The School of Education serves as a community resource through a variety of programs.

Head Start
In addition to serving more than 6,000 children in Head Start Drake also offers an Early Head Start program, serving 100 pregnant women, infants and toddlers and their families in Polk County. Early Head Start offers a perinatal program serving pregnant and post-partum women; a home-visiting program for infants and toddlers including a bilingual (Spanish) home visiting program; and three toddler classroom programs.

Each program component offers comprehensive services. The perinatal program was designed to address the high infant mortality rate in Polk County. Programs focusing on infants and toddlers include education and support to help parents be the best "first teachers" of their children. Staff conduct weekly home visits, and with parents, regularly screen and assess child development skills.

The toddler program began a year ago and was developed in response to parent requests for an offering that would help children transition to a center-based preschool program.

Resource Center for Issues in Special Education
Over the past year, the staff of the Resource Center for Issues in Special Education have been actively involved in implementing a new program supported through a five-year grant from the Iowa Department of Education addressing significant issues impacting schools in Iowa. This program, known as the Iowa Behavioral Alliance, is working to support demonstration sites across Iowa implementing a model known as school-wide positive behavioral supports. Other aspects of the Behavioral Alliance that are underway include collaborative efforts aimed at improving mental health services in Iowa schools and identifying promising practices in Iowa for reducing school drop-out among students with disabilities.

Drake University Rehabilitation Institute
The institute currently operates within the Department of Leadership, Counseling and Adult Development. People come from around the country to get their M.S. degree in rehabilitation counseling, rehabilitation placement and rehabilitation administration. Over the past year, the Institute received three grants from the U.S. Department of Education totaling $1,750,000 to provide graduate education. Courses are offered at off-campus sites in Iowa and Kansas City.

Adult Literacy Center
The Adult Literacy Center recently held a celebration for the first two graduates of its program, Missy Coglizer and Karen Walker.

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