5E-SESE launched in September 2018 as a $1.4 million grant from the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, (R324A180202). The purpose of the grant was to develop an online system of professional development for special education teachers who are teaching science to students with significant cognitive disabilities in grades 3-8. 
The goal of 5E-SESE is to help teachers use the inquiry-based teaching model and Universal Design for Learning principles to design and implement multidimensional science lessons for students with significant cognitive disabilities. The project ended in 2024.