTs qualified to serve SWD through pursuit of the following objectives: (1) Develop OT Prep Project programming (2) Implement OT Prep Project that trains scholars who demonstrate core-competencies required to provide efficient, high-quality, integrated, and equitable services for SWD (3) Prepare 12-15 diverse OTs committed to serving SWD with high-intensity needs.
Methods / Approach: Department of Education (DoE) grant 84.325R supports the OT Prep Project embedded within Colorado State University’s OTD program (CSU-OTD). OT Prep scholars are selected from a pool of CSU-OTD student applicants. OT Prep Project planning involved core CSU-OT faculty with relevant clinical and research expertise. A comprehensive evaluation matrix provides performance feedback and permits periodic assessment of progress towards objectives.
Results / Practice Implications: Preliminary findings are such that in the project’s 1st year, 7 scholars from diverse backgrounds have participated in one year of training, including 10 evidence-based practice (EBP) curricular enhancements, 15 new fieldwork educators, 3 new fieldwork sites, and 1 new capstone site.
Conclusion: The OT Prep Project is an example of utilizing DoE funds to advance the OT Education Research Agenda through understanding diverse learners’ needs and developing innovative EBP curricular enhancements and fieldwork/capstone opportunities accordingly.