UNLV and CCSD will collaborate to address special education staffing needs through the Nevada Recruitment and Retention Grant, helping to alleviate the district’s shortage of special education teachers. Through the program, current CCSD teachers with general elementary or secondary licenses can receive approximately $6,000 in tuition and fees to complete a new graduate certificate program, the Nevada Collaborative on Autism, in exchange for serving three years in a “Strategies for Teaching Based on Autism Research” (STAR) classroom. The program has already placed 71 teachers in autism and STAR classrooms for the current school year, with strong enrollment projected for next year. The collaboration continues the College of Education's mission to create a sustained pipeline to certified educators to support special education students across Southern Nevada.