LAWRENCE (AP) – The University of Kansas will use a federal grant to establish a national center aimed at improving how children with disabilities are taught.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that the project will concentrate on ways to teach special-education students and other students together in grade-level classrooms.

The grant from the U.S. Department of Education will go to the university’s Life Span Institute, which will lead the project. The department announced the university’s first-year grant of $4.9 million Tuesday and says the university could receive as much as $24.5 million over five years for the project.

Wayne Sailor, a special education professor leading the project, says it’s based on research conducted in the last 20 years, showing that students with disabilities do better when placed in classrooms with other students.