Ohio State College of Education and Human Ecology Research: A Year in Review FY26
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 FY26.
Our Research Portfolio
$11.3M
In External Grants
Awarded in FY2026
$33.1M
In Research
Expenditures in FY2026
37
New Grants Awarded
in FY2026
93
Total Active Research
Projects
$108M
Total Active Funded
Research Projects
51
Faculty Engaged in
Externally Funded Research
Examples of Grants Funded in FY26
$2.6M
Enhancement of the Virtual Lab School, a Comprehensive Professional Development System for Child Care Professionals
The Virtual Laboratory School is designed to be a dynamic professional development system that is reflective of the latest research that should inform the care and education of children and youth and is responsive to emerging needs in military childcare settings. The objective of this project is to continue the work of the VLS in providing innovative and cost-effective virtual professional development (PD) for child development, school age, and youth program staff and family childcare providers by offering a system grounded upon the effectiveness of reflective practice, tailored coaching to support staff members' use of optimal practices, and evidence-based strategies to support adult learners.
Principal Investigator: Sarah Lang
$78k
The Dignity of Work: Creating Pathways to Improved Employment Outcomes for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
For the My ROAD to Employment project, AIR staff will work with people with I/DD, supported employment providers, and employers across the country to strengthen workplace practices and create practical tools to put dignity of risk into action.
The project includes three phases:
Phase 1: Conduct a national survey and case studies with three supported employment providers to identify what factors influence the implementation of dignity of risk at work.
Phase 2: Develop and test key parts of My ROAD to Employment, an intervention to help supported employment providers put dignity of risk into action.
Phase 3: Pilot My ROAD to Employment with three supported employment providers to evaluate feasibility and acceptability.
Principal Investigator: Carly Gilson
$3k
The National Research Center on Hispanic Children & Families 2025 Professional Development Grant for Emerging Scholars Studying Poverty Economic Well-Being Early Care and Education
Ashley is an early childhood development researcher studying how classroom characteristics and practices in Head Start and the home environment support the school readiness of multilingual children. Her current project examines variation in social-emotional, cognitive, and academic skills across dual language learners (DLLs) from Spanish-speaking households and English monolinguals (EMs), using a five-group classification of English and Spanish proficiency. By classifying children’s language status based on English and Spanish proficiency and considering classroom and teacher factors relevant to DLLs, this work underscores the heterogeneity of children’s language abilities and identifies DLL-specific practices that influence school readiness outcomes.
Principal Investigator: Ashley Boros
$21K
Evaluation of Salvation Army’s Housing for Human Trafficking Survivors Grant
The Center on Education and Training for Employment (CETE) at The Ohio State University has supported evaluation for The Salvation Army of Central Ohio’s anti-human trafficking efforts for several Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) grants over the past decade. This particular project focuses on housing for survivors of human trafficking in Central Ohio. OSU's work will entail collaborating with Salvation Army staff to understand what successful outcomes will look like, developing and utilizing measurement tools, and developing recommendations for future services.
Principal Investigator: Meredith Wellman
$20k
Workforce Recruitment and Retention: Understanding and Strengthening Iowa’s Early Care and Education Systems
With recent funding from the Iowa Association for the Education of Young Children (Iowa AEYC) and partnership from the I2D2 team at Iowa State University, Choi and graduate student Ashley Boros are examining whether early childhood provider profiles can be identified based on provider characteristics and experiences, how these profiles relate to commitment to the field and intent to stay, and whether prior profiles predict providers’ likelihood of remaining in their positions or in the field. Given the high teacher turnover in early childhood, this study will provide important insights into factors that support workforce stability. The project leverages statewide data on early childhood providers in Iowa collected in 2022 and 2025. Researchers and community stakeholder partners are collaborating closely throughout the project.
Principal Investigator: Ji-Young Choi
#1
In Active Research
Grants among Colleges
of Education in Ohio
#21
In Active Research
Grants among Public
Colleges of Education
in U.S.
#30
In Active Research
Grants among All
Colleges of Education
in U.S.
Source: According to USNews 2026 Rankings of Graduate Schools of Education, for funded research OSU/EHE