Ohio State College of Education and Human Ecology Research: A Year in Review FY23

Faculty and research staff at the Ohio State College of Education and Human Ecology have had an extraordinary year conducting important research, authoring books and journal articles. Look at some of the work they have engaged in to solve pressing problems in early childhood education, health, and equity in FY23.

Our Research Portfolio

Examples of Grants Funded in FY23

$400K

Understanding School Professionals Disciplinary Decisions and Black Children

To decrease suspensions, scientists need a better understanding of how perceptions of Black children and adult decision-making combine to impact the number of students subject to disciplinary practices. This project, which is grounded in attribution and social cognitive theories will include: conducting a review and analysis of research in this area; developing videos and vignettes of preschool children’s’ behavior; examining the degree and intensity of preschool teachers’ racialized perceptions of students; and implementation of field research with preschool teachers, pre-service teachers, and pre-service school psychologists to understand if they consider the immediate behavior of the child and the long-term outcomes of children when they recommend suspension from preschool.

Principal Investigator: Scott Graves

$9.8M

Strategies to Augment Ketosis (STAK) for Enhanced Readiness and Disease Reversal

“Many Americans, including a significant number of military service members – and especially veterans – are suffering from poor metabolic health. Despite billions of dollars in investments by the private and public sectors, traditional drug and lifestyle treatments have had limited success in curtailing the complications attributed to poor metabolic health, which include disrupted sleep, obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart failure and chronic kidney disease. We expect that whatever we find here will have huge relevance across the board both within and outside the military.” – Jeff Volek

Principal Investigator: Jeff Volek

$100K

Family Engagement Professional Learning Supports for Ohio’s Model Literacy Sites

The purpose of the “Family Engagement Professional Learning Supports for Ohio’s Model Literacy Sites” project is to provide Comprehensive Literacy State Development (CLSD) Grantees, and Ohio Department of Education and regional staff who support them, with increased knowledge and resources related to effective, research-based family engagement in education. The Ohio State University will provide a series of professional learning sessions and coaching services. This will ensure that CLSD grantees and staff who support them have a foundational understanding of effective, research-based family engagement, and access to resources they can use to engage families in enhancing student literacy achievement.

Principal Investigator: Meredith Wellman

$211K

Supporting Reading Comprehension for English Learners Through Inquiry-Based, Language Focused Instruction

The researchers will develop a new small-group intervention for English learners (ELs) in grades 3 through 5 who have reading comprehension difficulties. The intervention called the Building Knowledge and Language through Inquiry Framework (KLI), aims to help readers strengthen their language and literacy skills while building new knowledge of interesting topics in the disciplines (science and social studies). The KLI approach aims to build students’ knowledge of both the language and the topic area through direct instruction and through inquiry-based approaches, such as having students engage in conversations about language and the topic area. By addressing both of these areas of knowledge concurrently, KLI will help improve the reading comprehension of upper-elementary ELs.

Principal Investigator: Becky Huang

$146K

Children’s Early Educational Experiences and their Social and Behavioral Development

Fostering children’s social and behavioral skills in the early childhood years has the potential to create long-term benefits for individuals and society at large. Understanding how early educational settings help to promote them is still unclear. This study will use three large, national datasets to examine how preschool and kindergarten environments, and the alignment across them, shape young children’s social and behavioral development.

Principal Investigator: Kelly Purtell

VIEW ALL GRANTS AWARDED IN FY23