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Research Spotlight: Elyse Hambacher

Q & A with Elyse Hambacher, Ph. D., Clinical Associate Professor in the School of Teaching & Learning

What research are you currently working on?

My current research focuses on the development of educators’ critical social justice literacy and how teaching for social justice is operationalized in education settings. I am the Principal Investigator of a Spencer Foundation grant that examines how justice-oriented White teachers and administrators in one predominantly White school district engage with concepts of race, anti-racism, and whiteness. Our research team is working on several manuscripts related to this project.

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Research Spotlight: Christopher Anthony

Q & A with Christopher Anthony, Ph. D., Assistant Professor in the School of Special Education, School Psychology, & Early Childhood Studies

What research are you currently working on?

I always have several projects in progress, but the one that I’m most excited about involves developing better assessment tools for measuring what we call academic enablers. Academic enablers are skills, attitudes, or behaviors that aren’t academic skills, but are critical for fostering learning and growing in the classroom and beyond. I focus on four in particular: classroom interpersonal skills (e.g., whether a student can work effectively with peers to complete a class assignment), academic engagement (e.g., whether a student can attend and participate in class), motivation (e.g., whether a student can persist in the face of academic challenges), and study skills (e.g., whether a student can strategically organize materials to more efficiently learn and remember academic content).

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Research Spotlight: Helena Mawdsley

Q & A with Helena Mawdsley, Ph. D., Clinical Assistant Professor in the School of Human Development and Organizational Studies in Education

What research are you currently working on?

Currently, I am working on the motivation and achievement of the college student population in our post-pandemic climate. I am investigating college student reflection on their academic motivation during and after the Covid-19 pandemic to learn if their motivation levels changed during these periods. Additionally, I ask, What do the students believe accounts for the change? I conducted a study titled “’Back to Normal’: Undergraduate perspectives on regaining motivation during the Covid-19 pandemic,” which will be presented at AERA.

I am also interested in the impact of experiential learning on course motivation. Does engaging in an experiential service-learning project outside the classroom correlate with a high level of motivation for that course? I collected data on student motivation during the pandemic when students could not engage in service-learning and then after the pandemic when service-learning resumed. My study called “The impact of service learning on student motivation” will be proposed at the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) meeting this spring.

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Awarded Projects for December 2022

Congratulations to Robert Moore for his award from the Spencer Foundation; Philip Poekert for his Louisiana Department of Education flow through award from Children First Professional Development Center; Paige Pullen for her award from the Early Learning Coalition of Hillsborough County; and Darbianne Shannon and Patricia Snyder for their Pennsylvania Department of Education flow through award from Tuscarora Intermediate Unit.

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Submitted Projects for December 2022

Best wishes to Herman Knopf for his proposal to the Early Learning Coalition of Pasco and Hernando County; Walter Leite for his proposal to the Spencer Foundation and NSF flow through proposal to the University of Houston; Paige Pullen for her proposal to the Early Learning Coalition of Hillsborough County; Seyedahmad Rahimi for his National Science Foundation flow through proposal the University of Idaho; and Matthew Schmidt for his three NIH flow through proposals to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Administration for Community Living flow through proposal to the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, National Science Foundation flow through proposal to the University of Missouri, and proposal to the National Science Foundation.
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Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Program for International Teachers (DAI)

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and IREX invite proposal submissions to host the 2022-2023 Fulbright DAI Program. Proposals are due to IREX on January 27th, 2023, at 5:00 PM. Proposals should be addressed to Jonathan Ferguson, Project Director, IREX, and emailed as a PDF file to fulbrightdai@irex.org.

New Platform to Apply for Restricted-Use Data Access

The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) recently launched its Standard Application Process (SAP), allowing a new way to access confidential microdata. To gain access, choose a dataset and select the “Request Access” button. Further instructions can be found here.

Vision to Transform and Enhance the U.S. STEMM Ecosystem

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OTSP) recently released its vision for science and technology investments in the United States. Five action areas were developed, including ensuring students, teachers, workers, communities, and others have adequate support to participate in and contribute to STEMM throughout their lifetimes; addressing the STEMM teacher shortage; closing the funding gap; supporting researchers and communities who have been historically excluded from access; addressing bias, discrimination, and harassment experienced in the classroom, laboratory, and workplace; and promoting accountability across the science and technology ecosystem. The official statement can be found here.

Forecasted Notice of Funding Opportunity for Secondary Analyses of Head Start Data Grants

The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) plans to solicit applications in 2023 for Secondary Analyses of Head Start Data grants. These grants aim to support researchers using secondary analyses of Head Start data to address key questions relevant to Head Start’s programs and policies. To view the estimated application date and further information on the grant opportunity, follow this link.