Bridge Project
The Bridge project is a collaborative project between the Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) program in the Department of Special Education in the Michael D. Eisner College of Education and the Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) program housed within the Department of Psychology in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.
The Bridge project focuses on addressing the critical shortage of highly qualified professionals prepared to collaboratively serve infant, toddlers, and young children with high intensity needs and their families through interdisciplinary collaborative Master’s level training of early childhood special educators and applied behavior analysts. Bridge scholars receive interdisciplinary training through a variety of opportunities and experiences both on and off campus. Opportunities include collaborative enriched coursework, specially designed seminars, interdisciplinary fieldwork experiences and a capstone project.
Those interested in applying for funding through Bridge project must also apply for the ECSE or ABA master's program. Bridge funding is contingent upon acceptance into one of these graduate level programs.
Graduates of the project will be well prepared to serve young children with disabilities eligible for Part C or Part B preschool services through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). As a result of this project, ECSE scholars will be eligible to sit for the Registered Behavioral Technician (RBT®) examination, while ABA scholars will be endorsed by a university certificate as an ECSE/EI Specialist in addition to their Master’s degree. Bridge scholars will fulfill a service obligation following the completion of their program. The service obligation entails working in a professional capacity with young children with disabilities for two years for every year of funding.
For more information, please contact: csunbridge@csun.edu