Rashida Banerjee, an IFP alumnus from India, was selected by Division of Early Childhood of Council for Exceptional Children to receive the J. David Sexton Doctoral Student Award. It is a national award that is given to “a DEC member and doctoral level student who has made contributions to young children with special needs and their families through research, higher education, publications, policy, and information dissemination.” This award is named in honor of J. David Sexton because of his passionate commitment to doctoral leadership preparation. Rashida was presented the awarded at the opening session of the annual International Division of Early Childhood Conference held between 25-28th October 2007 at Niagara Falls, ON, Canada.

She gave a brief acceptance speech where she acknowledged the special contribution that FF-IFP has made in her professional life. Rashida says that, the “academic study, that the FF-IFP has been instrumental in providing me, has led me not only to an understanding of the scope of research and practice in the field of special education but also, and perhaps more importantly, it has given me an introspection into my own place and my own contribution to this field.”

Rashida is currently completing her doctoral program in Special Education at University of Kansas. She was awarded the Ford Foundation IFP Fellowship from August 2002 to June 2004, during which period she completed her masters program in the same field at the same university. Rashida’s main emphasis has been advocating for and acting as a catalyst to promote quality services for individuals with disabilities and their families, particularly in early childhood, and for children with moderate and severe disabilities. As a Graduate Research Assistant for Schiefelbusch Institute for Life Span Studies, University of Kansas, she works with experts in the field on a five-year experimental research grant from National Institute of Health to investigate the success of the Children's School Success educational model.

Prior to beginning her studies in United States, Rashida has ten years of experience in working with children and adults with multiple disabilities and their families in center-based and community-based (both rural and urban) environments, across various economic levels.