Vanderbilt University
Associated IES Content
Grant
Building Relationships in Intensive Intervention: Exploring Dyadic Interactions, Relationship Quality, and Engagement for Students with or at High Risk for Emotional/Behavioral Disorders
This project explores adult–child interactions in the context of intensive, one-to-one intervention for elementary school students with or at high risk for developing emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). Moment-to-moment interactions lay the foundation for adult–child relationships at school, the quality of which is particularly impactful for students with EBD. Intensive, one-to-one intervention represents a critical opportunity to explore and leverage these adult–child interactio...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A240075
Grant
AVID: Automated Virtual Reality Based Trainings for Intervention Development
The purpose of this project is to develop and evaluate the promise of virtual reality (VR)-enhanced training modules to improve preservice teachers' implementation of function-based intervention for students with autism who demonstrate challenging behavior. Challenging behavior often prevents children with autism from accessing inclusive educational environments and negatively impacts learning. Function-based intervention is an effective strategy for reducing challenging behavior, including ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A240009
Grant
Special Education Placement Based on Assessment Practices for Spanish-Speaking English Language Learners Struggling With Reading Comprehension
The purpose of this project is to explore the associations among language comprehension (LC) skills in both Spanish and English, the processes involved in English reading comprehension (RC), and special education (SPED) placement decisions for elementary school students from Spanish-speaking homes. For the growing population of U.S. students from homes in which a language other than English is used-whether formally identified as English learners (ELs) or not-reliance on English-only language...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A230154
Grant
Zoom: Innovative Detailed Examination of Digital vs. Paper Reading
In the era of COVID-19 and digital learning, IES has identified areas of needed research including exploring how reading with digital devices relates to learning outcomes like reading comprehension. This project team address this need by building understandings of in-the-moment behaviors readers experience (explored via eye-gaze, emotional response, digital behaviors, and highlighting) when reading on a screen or reading on paper to answer questions, which is similar to many classroom and te...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A210347
Grant
Children's Longitudinal Development from Pre-K through High School as Disrupted by COVID-19
The purpose of this high school follow-up study of this longitudinal sample of students is to assess the nature and extent of COVID-19 related school disruptions and how those effects interact with prior school experiences (including pre-k attendance), various student characteristics, as well as the extent of the school disruptions experienced. Funded since 2009, this is a sample from the only longitudinal randomized control trial of a statewide prekindergarten program, evaluating the effect...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A210130
Grant
Effectiveness of Leveled Literacy Intervention Intermediate for Third and Fourth Grade Students with Reading Difficulties or Disabilities
The project aims to test the efficacy of the Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) Intermediate in third and fourth grade. Researchers will conduct a randomized control trial to examine: (a) the efficacy of LLI Intermediate for third grade students with reading difficulties or disabilities relative to a business-as-usual comparison group, (b) the efficacy of an intensive implementation of LLI Intermediate over 2 years (3rd and 4th grade), (c) short- and long-term outcomes to determine whether ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A210021
Grant
Enhancing Peer Network Interventions to Improve Social Communication, Play, and Peer Relationships for Minimally Verbal Students with Autism
The Principal Investigator (PI) will conduct a program of research focused on improving social, communication, and developmental outcomes for minimally verbal students with autism (ASD). The PI will also participate in mentoring and training to build skills related to intervention development, measurement of language and communication, interdisciplinary research, and grant writing and dissemination. Strengthening peer interactions and relationships for children with ASD who are minimally ver...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324B210004
Grant
A Randomized Trial of the Connect-IT Intervention in Middle School Students With or At Risk for Reading Disabilities
A large direct contributor to comprehension problems in middle school students with or at risk for reading disabilities is pervasive difficulty in making inferences necessary for understanding what is read. Because literacy attainments in middle school are highly predictive of postsecondary success, middle school provides a later developmental window within which to intervene for struggling adolescent readers. Consequently, a technology-based inference-making intervention, Connect-IT-Compute...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A200101
Grant
Implementing Fraction Intervention Classwide to Address Mathematics Learning Disabilities in Inclusive Classrooms
To date, the efficacy of the Inclusive Fraction Intervention identified by IES for replication has been evaluated only when delivered in small groups by research staff tutors to students identified with or at-risk for mathematics learning disabilities (MLD). The purpose of this proposed efficacy replication is to assess the efficacy of the Inclusive Fraction Intervention on the same population in a different setting (classwide in inclusive general education, not small-group pullout) by diffe...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324R200003
Grant
Friendships and the Academic Skills and Behaviors of Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders: The Importance of Classroom Social Contextual Factors
The Principal Investigator (PI) will conduct a program of research focused on improving outcomes of students with or at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) while participating in mentoring and training activities to develop knowledge and skills related to the friendships and social experiences of socially vulnerable youth, longitudinal social network methods and analyses, and grant management. It is well documented that children with EBD experience difficulties with social skil...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324B220003
Grant
EMT en Español: Comprehensive Early Intervention to Support School Readiness Skills for Spanish-Speaking Toddlers with Language Delays
The goal of this study is to examine the efficacy of EMT en Español, a cultural and linguistic adaptation of Enhanced Milieu Teaching (EMT), to improve the language and related school readiness skills of young Spanish-speaking children with receptive and expressive language delays. Early language delays impact children's later communicative, social, behavioral, and academic skills and put children at risk for persistent language impairment. Therefore, early language intervention, particular...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A190177
Grant
An Efficacy Trial to Evaluate Supporting Paraprofessionals by Advancing Reading Intervention Knowledge and Skill (SPARK)
This project will evaluate the efficacy of two models of professional development (PD) designed to enhance paraprofessionals' knowledge and skills related to delivering an early reading intervention to elementary school students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The first model, a traditional reading-focused PD (T-PD), will use a training model developed through a prior IES-funded Development and Innovation grant. The second model, enhanced reading-focused PD (E-PD), go...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A190240
Grant
Betty's Mind: A Theory of Mind and Social Reasoning Intervention for Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders Based on a Learning by Teaching Approach
The purpose of the project is to develop a technology-based intervention to improve theory of mind (ToM) reasoning among adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). ToM refers to the ability to ascribe mental states, such as beliefs, desires, goals, and emotions to other people and to understand that these mental states can be different from one's own. Many students with ASD have difficulty with ToM reasoning, especially in the context of social situations. However, there are limited re...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A180171
Grant
The Relationship between Elementary Teachers' Language Use and Students' Language and Literacy Achievement
This study examined second grade teacher language use and its relation to student language and literacy achievement as well as conditions that moderated this relation. The research team collected teacher language use across content areas, examined class and teacher characteristics that may have influenced teacher language use, and produced a conceptual framework of the relation between teacher language and student language/literacy outcomes including conditions moderating this relation (e.g....
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A170203
Grant
Project Connect-IT (Connecting Text by Inference and Technology): Development of a Text-Integration Intervention for Middle School Students with Comprehension Difficulties
The purpose of this study is to design and test a technology-based intervention aimed at improving how middle school students with reading disabilities make inferences while reading. Results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress indicate that students with disabilities continue to perform at the basic level with little change in comparison to their typically developing peers in the past few administrations of this assessment. There is preliminary evidence that improvements in ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A170150
Grant
Developing Functional Behavior Assessment Maps for Students with Persistent Challenging Behavior: A Guiding Framework for Practitioners
The Principal Investigator (PI) will conduct a program of research designed to improve the quality of functional behavior assessments (FBA) for elementary-age students with or at risk for disabilities with persistent challenging behavior, as well as participate in career development activities aligned with this program of research to expand relevant knowledge and methodological skills. Challenging behavior is one of the most significant barriers to accessing effective educational services fo...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324B160010
Grant
Development and Testing of the Family Behavior Support App
The purpose of this project is to develop and pilot test the Family Behavior Support App (FBSApp), an intervention aimed at supporting parents in implementing interventions with their young children with disabilities and challenging behaviors in home settings. Persistent challenging behavior observed at a young age is associated with poor social and academic outcomes, and the rates of challenging behavior are higher for children with developmental disabilities. Challenging behavior places s...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A160086
Grant
Development of Program-Wide Supports for the Pyramid Model Implementation: Addressing Young Children's Social-Emotional Competence and Challenging Behaviors
The purpose of this project is to develop and evaluate a system of implementation supports, Program-wide Supports for Pyramid Model Implementation (PWS-PMI), for preschool programs using the Pyramid Model to promote young children's social behavioral competence. The Pyramid Model is a framework that organizes best practices for promoting social-emotional competence and addressing the challenging behavior of young children. With prior funding from IES, the researchers developed the Pyramid Mo...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A150141
Grant
Morphological Awareness Computer Adaptive Testing Project
In this project, researchers will develop and test a computer-based test of middle school students' ability to understand parts of words (e.g. roots, prefixes). The ability to use and understand how small parts of words (i.e., morphemes) combine to form words that express different meanings (i.e., morphological awareness) is important for students' ability to learn challenging words that are not used much in everyday language but are used more frequently in school settings. Based on whether ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A150199
Grant
Measurement of Listening Fatigue in School-Age Children with Disabilities
This project will result in a validated measure to assess listening fatigue for children in grades 1-12 with hearing loss and other communication-based disabilities. Previous studies indicate that school-age children with hearing loss and specific language impairment are at increased risk for listening fatigue in their classes. Increased listening effort and the associated stress and fatigue can jeopardize the ability to learn, thus increasing the risk for problems in school. The development...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A160300
Grant
An Efficacy Trial of J-EMT: Enhanced Milieu Teaching Language Intervention plus Joint Attention, Engagement and Regulation Intervention for Toddlers with Autism
This project will evaluate the efficacy of an early social communication and language intervention, the J-EMT, on toddlers with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Social communication skills are particularly important for this population, as a deficit in this area constitutes a core characteristic of ASD. The intervention is aimed at toddlers because the majority of children with ASD can be identified accurately by 24 months and acquisition of communication skills by 36 months is a significant...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A150094
Grant
Improving Reading and Mathematics Outcomes for Students with Learning Disabilities: Next Generation Intensive Interventions
The purpose of this project was to develop and evaluate the efficacy of intensive interventions for students with and at high risk for reading and math disabilities. Over the last two decades, strides have been made in the development of reading and mathematics instruction to improve student achievement. Yet there is a wide and persistent achievement gap between students with disabilities and their peers without disabilities, and some students show limited or no progress despite receiving se...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324D130003
Grant
Using Peer Models in the Context of Small-Group Direct Instruction to Teach Social and Academic Skills to Children with Autism
The Principal Investigator (PI) will further develop skills conducting single-case design research on children with autism while conducting a series of studies using this population and methodology. The research goals are to modify a small group intervention with peer models and examine its impact on academic and social skills.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324B130029
Grant
Passport to Literacy: Examining the Effectiveness of the Voyager Passport Intervention for Fourth-grade Students with or at High Risk for Reading Disabilities
The intended purpose of this project was to evaluate the Voyager Passport intervention with fourth grade children with or at high risk for reading disabilities to determine whether it improves reading outcomes. Despite its wide use, Voyager Passport had never been rigorously evaluated. Many students who enter fourth grade, particularly those with disabilities, struggle significantly with reading. Students who enter the upper grades as poor readers continue to struggle throughout their school...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A150269
Grant
Examining the Efficacy of a Classroom-Wide Model for Promoting Social Emotional Development and Addressing Challenging Behavior in Preschool Children with or at-risk for Disabilities
Researchers have noted that children are entering elementary school without the behavior skills that are necessary for success. Social and behavior challenges that are not resolved during the early childhood years may lead to problems with socialization, school adjustment, and educational success in later grades. Intervention in preschool may help ameliorate the social, emotional, and behavioral challenges that preschoolers can display which may lead to negative outcomes in the future.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A120178
Grant
Academic and Behavioral Consequences of Visible Security Measures in Schools
This project explored the ways that security measures were being used in schools, how they related to middle- and high-school students' perceived school safety and academic and behavioral outcomes, and the contexts in which those associations were strongest. In an attempt to create safe environments for students, many schools had turned to visible security measures such as security cameras, metal detectors, and law enforcement officers. Despite increased use of such costly security measures,...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A120181
Grant
Explanation and Prediction Increasing Gains and Metacognition (EPIGAME)
The proposed project, Explanation and Prediction Increasing Gains and Metacognition (EPIGAME), will integrate metacognitive research on prediction and explanation into the design of a physics-based digital game environment to scaffold students' understanding of formal physics concepts. The design of the EPIGAME environment will support pilot and future research on games for learning through (a) randomized assignment of players to multiple configurations of parameters within the game and (b) ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A110782
Grant
Data Modeling Supports the Development of Statistical Reasoning
Statistics and data are featured prominently in the emerging national core standards in mathematics at the middle grades, but instruction in the middle grades typically isolates data from chance and fails to focus on foundations of statistical reasoning. These neglected foundations include structuring variability in data as distributions, relating data distribution to chance, and generating models of chance to guide statistical inference. Under the Data Modeling curriculum, these skills and ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A110685
Grant
Development and Validation of the Supports Intensity Scale (SIS) for Children
Individuals with intellectual or developmental disability may require ongoing support to participate in typical life activities, such as navigating the neighborhood. In order to identify the supports needed by adults with intellectual disabilities, an assessment called the Supports Intensity Scale has been developed, validated, and adopted worldwide. However, no equivalent assessment for children with intellectual or developmental disabilities exists. The research team will develop an adapte...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A120407
Grant
Fatigue and Listening Effort in School-Age Children with Hearing Loss
Although research has demonstrated that children with hearing loss (CHL) experience difficulties with speech recognition under noisy conditions, less is known about the listening effort expended and its effects on hearing-related fatigue. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether school-aged children with mild to moderate hearing loss experience greater fatigue caused by listening effort in noisy school classrooms than children without hearing loss. The researchers will compare CHL...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A140006
Grant
Efficacy of Broad Target Speech Recasts on Students with Down Syndrome
Over 95 percent of parents of children with Down Syndrome report that their child has difficulty being understood by persons outside of their immediate family or social circle. This difficulty tends to persist into adulthood. Problems with speech comprehensibility can have negative consequences on educational achievement and post school outcomes. There is a widely held belief that improving speech accuracy (e.g., producing particular speech sounds) will lead to improved speech comprehensi...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A100225
Grant
Peer Support and Peer Network Interventions to Improve Peer Relationships and School Engagement
Secondary students with severe intellectual disabilities often have difficulty gaining access to the social and academic experiences that can better equip them for life after high school. Current research suggests that social interactions between students with intellectual disabilities and their peers without disabilities may promote academic, functional, and social skill development, improve social competence and friendship development, and improve quality of life. Despite the adoption of m...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A100391
Grant
Developing and Evaluating a Technology-Based Fractions Intervention Program for Low-Achieving and At-Risk Students
The purpose of this project is to develop an intelligent tutoring system intended to promote students' understanding of fractions, an area that many students find difficult to master. The HALF (Helping At-risk and Low-achieving students in Fractions) system will present learning problems in conjunction with virtual manipulatives and videos designed to anchor to-be-learned concepts within already-familiar topics. After students attempt to solve these new problems, the system will diagnose ga...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A100110
Grant
Predictors and Subtypes of Reading Disabilities: Implications for Instruction of 'Late Emergers'
Comprehension of text requires the coordination of a complex set of skills. At a minimum, children need to be able to decode printed words on a page and comprehend spoken language in order to read with understanding. One goal of this exploratory research is to determine whether these two skill sets - word-level skills and linguistic comprehension - are independent of each other. A second goal is to understand how development in these two skill domains may be related to reading problems.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A100034
Grant
Focus in Early Childhood Curricula: Helping Children Transition to School
In this project, the research team planned to evaluate the effects of a developmental model curriculum (Creative Curriculum 3rd ed.) and an educational model curriculum (Bright Beginnings) with children ages 4 and 5 who are predominately poor, rural, and Caucasian. Also, the researchers planned to complete complementary research focused on the level of children's engagement in literacy-based classroom activities, language development, self-regulation, narrative comprehension, and concepts ab...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305J020020
Grant
Experimental Validation of the Tools of the Mind Prekindergarten Curriculum
The purpose of this efficacy study is to conduct an experimental evaluation of the Tools of the Mind prekindergarten curriculum. This curriculum focuses on developing learning skills that enable children to engage in and benefit from all kinds of learning tasks and activities that occur in the classroom. The Tools of the Mind curriculum is intended to promote the basic academic and social skills that will prepare children for school success in kindergarten and beyond.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A090533
Grant
An Efficacy Trial of Milieu Teaching Language Intervention in Preschoolers with Language Disorders
Children who experience early language delays include children with production delays only, children with both production and comprehension delays, and children who have global cognitive and other disabilities that affect their language development. Considerable research has focused on young children with only delays in productive language and on children older than 4 years with specific language impairment. Relatively less is known about children with co-occurring production and comprehensi...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A090181
Grant
Responsiveness-To-Instruction to Strengthen the Academic Performance of Students with Reading and Math Disabilities
The goal of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of integrated reading and mathematics instruction for students with or at risk for disabilities in both areas. The academic needs of students who have concurrent reading and math disabilities are not frequently addressed by practitioners or researchers. When they are addressed, an additive approach is frequently implemented. In this approach, reading interventions and math interventions are provided separately as if students had only a read...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A090052
Grant
Dynamic Assessment to Predict First Graders' Mathematics Development
The aim of this project was to develop a dynamic assessment for early mathematics. One major purpose of educational assessment is screening, which is the practice of predicting which students are likely to perform poorly in school. With accurate screening, students at risk of poor outcomes can be identified to receive intervention early. Most commonly, screening is accomplished using traditional static tests, where examinees respond without examiner assistance. However, static tests reveal o...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A090039
Grant
Learning-Related Cognitive Self-Regulation School Readiness Measures for Preschool Children: Optimizing Predictive Validity for Achievement
The purpose of this study is to construct and cross-validate a teacher rating measure and a parallel direct child assessment measure of learning-related cognitive self-regulation (LRCSR) for preschool children. LRCSR skills are conceptualized as cognitive skills that fall into five major categories: (1) attention focus and concentration (e.g, being able to pay attention to a teacher's instruction and focus on an in-class assignment); (2) inhibitory control (e.g., being able to suppress inapp...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A090079
Grant
Related Services Intervention for Expressive and Receptive Language Skills in Autism Spectrum Disorder and in Cognitive Impairment
In recent years, increasing numbers of children in preschool have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and educating these children is challenging. Similarly, children with cognitive impairments are increasingly served in inclusion environments and receive related services for language skills. Although the efficacy of expressive language intervention for these children has been examined, the efficacy of focusing on receptive language skills has not. The purpose of the proposed stu...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A080143
Grant
VU Department of Special Education Postdoctoral Intervention Research Training Program
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324B080005
Grant
Examining the Potential Efficacy of a Classroom Wide Model for Promoting Social Emotional Development and Addressing Challenging Behavior in Preschool Children With and Without Disabilities
Although research has established a positive relationship between young children's social emotional skills and success in school, large numbers of young children are beginning their school experiences without the emotional, social, and behavioral skills necessary for academic success. The purpose of this project is to refine the Teaching Pyramid intervention, a multi-tiered intervention to address the social emotional development and challenging behavior of young children with or at risk for...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A070212
Grant
Evaluating Math Recovery With Student Outcomes
Children enter school with a wide range of mathematical abilities. Data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten class show that the achievement gaps that appear in kindergarten widen from kindergarten through Grade 3. The goal of Math Recovery is to enable first graders whose performance is below the 25th percentile nationally to achieve at the level of their higher-performing peers, thus changing the longitudinal trajectory of their mathematics development. Although Math ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305B070554
Grant
Preparation, Professional Development and Policy in Mathematics: Does it all add up?
Federal funding program:
Grant
State Policy and Trends in Student Achievement: the Relationship Between Changes in State Standards-based Reform Policy and Student Achievement in Mathematics and Reading
This project proposes to investigate how changes in state policy over time relate to student achievement trends in NAEP mathematics and reading, and to changes in the achievement gap between racial/ethnic groups. The project will link the 1992 and 2003 NAEP fourth- and eighth-grade achievement scores to a detailed database of state policy indicators compiled by the investigators.
Federal funding program:
Grant
Evidence-Based Interventions for Severe Behavior Problems: Classroom Management and Academic Tutoring (CMAT)
This project will address a question of fundamental importance to behavior management practices and policy: Does a comprehensive intervention that combines effective classroom management practices and academic tutoring result in students with severe problem behaviors demonstrating decreased levels of aggressive and disruptive behavior and increased levels of academic achievement when compared to students who receive services provided by public schools? The specific aims of this project, whic...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
H324P040013
Grant
The Effects of Strategy and Self-Regulation Instruction on Students' Writing Performance and Behavior: A Preventative Approach (Project WRITE)
The purpose of Project WRITE was to further develop and examine the impact of a modified Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) on the writing and classroom behavior of elementary school students at high risk for serious behavior disorders (SBD). Prior research demonstrated SRSD improved the writing performance of students with learning disabilities and other struggling writers, but its impact on the writing performance, as well as behavior, of students with challenging behaviors was not...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324B060018
Grant
Response-To-Intervention as an Approach to Preventing and Identifying Learning Disabilities in Reading
The purpose of this project is to address key measurement issues associated with the response-to-intervention (RTI) process: Who should enter the RTI process? How does one determine whether effective Tier 2 intervention has been conducted? What is a valid and practical method of monitoring responsiveness to Tier 2 instruction? What is a valid definition of 'nonresponsiveness' (i.e., reading disabled [RD])?
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324G060036
Grant
Love in a Big World
In this project, the researchers evaluated Love in a Big World (LBW), a character education program designed to promote children's positive relationships with their teachers and peers and enhance the classroom and school environment. The LBW curriculum uses stories to teach students about positive character traits and their use, staff and principal training, a peer-recognition program, school assemblies, service projects, motivational morning announcements, and newsletters.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305L030173
Grant
Evaluating a Multicomponent Reading Intervention Designed to Address the Diverse Needs of Struggling Readers in Late Elementary School
In this project, the researchers developed a multi-component reading program to address the diverse needs of late elementary school students who are struggling readers. The researchers proposed that any intervention designed to work with these children must be multi-pronged, citing that national evaluations consistently demonstrate that approximately one-third of fourth graders do not easily make sense of what they read. The research team developed instructional dialogues, strategies, and ma...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305G050101
Grant
Assessing Data Modeling and Statistical Reasoning
In this study, the researchers proposed to develop an assessment system to evaluate elementary and middle school students' skills and understandings related to data modeling and statistical reasoning. Data modeling includes deciding which aspects of the world are relevant to a conceptual model, how best to measure them, how to structure and represent the resulting measures, and how to make relevant inferences. This area of instruction was beginning to grow in importance in the early 2000s, g...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305K060091
Grant
Public School Choice: Magnet Schools, Peer Effects, and Student Achievement
In this project, the researchers proposed to explore the effects of attending magnet schools on student academic achievement and to explore what factors might produce such an effect, if magnet schools are indeed better. At the time of the study, the use of magnet schools to accomplish public school improvement was a controversial policy. The research evidence at the time was inconclusive, in part because of differing policies regarding who can enroll in magnet schools. Some schools required ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305E040056
Grant
National Center on Generative AI for Uplifting STEM+C Education (GENIUS Center)
The development of a competent science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and computing (STEM+C) workforce in the era of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is crucial for the nation's economic growth, security, and global competitiveness. To achieve this goal, initiatives that combine a robust understanding of core STEM concepts with competence in computational thinking (CT) and AI are needed. With this goal in mind, the National Center on Generative AI for Uplifting STEM+C Educa...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305C240010
Grant
Development and Innovations of the TRANSLATE (Teaching Reading and New Strategic Language Approaches to Emergent Bilinguals) Curriculum
In this project, the research team proposes to close gaps in literacy learning opportunities for middle grade (grades 4 through 6) multilingual learners (MLs) by iteratively developing and piloting a curricular approach, called Project TRANSLATE (Teaching Reading and New Strategic Language Approaches to English-learners). TRANSLATE aims to support the reading comprehension development of MLs, who represent a particularly heterogeneous population in terms of English language development level...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A240185
Grant
Investigating the Impact of Metacognitive Supports on Students' Mathematics Knowledge and Motivation in MATHia
The purpose of this project is to explore the effects of evidence-based enhancements implemented during mathematics problem solving in UpGrade/MATHia on middle school students' metacognitive skills, mathematics knowledge, and motivation. Mathematics learning is an incremental process that requires intensive metacognitive activity. Students must create a plan to solve a problem, monitor and control their understanding, and evaluate their learning process. Metacognitive skills are essential fo...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305N240024
Grant
The Causal Impact of Attending a Career-Technical High School on Student Achievement, High School Graduation, and College Enrollment
The research team is examining the impact of attending a career technical education (CTE) high school on students' achievement, high school graduation, and college enrollment. In recent years, there has been an increasing focus among educators and policy makers on the possibility of CTE to meet the growing need for career readiness among students. However, there is limited causal evidence to support the promise of alternative secondary education models that focus on CTE. This study used admi...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A190524
Grant
Examining the Efficacy of Program-Wide Supports for Pyramid Model Implementation (PWS-PMT): Addressing Young Children's Social-Emotional Competence and Challenging Behavior
The purpose of this project is to conduct an initial efficacy study of a system of supports for implementing the Pyramid Model for Promoting Social-Emotional Competence program-wide (PWS-PMT) in early childhood programs. The Pyramid Model is a tiered framework of teaching practices for promoting social-emotional competence and addressing challenging behavior in young children . PWS-PMT describes the systems that programs put in place to support and sustain the use of Pyramid Model practices ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A230061
Grant
Pathways Into Teaching: A Mixed-Methods Investigation of High Leverage Opportunities to Increase the Representation of Teachers of Color in Tennessee Schools
A growing body of research demonstrates the benefits of a racially and ethnically diverse teaching workforce, yet diversifying teaching remains a challenge in many states. This challenge stems, in part, from a scarcity of research into the varied pathways of teachers of color into classrooms, how the policies and processes they encounter along those pathways affect their experiences, and how those experiences can divert them from the pathway or prepare them for teaching success. The goal of ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A220054
Grant
Developing and Testing a Blended Behavior and Language Intervention for Toddlers at High Risk for Persistent Developmental Language Disorders
This project aims to develop and evaluate the promise of Toddler Talk, a model that blends two evidence-based practices - Teaching Pyramid for Supporting the Social Emotional Development of Young Children (Pyramid Model) and Enhanced Milieu Teaching (EMT) - to improve language development in toddlers at high risk for persistent developmental language disorders and poor social and academic outcomes. There are no current early interventions that address this population of young children and th...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A200193
Grant
Expanding the Evidence Base for Career and Technical Education (CTE) – Research Network Lead
This project team serves as a research network lead for the Expanding the Evidence Base for Career and Technical Education (CTE) research network. They are responsible for the CTE network administration and coordination, and they carry out research, training, and dissemination activities designed to increase the number and quality of CTE impact evaluations and strengthen the capacity of the field to conduct future CTE research and evaluation. The specific aims of this CTE Network are to incr...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305N180005
Contract
Impact Study of Magnet Schools
Decades after the Supreme Court declared racial segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional, concentration in schools by race, ethnicity, and poverty persists. The federal Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP) supports districts and schools in their efforts to reduce group isolation and improve student achievement through increased school choice options for families. MSAP schools seek to attract a diverse set of students and provide high quality academic programs, typically by orga
Federal funding program:
Contract number:
ED-IES-17-C-0066
Grant
Postdoctoral Training Program in Research on School Leader Effectiveness and Career Pathways
The primary focus of this training program was to prepare four postdoctoral fellows to conduct research on school leader effectiveness and the career pathways of school leaders.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305B170009
Grant
Exploring the Roles of Pattern and Spatial Skills in Early Mathematics Development
The purpose of this research is to explore how two important but often overlooked skills-pattern and spatial skills-uniquely contribute to prekindergarten students' early mathematics development. Pattern skills include identifying, extending, and describing predictable sequences in objects or numbers. Spatial skills include spatial visualization (i.e., the ability to imagine and mentally transform spatial information) and visual-spatial working memory (i.e., the ability to hold the locations...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A160132
Grant
Embedding Working Memory Training within Math Problem Solving Intervention
The research team tested the efficacy of a fully developed intervention intended for elementary school students who need to support with their mathematics problem solving (MPS) skills. The field’s major approach to intervention for students with or at risk for mathematics difficulty (MD) is structured skills instruction, which is designed to compensate for student limitations in the cognitive resources associated with academic performance. Despite the efficacy of this approach, approxi...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A150200
Grant
An Evaluation of Turning Around North Carolina's Lowest Performing Schools: A State Partnership Evaluation
The research team investigated the implementation and impact of a school turnaround plan for low-performing schools in North Carolina. The plan, called the North Carolina Transformation (NCT) program, identified and targeted increasing each school's leadership and instructional capacities. Rather than the expected positive effects of NCT on student and teacher outcomes, their regression discontinuity study found that student achievement gains were lowered and that teacher turnover increased ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305E190002
Grant
The Development and Validation of a Diagnostic Assessment of Instructional Leadership Capacity
This study will refine and expand the use of an assessment tool that helps school principals to observe classroom instruction and provide feedback and support to teachers. Specifically, it will refine and validate the Diagnostic Assessment of Instructional Leadership Capacity (DAILC), an online, video-based assessment tool that aims to measure school leaders' capacity to:
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A150396
Contract
Impact Evaluation of Support for Principals
Principals are increasingly required to be instructional leaders, not just managers, as schools seek to improve their academic climate and performance. States and districts can provide professional development to help principals become more effective in this role, with new opportunities to use funds from the federal Title II, Part A program of the updated Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Given this recent shift in federal policy and the limited information about how to help principals i
Federal funding program:
Contract number:
ED-IES-14-C-0028
Grant
Contributions to Mathematics Competency of At-Risk Students: The Impact of Executive Function, Approximate Number System and Early Mathematics Skills
This project is designed to explore the learning trajectories in mathematics of children at risk for academic difficulties. Through a longitudinal study, this project is intended to capture both the concurrent and longitudinal predictors of middle school children's mathematics achievement as measured via state standardized assessments and detailed individually-administered standardized mathematics achievement tests in the middle school grades. Using information from a previously funded IES p...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A140126
Contract
Evaluation of Preschool Special Education Practices (EPSEP)
Experiences in early childhood programs can help young children, including those with disabilities, develop skills important for later learning. But many children need help to strengthen their social-emotional skills and engagement in classroom activities in order to reap those early learning benefits. Currently, there is limited evidence on how to effectively integrate supports for these skills into the general curriculum, particularly in classrooms where children with disabilities are serve
Federal funding program:
Contract number:
ED-IES-14-C-0001
Grant
SimSelf: A Simulation Environment Designed to Model and Scaffold Learners' Self-Regulation Skills to Optimize Complex Science Learning
Cognitive, metacognitive, motivational, and affective self-regulated learning (SRL) processes have been identified as critical for solving complex science problems. Self-regulated learners monitor their own cognitive activities and deploy appropriate regulatory processes when a problem has been detected. Developing and using these key processes are critical to academic achievement and life-long learning. This project will work with middle school students who tend to rely on a few suboptimal ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A120186
Grant
Increasing Vocabulary in Preschoolers: Using Cognitive Science to Guide Pedagogy
The purpose of this project is to create and test a novel approach to building preschool teachers' abilities to foster vocabulary and therefore, broader language skills among preschool children from low-income homes. In years 1 and 2, researchers will identify instructional methods that can be used to teach vocabulary and foster language learning through book reading followed by guided play (i.e., play in which an adult subtly offers input to children's play activities). Researchers will the...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A110128
Grant
Exploring the Predictors of School Readiness: Meta-analysis of Longitudinal Research
Children's achievement trajectories appear to be established very early in schooling, with early successes promoting later achievement and early difficulties becoming entrenched. Given this, it is especially important to identify and understand the developmental precursors of school outcomes that are present in the early childhood period. Knowledge of these factors can be used to identify the children most in need of remedial services and to guide the design of prevention programs aimed at o...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A110074
Grant
National Research and Development Center on Scaling Up Effective Schools
The National Center on Scaling up Effective Schools (NCSU) is a collaboration of researchers, developers, and practitioners from Vanderbilt University, Florida State University, the University of Wisconsin at Madison, the Education Development Center, the Broward County School District of Florida, and the Fort Worth Independent School District of Texas. NCSU's primary goal is to identify the combination of programs, practices, and policies that make some high schools in large urban districts...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305C100023
Grant
Postdoctoral Field Based Research Methodology Training
The Postdoctoral Field Based Research Methodology Training Program at Vanderbilt University trained fellows to develop their statistics, measurement, and experimental design skills in the context of field-based randomized control trials.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305B100016
Contract
Impact Evaluation of the Teacher Incentive Fund
The purpose of the Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) program and its successor, the Teacher and School Leader (TSL) Incentive program, is to develop and implement performance-based compensation systems for teachers, principals, and other personnel in high-need schools to improve student achievement. This mandated evaluation was of 62 TIF grants awarded to school districts in fiscal year 2010 totaling approximately $600 million. The 2010 grant competition required four core program components: (i) m
Federal funding program:
Contract number:
ED-04-CO-0112/0012; ED-IES-14-C-0115
Grant
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Tennessee's Voluntary Pre-K Program
This project will evaluate the effectiveness of the Tennessee Voluntary Pre-k Program (TN-VPK) in attaining its primary objectives of enhancing the school readiness of economically disadvantaged children and improving their academic performance. It will also examine the relationship between student outcomes and selected policy-relevant characteristics of teachers, classrooms, and schools to determine which are associated with the largest effects and thus provide guidance for program improvem...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305E090009
Grant
Vanderbilt Predoctoral Research Training in Education Sciences (ExpERT-II)
The Vanderbilt University ExpERT-II predoctoral training trained fellows to become experts in conducting randomized field experiments of theory-based interventions and approaches aimed at enhancing student learning in education settings.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305B080025
Grant
A Cognitive Approach to Implementing Tree Thinking in High School and College Biology Curricula
In biology, a type of hierarchical diagram called a cladogram is used to depict evolutionary histories among species or groups of species. These diagrams are the most important tool that contemporary scientists use to reason about evolutionary relationships. Such understanding has been termed "tree thinking." Recently, a number of researchers have argued that this approach must be incorporated into the biology curriculum if any progress toward meaningful science literacy in this domain is to...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A080621
Grant
Postdoctoral Training: Research Methods in the Learning Sciences
This program trained five postdoctoral fellows to develop computer-based learning and assessment tools, conduct classroom studies, and design instruments that evaluated student learning in math and science
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305B080008
Grant
Improving Principal Leadership Through Feedback and Coaching
Education leaders and researchers posit that principals have an indirect, but important influence on student achievement. Despite the recognition that what principals do may be critical to the development of strong instructional environments for students, little rigorous research has been conducted to evaluate the effects of professional development training for principals. The purpose of this project is to develop a feedback system that provides principals with feedback from teachers on t...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A070298
Grant
National Center for Performance Incentives (Policy-NCPI)
The purpose of the National Center on Performance Incentives (NCPI) was to conduct a focused program of education research on the impact of teacher incentives on student and teacher outcomes.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A060034
Grant
A Learning by Teaching Approach to Help Students Develop Self-Regulatory Skills in Middle School Science Classrooms
The purpose of this project was to develop and test the use of teachable agents to improve students' metacognition, and to examine whether improving middle school students' metacognitive skills leads to improved science learning. Teachable agents are software programs in which students teach a computer agent to understand a concept and may be well suited to improving students' metacognitive skills. Metacognition involves two component processes: (a) the ability to monitor one's cognitive act...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305H060089
Grant
Improving Language and Literacy Outcomes for Preschool Children at Highest Risk for Reading Problems
Language and early literacy skills are foundational to reading and school success. Effective early intervention during the preschool years for children at highest risk for school failure may improve their chances of learning to read and learning from reading in the early elementary school years. Children with Individualized Education Plans (IEP), children with very low language, and children with low language and high problem behaviors who are also enrolled in Head Start are of high risk for...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324E060088
Grant
Assessing Intervention Fidelity in Randomized Field Experiments (RFTs)
This project developed a framework to identify all the components of an education intervention and gauge both the degree and extent to which each component is in place and operating as intended. To this end, the project developed, modified, tested and combined (a) intervention theory and structure with (b) measures of intervention delivery and receipt, and (c) methods for making use of the measures of intervention fidelity in analysis in order to better understand the effects of the interven...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305U060002
Grant
Evaluation of Ohio's School Conflict Management Program
At the time of this study, interpersonal conflict and aggressive behavior occurred at unacceptably high rates in many U.S. schools, which not only threatened students and teachers but also harmed academic performance. In this project, researchers examined the Ohio school conflict management program, a well-established and promising program that addresses interpersonal conflict and aggressive behavior. The Ohio school conflict management program aimed to improve both behavioral and academic o...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305F050161
Grant
Experimental Education Research Training (ExpERT)
ExpERT trained five postdoctoral education scientists to enhance student learning through randomized field experiments of theory-based interventions and approaches.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305B050029
Grant
Scaling Up Peer Assisted Learning Strategies to Strengthen Reading Achievement
At the time of this study, conventional early childhood reading instruction targeted the skills of the students near the middle of the class performance level. However, students' actual reading performance varied greatly within classrooms. In randomized controlled field trials, Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies, or PALS, showed an increase in instructional differentiation and reading achievement. In this project, the researchers aimed to study how PALS could be scaled up and what variables w...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305G040104
Grant
Experimental Education Research Training (ExpERT)
The ExpERT predoctoral training program aimed to train education scientists to conduct randomized field experiments of theory-based interventions and approaches to enhance student learning in educational settings.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305B040110
Grant
National Research and Development Center on School Choice
The National Center on School Choice conducts scientific, comprehensive studies on school choice to inform policy and practice. Established through a five-year grant from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U.S. Department of Education, the NCSC is located at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College in Nashville, Tennessee. The $13.3 million grant includes the original $9,972,909 grant and a supplement to conduct an additional research study.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A040043
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