Impact Update September 2024 - Grants
New, multiyear grants working for excellence, innovation, diversity, more
Late summer and early autumn have seen a robust response to our faculty and staff’s many grant proposals.
They all aim to support our college’s core values of excellence, diversity, innovation, internationalization and justice. Their purpose is to make a positive difference in the world.
Here is a sampling of a few of the most prominent projects.
Goddard, Kim to evaluate impact of professional learning program
Research suggests that building strong school leadership may help address declining student achievement and educator turnover.
To study the issue, Roger Goddard, the Flesher Professor of Educational Administration, and Minjung Kim, associate professor of Quantitative Research, Evaluation and Measurement, are co-principal investigators on a $4 million, four-year grant from the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.
Working with Tedra Clark, PhD, of McREL International, who is principal investigator, Goddard and Kim will study the impact of the widely used Balanced Leadership for Student Learning™ on educator and student outcomes.
In a prior Institute of Education Sciences-funded study on which Goddard and Kim served, the original leadership program was shown to significantly reduce principal turnover. The published study results met the government’s What Works Clearinghouse standards.
The new study with experimental design will examine the updated professional learning and coaching program. It will be conducted in 100 schools served by the Texas' Region 13 Education Service Center.
ECMC Foundation supports diversifying the automotive industry
Matthew Mayhew, the Flesher Professor of Education Administration, will conduct “EDiCTS 2.0: Enhancing Diversity in Career and Technical STEM” with a grant from the ECMC Foundation.
The project focuses on enhancing the Ford Motor Company’s Automotive Student Service Educational Training STEM (ASSETS) program. The two-year program is in 40 community colleges nationwide that partner with local Ford or Lincoln dealerships. Students can earn an associate’s degree and up to 19 Ford certifications, as well as gain a year of work experience.
Under Mayhew and Emily Creamer, co-PI and research director of the project, EDiCTS 1.0, also funded by the ECMC Foundation, it focused on understanding the recruitment, persistence, graduation and employment of students in the ASSET program. They also added extracurricular elements to ASSET to support students’ program completion.
From EDiCTS 1.0, Mayhew and his research team learned that students experienced stress in finding work-life balance and managing their finances. EDiCTS 2.0 is therefore focused on supporting the students’ overall wellness so they can persist in earning their degrees and entering the automotive workforce.
EDiCTS 2.0 will work to integrate the teaching of financial literacy skills and healthy life choice behaviors into the ASSET program.
$4M IES grant to study impact of LETRS program
Shayne Piasta, professor of Elementary and Secondary Literacy Education, is a co-principal investigator of a five-year study titled “Investigating the Impact of the LETRS Program on Teacher Knowledge, Instructional Practice, and Student Literacy Outcomes.”
Funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, Piasta will work with Principal Investigator Young-Suk Kim, professor of education at University of California – Irvine, and Ben Kelcey, also a co-principal investigator and professor of quantitative research methodologies at the University of Cincinnati. The team’s randomized, controlled trial will involve approximately 60 schools, 240 K-3 teachers and their students in southern California.
Piasta, a developmental psychologist by training, is internationally known for her more than 16 years of commitment to science of reading research. She has had multiple, major federal grants to determine effective practices for teaching reading.
“Although research — and logic — suggest that professional learning programs can benefit teachers and students, most programs have not been rigorously and independently evaluated,” Piasta said. “We want to be sure that time, money and other investments in professional learning lead to the positive outcomes we expect, especially if such programs are being mandated.”
Piasta noted that California has been slower to adopt requirements of specific professional learning programs, which is why the impact study will be implemented with teachers there.
$1.2M grant prepares experts for certification in orientation and mobility
Danene Fast, clinical associate professor in Visual Impairment Education, is principal investigator on a new grant from the Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education, titled “Diversity and Inclusion in the Field of Vision Rehabilitation to Promote Equity in Orientation and Mobility.” She will work with co-principal investigators Samuel Hodge, professor of Adapted Physical Education and Kinesiology, and Tiffany Wild, associate professor of Visual Impairment Education and STEM.
Nationally, recent data shows the field of visual impairment has a significant shortage of professionals available to work with the number of individuals with visual impairments who require instruction.
The college currently hosts the only university program in orientation and mobility addressing these shortages within Ohio.
This distance-enhanced, graduate-level program prepares scholars to become certified as orientation and mobility specialists through the Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation and Education Professionals. It includes a focus on the importance of diversity, inclusion and equity in service provision.
Further, it teaches scholars how to provide administrators, parents, teachers and other stakeholders with increased awareness of the specialized needs of students who are blind or visually impaired and to advocate for their inclusion across settings.
$3.2M IES grant to explore, then evaluate career development in Baltimore
Jay Plasman, professor of Workforce Development and Education, is the principal investigator for the project “Policy and Practice: Critical Issues in Career Development for Baltimore High School Students.”
The 4-year grant from the Institute of Education Sciences will explore, then evaluate career development opportunities for students in Baltimore City Public Schools.
Plasman and his co-principal investigators are part of an established practice partnership between Ohio State, Baltimore Education Research Consortium and the public school system. Two mixed methods studies will be conducted, one qualitative, one quantitative.
The project will produce preliminary evidence of how students in Baltimore City Public Schools engage in and benefit from career development opportunities. It will also show evidence of the impact of one or more of these opportunities on student outcomes.
The project also serves as a support to the Extending the Research of Career and Technical Education Research Network, which includes other projects.
Early Head Start program renewed, expanded due to innovation
The college’s Early Head Start Partnership and Head Start programs offer the highest quality school readiness for infants, toddlers and preschoolers. Their dedication to excellence, diversity and justice has been recognized. Innovation comes through the programs’ continuum of care. Support starts when a mother is pregnant and continues through when that child is ready to enter kindergarten.
Now, under the leadership of Don Fuzer, principal investigator, and Sherrie Sutton, director, service to 263 children and their families will continue, thanks to a renewal of a $27.5 million grant over five years.
Another $23 million over five years adds 189 Head Start slots. This increases the number of children served by 70% and strengthens the continuum of care from pregnancy and birth to school age.
Funding for both grants comes from the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The program, which is under the college’s Schoenbaum Family Center, provides home visitors and a prenatal educator who connect families with multiple community resources and support. This continuum of care helps families navigate the challenges and stress that can come with managing a household with low income.