Education and Human Ecology grant activity for September 2023

$3.4M NIH grant addresses children’s developmental language disorder

Over 1.4 million children in the United States have diagnosed reading difficulties, and children with developmental language disorder are highly susceptible. Laura Justice, professor of educational psychology and executive director of the college’s Crane Center for Early Childhood Education and Policy, with Rebecca Dore, senior research program director, and Hui Jiang, senior research specialist, received a new grant from the National Institutes of Health for a five-year project titled Promoting Caregiver Implementation of an Effective Early Learning Intervention.

They will study the effect of Sit Together and Read (STAR), a 15-week, early-literacy intervention, on the short- and long-term literacy skills of young children with developmental language disorder.

$3.5M, 2-year project to strengthen support for Ohio English learners and families

The Ohio Department of Education awarded a grant in 2022 to the college’s Center on Education and Training for Employment. Melissa Ross, PsyD and director of Research Partnerships and Impacts, is the principal investigator leading the team. Belinda Gimbert, associate professor of educational administration; Leslie C. Moore, associate professor, and Peter Sayer, professor, both of elementary and secondary multilingual language education; and Brett Zyromski, associate professor of counselor education, bring their experience to serving multilingual learners, teachers and families with creation of a road map for educators and a toolkit for school administrators.

During year two, the team has been finalizing the road map content, which will offer examples of teacher behaviors that effectively address the social and academic needs of English learners. Evidence-based practices will be modeled across grades K-12 for instruction. Three supporting components will target teaching skills for classroom teachers, English learner specialists and administrators.

The plan is to make the content accessible in summer 2024 on the website of what will soon be called the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce.

Wallace Foundation supports college’s Leadership for Equity Institute

In an ongoing partnership with the Wallace Foundation and Columbus City Schools, the largest Ohio school district, the college hosted the Leadership for Equity Institute in June. Managed by Noelle Arnold, associate dean of Equity, Diversity and Global Engagement and professor of Educational Administration, and Nicole Luthy, chief of staff and director of operations, the institute is an annual opportunity for education leaders, in partnership with Columbus City Schools and the Wallace Foundation.

As a part of Wallace’s Equity-Centered Pipeline Initiative, the institute focused on accelerating district leaders’ knowledge, skills, actions and evidence-based practices. The event offered focused learning opportunities and networking with experts and peers. Ongoing professional development and coaching continues beyond the institute.

Educational psychology center extends learning strategies to local school

Jackie Von Spiegel, program manager of the college’s Dennis Learning Center, was one of 14 awardees across Ohio State to receive a 2023 Engagement Grant. She will head a partnership between the local Metro Early College High School and the center to teach high school students research-based learning strategies for academic success, as well as strategies for addressing the social-emotional aspects of college life.

The Dennis Learning Center was founded by the late Bruce Tuckman, professor emeritus of educational psychology, who pioneered research into how procrastination affects college students’ success and strategies to overcome it.

Metro is the platform school for The Ohio STEM Learning Network and was the first higher education (College of Education and Human Ecology, The Ohio State University), business (Battelle Memorial Institute) and K-12 partnership for STEM learning in Ohio.