NAEP Releases The Nation’s Report Card

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has released The Nation’s Report Card results of the 2013 Trial Urban District Assessment, measuring the educational progress of fourth- and eighth-graders within 21 urban districts around the United States.

According to the report, significant progress has been made in closing gaps in achievement in urban districts:

  • Black, Hispanic, and white students in Los Angeles scored higher in 2013 than in 2011 in math at grade 4.
  • Black, Hispanic, and white students in the District of Columbia scored higher in 2013 than in 2011 in reading at grade 8.
  • Students who are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches increased their average scores from 2011 to 2013 in at least one subject and grade combination in eight districts (Atlanta, Baltimore City, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, District of Columbia, Fresno, and Los Angeles).

In addition to providing detailed information about academic achievement, the NAEP offers valuable Resources for Researchers to assist with research activities and grant proposal preparation including the following:

  • The NAEP Data Explorer helps build custom tables using years of available assessment data on students’ academic performance.
  • A technical documentation section provides information about the technical procedures and methods of the NAEP organized by topic area from Instruments through Analysis and Scaling.
  • Research support includes training, seminars, and conferences for users of NAEP information and data.
  • The NAEP e-Library serves as a centralized archive of available reports, working papers, and assessment history, among other resources.

The NAEP conducts periodic assessments and publishes The Nation’s Report Card to inform the public about the academic achievement of elementary and secondary students in the United States. The NAEP is a congressionally authorized project of the National Center for Education Statistics within the Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of Education.

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NSF Issues New Guidelines

The National Science Foundation has issued a new version of the NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG), (NSF 14-1) effective for proposals due on or after February 24, 2014. The PAPPG consists of (a) the Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) for guidance on the preparation and submission of proposals to NSF and (b) the Award and Administration Guide (AAG) to guide, manage, and monitor the award and administration of grants and cooperative agreements made by NSF.

A summary of the significant changes by chapter to the GPG and to the AAG is available at the beginning of each document to assist with identifying the changes.

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MyinvestiGator Phase II Deployed on January 27

Phase II of myinvestiGator went live on January 27, 2014 introducing several new features to enhance the functionality of the application, along with a new “look and feel.” All of the features and functionality of Phase I remain intact.  Some of the newly added features in Phase II are as follows:

  • New, more responsive interface
  • Expanded search functionality
  • Enhanced payroll and job information to better see who is getting paid on your grants
  • Effort commitment data for increased compliance and monitoring
  • Graphical analysis displaying burn rates and expense trending to more easily track your grant spending

Navigation to myinvestiGator is through myUFL > Main Menu > myinvestiGator, or via direct access at https://myinvestigator.erp.ufl.edu. More information about the myinvestiGator features is available in the IT Service Catalog. Help is available in myuflToolkits under the Training header. Staff needing assistance with data in myinvestiGator should contact their research administrator in Contracts and Grants at (352) 392-1235.

The Division of Sponsored Programs, Contracts and Grants, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, and UFIT partnered to build myinvestiGator designed to increase accountability, transparency, and efficiency in UF’s sponsored activities.

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Research Event in February

Faculty and doctoral students are cordially invited to attend:

American Universities and Teacher Preparation:  A Long and Uneasy Relationship
Professor Chris Ogren, University of Iowa

Monday, February 10, 2013
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Terrace Room

Bring your lunch. Refreshments and cookies will be served.

In this brown-bag lecture, Professor Chris Ogren will discuss the evolution of approaches to preparing teachers, as well as who enrolls and how their characteristics and broader societal issues affect teacher education. Dr. Ogren will also explain how a better understanding of the history of teacher education is essential for understanding more broadly the history of underrepresented groups of students in higher education.

The nation’s foremost authority on the history of teacher education in the United States, Christine (Chris) A. Ogren is Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Policy and Leadership Studies at the University of Iowa.

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Awarded Projects for January 2014

College of Education – Awarded Projects – January 2014
Principal Investigator: Suzanne Colvin (STL)
Co-PI: N/A
Funding Agency: Greater Cincinnati Foundation (Procter & Gamble Fund)
Project Title: Transforming Higher Education Teaching and Learning for the 21st Century
Project Period: 1/1/2014 – 12/31/2014
Award Amount: $9,350.00
Principal Investigator: Lynda Hayes (P.K. Yonge)
Co-PI: N/A
Funding Agency: Florida Department of Education
Project Title: Technology Transformation for Rural School Districts
Project Period: 10/1/2013 – 6/30/2014
Award Amount: $43,315.00
Principal Investigator: Patricia Snyder (CEECS/SESPECS)
Co-PI: N/A
Funding Agency: Mathematica Policy Research
Project Title: Evaluation of Preschool Special Education Practices
Project Period: 11/23/2013 – 11/22/2017
Award Amount: $222,859.00
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Submitted Projects for January 2014

College of Education – Submitted Projects – January 2014
Principal Investigator: Nicholas Gage (SSESPECS)
Co-PI: Ashley MacSuga-Gage (SSESPECS), Timothy Vollmer (Department of Psychology)
Funding Agency: UF Office of Research
Proposal Title: Project ENGAGE: Evaluating the Relationship Between Classroom Management and Student Engagement
Requested Amount: $99,814.00
Principal Investigator: M. David Miller (SHDOSE)
Co-PI: N/A
Funding Agency: Veterans Administration
Proposal Title: IPA for David Miller
Requested Amount: $23,752.02
Principal Investigator: Rose Pringle (STL)
Co-PI: Andrew Thoron (Dept. of Agricultural Education & Communication), Kate Fogarty (Dept. of Family, Youth, & Community Sciences), Heidi Radunovich (Dept. of Family, Youth, & Community Sciences), Julia Graber (Department of Psychology), Glenn Israel (Dept. of Agricultural Education & Communication), Katie Sofer (Dept. of Agricultural Education & Communication)
Funding Agency: UF Office of Research
Proposal Title:Examining and Mobilizing the Underlying Factors that Shape High School Students’ STEM, Educational, and Career Aspirations – A Holistic Approach
Requested Amount: $99,620.00
Principal Investigator: Albert Ritzhaupt (STL)
Co-PI: Pavlo Antonenko (STL), Linda Lombardino (SESPECS), Kara Dawson (STL), Andreas Keil (Department of Psychology)
Funding Agency: UF Office of Research
Proposal Title: Converging Behavioral and Psychophysiological Measures: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Multimedia Learning Conditions with Dyslexic Learners
Requested Amount: $98,206.25
Principal Investigator: Albert Ritzhaupt (STL)
Co-PI: N/A
Funding Agency: University of North Florida (NSF Subcontract)
Proposal Title: Supporting iGeneration Teaching and Learning in Prekindergarten Classrooms
Requested Amount: $52,489.00
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