IES Staff
Lara Faust
Education Research Analyst
NCER
About
Cognition and Student Learning, Methods Training for Education Research
Associated IES Content
Grant
Dealing with Missing Data in Educational Research: Methodological Innovations and Contemporary Recommendations
Missing data are a nearly universal problem for applied researchers, particularly within educational settings where missed responses or losses of participants from a study are common occurrences. Although there are numerous and diverse strategies to address missing data, researchers often use a small collection of strategies (e.g., regression imputation, listwise deletion) that are outdated and inappropriate. The purpose of the current project is to provide researchers with clear research-ba...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305D220001
Grant
Project MIDAS: Development of a Multi-Informant Decisional Assessment System
The purpose of this project is to develop and validate a multi-informant decisional assessment system (MIDAS) to integrate and use multiple sources of data for accurate and efficient identification of social-emotional and behavioral (SEB) concerns in middle school students. Universal screening for SEB concerns is promising to facilitate early identification and implementation of evidence-based interventions but schools are not able to integrate such information from different informants who ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A210019
Grant
Refinement and Further Development of the Washington Assessment of the Risks and Needs of Students
The purpose of this measurement project is to further refine and validate a low-cost, efficient, and proactive assessment to address student truancy and dropout. The Washington Assessment of the Risks and Needs of Students(WARNS) is used in middle and high schools to identify factors that contribute to truancy and are malleable in response to intervention. The WARNS provide a framework for school personnel to generate conversations and personalized action plans with youth for improving atten...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A210087
Grant
Bridging Science and Practice for Students with Emotional and Behavioral Problems
The goal of this study is to further develop and evaluate Beacon, a web-based system that helps educators make informed decisions about their choice of services and measures to help students with emotional and behavioral problems. The Beacon system is nearly operational for general education classrooms and school mental health professionals from K to 12. In this project, the research team will add services and assessments that can be provided by educators in alternative classrooms and finali...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A210323
Grant
Testing the Impact of Academically Focused Interventions on the Self-Regulation of Preschool and Elementary-School Students: An Integrative-Data-Analysis Approach
The purpose of this project is to use an integrative-data-analysis approach with seven prior randomized controlled trial (RCT) studies to (a) examine the degree to which interventions designed to promote children's reading-related and language skills also positively impact children's self-regulation, (b) identify child and intervention factors that contextualize this effect, and (c) examine the degree to which effects on self-regulation are mediated by children's gains on the target skill of...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A210412
Grant
Project CLIMB: Capturing Language Immersion Benefits
The goals of this project are to explore how native English speakers' and English Learners' (ELs) degree of bilingualism relates to their cognitive, language, and reading comprehension skills and to identify features of effective literacy instruction in Dual Language Immersion (DLI) programs. Despite the recent rise of DLI programs, and the increased awareness of the value of foreign language learning, research on the effects of bilingualism in DLI programs and on identifying the key feature...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A190452
Methods Training for Education Research
The Institute's training programs are intended to help ensure that researchers have the skills to produce research that is rigorous in method as well as relevant and accessible to education stakeholders such as practitioners and policymakers.
Cognition and Student Learning
The Cognition and Student Learning (CASL) topic supports research that capitalizes on our understanding of how the mind works to inform and improve education practice in reading, writing, mathematics, and science, and study skills.
Grant
IES Methods Training in Cost-Effectiveness and Economic Evaluation
Schools in the U.S. face difficult decisions related to scarce resources for every aspect of schooling including safe facilities, qualified teaching staff, curricula, supplemental support services, and health and wellness staff. Within this context, even modest efficiency gains would be enormously valuable. It is therefore critical for education research to include rigorous economic evaluations to inform decisions about the allocation of resources. This training program will provide educatio...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305B240017
Grant
A Summer RCT Institute for Established Researchers
Well-executed randomized experiments provide the strongest evidence about causal effects of educational interventions, products, and services. Consequently, they have a crucial role to play in establishing a base of knowledge for the improvement and reform of American education. Yet the number of individuals with the knowledge and experience necessary to design, implement, analyze, and interpret randomized field experiments in education that meet SEER standards is still surprisingly small. T...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305B240008
Grant
Bayesian Longitudinal Data Modeling in Education Sciences
Longitudinal research can provide valuable insights into change and causal relationships, which are inherently linked to policy and decision making for children and young adults. To draw reliable conclusions with high external validity, education researchers often collect and analyze large-scale longitudinal datasets with complex structures. Amidst various emerging analytical challenges associated with complex longitudinal data, Bayesian methods are demonstrating promise in addressing them. ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305B240029
Grant
Effects of Mixed-Reality, Real-Time Analytics Teacher Tools on Teachers and Student Learning
In this project, the researchers will develop and pilot test a classroom orchestration tool running on mixed-reality smart glasses to provide real-time awareness and decision support to middle school mathematics teachers. The new tool, Lumilo 2, will operate with and build upon the researchers' prior IES-funded work developing intelligent tutoring software (ITS) to provide personalized and adaptive guidance to students as they engage in complex problem-solving practice (R305A180301, R305A210...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A240281
Grant
Student Reasoning Patterns in Science (SPIN-Science)
In this project, the researchers will collaboratively develop, refine, and validate an artificial intelligence (AI) supported classroom assessment tool to measure middle-school students' reasoning patterns when engaging in the practice of scientific argumentation about ecosystem phenomena. The AI-supported assessments will target the measurement of key components required by the practice of scientific argumentation and support various students' reasoning patterns when students engage in argu...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A240356
Grant
Harnessing AI to Train Mindsets for Mathematical Higher Order Thinking
In this project, the researchers will develop and pilot test a digital technology-based classroom supplement that uses a trained generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology to improve grade 5 and 6 students' curriculum learning as well as train their attention to notice and attend to higher order thinking (HOT) opportunities within mathematics instruction. This tool will build upon the researchers' prior IES-funded work (R305A190467) that found the more students engage linguistically ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A240287
Grant
Scenario-Based Assessment in the Age of Generative AI: Making Space in the Education Market for Alternative Assessment Paradigm
The purpose of this project is to create a generative artificial intelligence (gen-AI) enhanced authoring tool for scenario-based assessments (SBAs). SBAs place knowledge and skills into a scenario or practical context so that test-takers can be both observers of and active participants in their own performance, building on a body of IES funded investments in developing and validating SBAs. This creates the opportunity for a reflective, metacognitive, and self-regulatory loop that enables ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305T240021
Grant
Data Science for Education (DS4EDU)
Because of increased capabilities for collecting and analyzing education data, the field has new opportunities for research-based, data-driven improvements in education activities. However, education practitioners have not been fully able to leverage these developments and data to inform large scale improvements in the field. In this program, trainers will prepare education practitioners to use established and emerging data science methods with an emphasis on statistical thinking and computa...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305B230008
Grant
Exploring the Affordances of Immersive Virtual Reality for Learning
The purpose of this project is to systematically investigate how specific features of immersive virtual reality (IVR) can be used to improve student outcomes in science learning. In particular, the researchers will examine the effectiveness of visual and auditory IVR design features in enhancing learners' affective state and cognitive processing for learners in general and for specific subgroups of learners. IVR has the potential to cause a feeling of presence, emotional arousal, and situati...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A230403
Grant
Innovation Science for Education Analytics (ISEA): A Data Science Training Program to Advance Educational Research and Practice
The use of education technologies is generating large quantities of data at unprecedented speed. These data (e.g., the prose in digital instructional materials, social media data, clickstreams from e-learning platforms) are largely unstructured or noisy, meaning that they are not arranged according to a preset data model and/or have many complicated attributes. The features of these data make it difficult to use conventional analytic tools and techniques. This training program will prepare e...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305B230002
Grant
Data Science Methods for Digital Learning Platforms Training Program
The use of digital learning platforms has grown considerably in recent years. These platforms generate considerable amounts of process data, which show how users are interacting with the content. However, many in the education research community struggle to analyze and extract meaningful knowledge from large-scale process data to inform education practice or policy. This training program will provide education researchers with training on how to effectively apply various algorithms to levera...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305B230007
Grant
Meta-Analysis Training Institute
he Meta-Analysis Training Institute will provide researchers with the tools they need to conduct large-scale research syntheses and meta-analyses (50 or more studies) aimed at examining effect size heterogeneity and aligned with SEER principles.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305B220007
Grant
Efficacy of Early Language Comprehension Individualized Instruction (ELCII)
This project team will evaluate the efficacy of a supplemental instructional program called ELCII (Early Language Comprehension Individualized Instruction). ELCII, developed with prior IES funding, provides opportunities for supplemental early instruction in language comprehension skills, which are much needed to prevent long-term negative reading outcomes. Specifically, ELCII focuses on training a core language comprehension skill, inference making, in kindergarten. The project will examine...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A220107
Grant
Applied Mixture Modeling Training Workshops and Resources for Education Researchers
This program will provide education researchers with training on foundational skills in mixture modeling and in-depth support in the appropriate use of the modeling approach in their research.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305B220021
Grant
Optimizing AI-Based Tutoring Software for Middle-School Mathematics on Smartphones
In this project, researchers will conduct design-based research with students, parents, and teachers to develop a mobile data-optimized tutoring system to promote deliberate math practice for middle-school students, combined with a new system for parent-student motivational nudges to encourage parents to support their children in doing homework. The research team will optimize units from the Mathtutor platform-a comprehensive web-based tutoring system for middle-school mathematics-and specif...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A220386
Grant
Enhancing Learning by Reducing Distraction
In this project, researchers aim to expand and improve an existing digital intervention called Finding Focus that is intended to help high school students train their attention and then use it to more effectively regulate distracting thoughts and emotions. Specifically, key innovations will include (i) advanced personalization of the intervention to students' aspirations, (ii) an expanded curriculum that addresses the pervasive distraction of digital media, and (iii) new methods for ensuring...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A220435
Grant
Following Up on Initial Promise: Experimental Evidence on the Impacts of Full-Day Pre-K
High quality early childhood education (ECE) has been shown to have profound positive effects on child development, help narrow opportunity gaps, and yield substantial social returns. Yet, more recent research on the impacts of large-scale, present-day ECE programs have yielded mixed results, raising at least 3 key questions for ECE policymakers and researchers: First, there is a need to identify what particular features of preschool programs contribute to children's development. Second, the...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A220281
Grant
Reducing Knowledge Gaps for Low-Income and Educationally At-risk Pre-kindergartners through Taxonomically Organized Books and Screen Media
Children's semantic knowledge, which is the organized knowledge of words, their meanings, and the relations among them, is one of the most important predictors of early literacy development and academic achievement. In this project, the research team will explore the mechanisms by which educationally at-risk pre-kindergartners' semantic knowledge can be improved through taxonomically-organized educational materials. Taxonomies are conceptually coherent categories organized in a hierarchical ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A210180
Grant
Improving Conceptual Knowledge in Upper Elementary Science with Scaffolded Sketch-Based Modeling
This project will focus on the development and pilot testing of Science Sketch, a sketch-based science learning environment to support upper elementary students' conceptual understanding of science with an emphasis on modeling. To develop an understanding of core ideas in science, students must develop models to explain their observations, share models within their classroom community, test their models in investigations, and revise their models based on evidence. Drawing is a promising appr...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A210358
Grant
Validity Evidence on the Spatial Ability Assessment for STEM Instruction and Evaluation
The goal of this project is to conduct validity research on a new measure intended for students in grades 2-8, the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT): Spatial Assessment, which was developed in collaboration with Riverside Insights and the digital design company Digital Artefacts. This assessment measures students' spatial reasoning skills and is used to inform instructional planning and evaluation. Spatial reasoning is critical to student achievement, particularly in early math skills. At l...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A210428
Grant
A Research Institute for Implementation Science in Education (RIISE) to Address the "Last Mile" in Education
This three-year methods training grant will increase the number of education scholars with expertise in conceptualizing, designing, and executing implementation research studies. By establishing a Research Institute for Implementation Science in Education, the training team will provide training and mentorship to build a network of implementation scientists devoted to helping education research become accessible to and used by the teachers, principals, and other administrators the research i...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305B210004
Grant
Making Space in Science Instruction: Developing the SPACE-IT Program to Foster Students' Spatial Thinking Skills and Science Achievement
In this project, researchers aim to develop and pilot test SPACE-IT, a novel professional development (PD) program that utilizes workshops and coaching to facilitate 5th grade teachers' effective science instruction and students' spatial thinking skills, interest, and science achievement. Research within the cognitive and developmental sciences has shown that thinking spatially is a critical yet overlooked component of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) success. Despite...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A210537
Grant
Story Talk-Kindergarten: Developing a Cognitive-based Vocabulary Intervention
The purpose of this project is to develop Story Talk-Kindergarten (ST-K), a multifaceted intervention that will support teachers through training and coaching to use evidence-based book reading and extension activities to increase vocabulary knowledge in low-income kindergartners. Kindergarten is a critical year in children's learning to read. Many children in high-need schools require additional support in developing vocabulary, a significant predictor of reading. This project addresses a g...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A210106
Grant
Leveraging Technology to Improve Children's Understanding of Mathematical Equivalence
This project will create ICUE Online, an online version of the Improving Children's Understanding of Equivalence (ICUE) intervention, which was developed and tested for efficacy with prior IES funding. ICUE Online will consist of activities with just-in-time feedback designed to improve student understanding of mathematical equivalence. Though understanding equivalence is a critical precursor to many math concepts and algebraic thinking, the majority of elementary students fail to develop co...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A210018
Grant
Evaluating the Efficacy of MathByExample
In this project, researchers aim to test the efficacy of the MathByExample activities on improving student mathematics outcomes in 4th and 5th grade. The MathByExample intervention, developed with prior IES funding, targets key mathematics concepts and common misconceptions for 4th and 5th grade students through worked example practice exercises in which students explain a fictitious student's work (marked as either correct or incorrect) and solve a practice problem.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A210080
Grant
An Exploration of Brain Breaks to Enhance Attention Regulation and Instruction Uptake in Early Elementary
The purpose of this project is to explore whether taking multiple short "brain breaks" during the school day can benefit learning.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A200522
Grant
A Summer RCT Institute for Established Researchers
This program will provide training in the planning, design, execution, and interpretation of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in education sciences.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305B200029
Grant
Exploring Collaborative Embodiment for Learning (EXCEL): Understanding Geometry Through Multiple Modalities
The purpose of this project is to explore how the interaction between collaboration and multisensory experiences, referred to here as collaborative embodiment, affects students' geometric reasoning through the use of augmented reality (AR) technology. This research is significant because theories of embodiment are needed that take into account the multi-learner nature of mathematics classrooms and how learners can jointly embody mathematical ideas using different modalities. In addition, rec...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A200401
Grant
Effects of Home and Classroom Practices on Language, Cognitive, and Social Development of Young Spanish-Speaking English Learners
Young English learners (ELs) living in poverty are at risk for later reading difficulties and are less likely than their peers to encounter the level of responsive, extended conversations in their homes and preschools needed for school readiness. Furthermore, many types of dual language programs in U.S. schools operate in ways that delay regular exposure to English until later grades, rather than systematically teaching in ways that build on students' knowledge of their home language to acce...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A200251
Grant
Boys Have It; Girls Have to Work for It: The Development and Consequences of Gender Stereotypes About Natural Talent vs. Effort in Mathematics
The central aims of this research are to investigate the (1) development and (2) consequences of gender stereotypes that portray girls' mathematics achievements as resulting from effort and boys' mathematics achievements as resulting from natural talent (effort-vs.-talent stereotypes) and (3) to identify potential means of reducing the negative effects of these stereotypes on children's mathematics outcomes. From a theoretical standpoint, this work will be the first to characterize the devel...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A200355
Grant
Recruiting Spatial-Numerical Representations to Enhance the Use of Advanced Math Strategies in Low-Income Students
The primary objective of the project is to explore the effects of spatial representations of magnitude on the acquisition of advanced arithmetic strategies, a key predictor of math achievement. The project is expected to contribute to a theoretical understanding of the relation between the domains of number and space, as well as provide a scientific basis for determining whether and how to integrate spatial information into future math interventions.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A200315
Grant
Measuring Original Thinking in Elementary Students: A Text-Mining Approach
This research project aims to develop a new instrument and a computer application that measures original thinking among late-elementary students (Grades 3-5) through automated scoring. The Measurement of Original Thinking in Elementary Students (MOTES) will adopt text-mining models that have been tested only with adults and test their use with elementary students. Measuring original thinking in children has a long history. However, manual scoring of existing original thinking tests limits th...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A200519
Grant
IES Methods Training in Cost Effectiveness and Economic Evaluation
This training program will provide attendees with foundational skills in both cost-effectiveness and economic evaluation.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305B200034
Grant
Linguistic Input as a Malleable Factor in Higher Order Thinking about Mathematics
The research team explored variations in students' exposure to language that encourages them to use higher order thinking (HOT Talk, or HOTT) in the home, meaning language that asks a student to draw connections, understand why phenomena work, and/or make generalizations. The researchers also tested whether incorporating more of that language in classroom mathematics teaching can help more students to successfully use higher order thinking when learning math. The researchers specifically inv...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A190467
Grant
Causal Effects of the Kindergarten Transition Intervention
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impacts of the Kindergarten Transition Intervention (KTI) on children's academic and social-behavioral development during preschool, their adjustment to kindergarten, and their trajectories from preschool to the end of first grade. Kindergarten transition practices are prominent in federal and state policies and there is a need for rigorous studies of the impact of transition practices on children's kindergarten readiness skills. The research team...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A180004
Grant
An RCT Institute for Established Researchers
The RCT Institute for Established Researchers provided training on the design, execution, interpretation, and reporting of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in education. The goal of the project was to increase the number of researchers with extensive training in the design and execution of RCTs and the number of researchers who carry out RCTs in the field of education research.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305B170016
Grant
Meta-Analysis Training Institute
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses can provide insight about what educational interventions work, for whom, and under what conditions. Large-scale meta-analyses can examine how intervention effects might vary across studies, providing insights about what we do or do not know about how to improve outcomes for all students. Thus, increasing the quality of systematic reviews and meta-analysis in education research enhances our understanding of important educational issues and highlights areas...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305B190002
Grant
Efficacy of a Narrative Comprehension Intervention for Elementary School Children At-Risk for Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
The purpose of this project is to test the efficacy of the Narrative Structure (NS) intervention, which is a supplemental after school intervention for third grade students at-risk for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) developed with prior IES funding (A Narrative Comprehension Intervention for Elementary School Children At-Risk for Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According to the National Center for Education Statistics, a substantial proportion of U.S. children str...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A170574
Grant
The Effects of Promoting Engaging Early Literacy Interactions in Preschool Environments: Literacy 3D
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of the fully developed Literacy 3D (Data-Driven Decision Making) intervention which was developed to increase and sustain prekindergarten teacher's literacy focus by enhancing instruction through professional development combined with ongoing practice-based coaching, data-based feedback, and 10 evidence-based teaching strategies. Preliminary findings from a development project funded by the Office of Special Education Programs showed that...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A170241
Grant
Identifying Effective Instructional Practices and Contexts for Spanish-speaking English Learners in Florida's Universal Preschool Program
The purpose of this project is to identify the instructional practices and contextual factors that are associated with higher-versus-lower levels of growth in the school readiness skills of preschoolers who are Spanish-speaking English learners (ELs). Researchers will address five specific aims: (1) identify specific instructional practices that are associated with higher rates of growth in school-readiness skills for preschoolers who are Spanish-speaking ELs as well as the impact of these p...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A170430
Grant
A Summer RCT Training Institute for Established Researchers
The purpose of this researcher training program was to increase the number of researchers with training in the planning, design, execution, and interpretation of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in education sciences necessary to carry out trials and increase the number who actually carry out RCTs in education. This training program prepared current education researchers to plan, design, conduct, and interpret randomized control trials (RCTs). This program built off of two former training...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305B130023
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