The National Center for Education Research FY 2021 Awards

National Center for Education Research (NCER) recently made 111 awards across multiple FY 2021 competitions. Listed below are the awards from each of these competitions: Education Research Grants Program, Research Training Programs in the Education Sciences, Education Research and Development Center Program, Statistical and Research Methodology in Education, Research Networks Focused on Critical Problems of Education Policy and Practice, Research Grants Focused on Systematic Replication, Using Longitudinal Data to Support State Education Policymaking, and Transformative Research in the Education Sciences Grants Program.

Education Research Grants Program (84.305A)

NCER made 69 new awards under the Education Research Grants Program (84.305A) to applications considered under the August 2020 deadline. The total spending for all awards under 84.305A is approximately $142.5 million across 11 topic areas. Click on the title of each project to get more information about each award.

Career and Technical Education

• Postsecondary and Labor Market Effects of Career and Technical Education in Baltimore City Public Schools
  Institution: Johns Hopkins University
  Principal Investigator: Marc Stein
• An Experimental Evaluation of the Efficacy of Virtual Enterprises
  Institution: RAND Corporation
  Principal Investigator: Fatih Unlu
• SREB Career and Technical Education Leadership Academy Study
  Institution: Southern Regional Education Board
  Principal Investigator: James Stone
• College and Career Readiness: Investigating California's Efforts to Expand Career Technical Education Through Dual Enrollment
  Institution: University of California, Davis
  Principal Investigator: Michal Kurlaender
• Sub-baccalaureate Career and Technical Education: A Study of Institutional Practices, Labor Market Demand, and Student Outcomes in Florida
  Institution: WestEd
  Principal Investigator: Angela Estacion

Civics Education and Social Studies

• US History Through Young People's Eyes: An Efficacy Study of Mission US
  Institution: Education Development Center, Inc.
  Principal Investigator: Joy Kennedy
• Initial Efficacy Evaluation of an Action Civics Program
  Institution: National Opinion Research Center (NORC)
  Principal Investigator: Jennifer Hamilton
• Connecting Classrooms to Congress: Fostering Informed Civic Engagement via Online Deliberative Town Halls
  Institution: University of California, Riverside
  Principal Investigator: Joseph Kahne
• Building Students' Environmental Knowledge and Engagement With Local Government Through Civic Science
  Institution: University of Wisconsin, Madison
  Principal Investigator: Constance Flanagan

Cognition and Student Learning

• Making Space in Science Instruction: Developing the SPACE-IT Program to Foster Students' Spatial Thinking Skills and Science Achievement
  Institution: Johns Hopkins University
  Principal Investigator: Kristin Gagnier
• Reducing Knowledge Gaps for Low-Income and Educationally At-risk Pre-kindergartners through Taxonomically Organized Books and Screen Media
  Institution: New York University
  Principal Investigator: Susan Neuman
• Improving Conceptual Knowledge in Upper Elementary Science with Scaffolded Sketch-Based Modeling
  Institution: North Carolina State University
  Principal Investigator: James Lester
• Story Talk-Kindergarten: Developing a Cognitive-based Vocabulary Intervention
  Institution: Temple University
  Principal Investigator: Barbara Wasik
• Validity Evidence on the Spatial Ability Assessment for STEM Instruction and Evaluation
  Institution: University of Alabama
  Principal Investigator: Joni Lakin
• Evaluating the Efficacy of MathByExample
  Institution: WestEd
  Principal Investigator: Jodi Davenport
• Leveraging Technology to Improve Children's Understanding of Mathematical Equivalence
  Institution: WestEd
  Principal Investigator: Jodi Davenport

Early Learning Programs and Policies

• Development and Validation of Complementary Measures of Early Writing: Teacher Practices and Child Outcomes
  Institution: Michigan State University
  Principal Investigator: Ryan Bowles
• Red Light, Purple Light! Evaluating a Self-Regulation Intervention for Children in Early Learning Settings
  Institution: Oregon State University
  Principal Investigator: Megan McClelland
• Individual Growth and Development Indicators for Hmong Preschoolers: High-Quality Screening Tools for Diverse Learners
  Institution: University of Minnesota
  Principal Investigator: Alisha Wackerle-Hollman
• School Characteristics, Classroom Processes, and PK-1 Learning and Development
  Institution: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
  Principal Investigator: Mary Bratsch-Hines
• Exploring Heterogeneity Among the U.S. Latino Dual Language Learner Head Start Population: A Secondary Data Analysis
  Institution: University of South Florida
  Principal Investigator: Lisa López
• Building Coaching Capacity: Development of the Core Competencies for Coaching Professional Development Program (C3PD)
  Institution: University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
  Principal Investigator: April Crawford
• Teaching Together: The Added Value of Tiered School Plus Home Interventions for Young Children At-Risk for Language Difficulties
  Institution: University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
  Principal Investigator: Tricia Zucker
• A Lottery-Based Efficacy Study of the District of Columbia Public Prekindergarten Program
  Institution: Urban Institute
  Principal Investigator: Erica Greenberg
• Children's Longitudinal Development from Pre-K through High School as Disrupted by COVID-19
  Institution: Vanderbilt University
  Principal Investigator: Kelley Durkin

Effective Instruction

• Exploration of Departmentalized Instruction
  Institution: American Institutes for Research (AIR)
  Principal Investigator: James Cowan
• How Teachers Learn Racial Competency and How to be Effective for All of Their Students
  Institution: American University
  Principal Investigator: Seth Gershenson
• Culturally Responsive Teaching for Student Equitable Achievement (CuRTSEA): A Professional Development Program
  Institution: RTI International
  Principal Investigator: Robin Wisniewski
• The Effect of Content-Focused Coaching on Reading Comprehension Instruction: Evidence from Urban and Rural Schools
  Institution: University of Pittsburgh
  Principal Investigator: Lindsay Clare Matsumura

English Learners

• Developing A2i Spanish Adaptive Progress Monitoring Assessments for PK-3rd Grade
  Institution: University of California, Irvine
  Principal Investigator: Elizabeth Pena
• Personalizing Literacy Instruction for English Learners
  Institution: University of California, Irvine
  Principal Investigator: Jin Kyoung Hwang

Improving Education Systems

• Evaluation of the Texas House Bill 3 Financial Aid Application Requirement for High School Graduation
  Institution: American Institutes for Research (AIR)
  Principal Investigator: Ginger Stoker
• Increasing Equity in Advanced Course Taking Through Automatic Enrollment and Automatic Notification
  Institution: American Institutes for Research (AIR)
  Principal Investigator: Megan Austin
• An Experienced School Support Organization at Scale: A Study of The Urban Assembly Network
  Institution: MDRC
  Principal Investigator: Rebecca Unterman
• Examining Recruitment Policies and Pathways to Diversify the Teacher Workforce
  Institution: University of Maryland, College Park
  Principal Investigator: David Blazar
• Equitable Rostering Solution: A Project on Evidence-Based Teacher-Student Assignment
  Institution: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
  Principal Investigator: Matthew G. Springer

Literacy

• Validating Automated Measures of Student Writing and the Student Writing Process to Help Classroom Teachers Implement Formative Assessment Practices
  Institution: Educational Testing Service (ETS)
  Principal Investigator: Piotr Mitros
• Writing Architect: A Web-based Tool for Adapting Writing Instruction to Meet Students' Needs
  Institution: Michigan State University
  Principal Investigator: Adrea Truckenmiller
• Writing Across Levels of Language (WALL) in First Grade
  Institution: University of Delaware
  Principal Investigator: David Coker
• Catch and Release: Predicting Maintenance of Tier 2 Reading Intervention Effects
  Institution: University of Wisconsin, Madison
  Principal Investigator: David Klingbeil
• Zoom: Innovative Detailed Examination of Digital vs. Paper Reading
  Institution: Vanderbilt University
  Principal Investigator: Amanda Goodwin

Postsecondary and Adult Education

• Exploring the Longer Term Impact of Early College High Schools on Workforce and Life Outcomes
  Institution: American Institutes for Research (AIR)
  Principal Investigator: Kristina Zeiser
• Chicago Scholars Program Randomized Controlled Trial
  Institution: Chaplin Hall Center for Children
  Principal Investigator: Robert Goerge
• Examining the Efficacy, Predictive Power, and Cost Effectiveness of the Diagnostic Assessment and Achievement of College Skills
  Institution: City University of New York (CUNY)
  Principal Investigator: Jason Bryer
• Exploring Co-Requisite Developmental Education Models
  Institution: Florida State University
  Principal Investigator: Toby Park
• Using Process Data to Characterize Response Profiles and Test-Taking Behaviors of Low-Skilled Adult Responders on PIAAC Literacy and Numeracy Items
  Institution: Georgia State University
  Principal Investigator: Elizabeth Tighe
• Scaling Up College Completion Efforts for Student Success (SUCCESS): A Multisite Randomized Controlled Trial
  Institution: MDRC
  Principal Investigator: Michael Weiss
• The Implementation, Impact, and Cost-Effectiveness of Developmental Education Curricular Reform in California Community Colleges
  Institution: Research For Action
  Principal Investigator: Kri Burkander
• Understanding the Support Networks of First-Generation College Students
  Institution: Teachers College, Columbia University
  Principal Investigator: Elisabeth Barnett
• Online Instructor Professional Development and Student Outcomes in Community Colleges
  Institution: University of California, Davis
  Principal Investigator: Cassandra M. Hart
• Developing a Context-Integrated Mindset / Belonging Intervention to Eliminate Demographic-based Underperformance in Challenging Large Lecture Undergraduate Courses
  Institution: University of Pittsburgh
  Principal Investigator: Kevin R. Binning

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education

• A Quantitative Synthesis of Outcomes of Educational Technology Approaches to K-12 Mathematics
  Institution: Johns Hopkins University
  Principal Investigator: Jennifer R. Morrison
• Developing & Testing Real-time Assessment & Scaffolding for Mathematics Use & Modeling During Science Inquiry
  Institution: Rutgers University
  Principal Investigator: Janice Gobert
• Formative Assessment Bundling Literacy and Elementary Science in the NGSS
  Institution: WestEd
  Principal Investigator: Christopher Harris

Social and Behavioral Context for Academic Learning

• Evaluation of an Intervention to Improve Academic Outcomes for Low-Income Urban Youth through Instruction in Effective Coping Supported by Mentoring Relationships
  Institution: DePaul University
  Principal Investigator: Kathryn Grant
• Testing the Impact of Academically Focused Interventions on the Self-Regulation of Preschool and Elementary-School Students: An Integrative-Data-Analysis Approach
  Institution: Florida State University
  Principal Investigator: Christopher Lonigan
• Social-Emotional Skill-Building Continuity between School and Home: Developing Second Step: Parents
  Institution: New York University
  Principal Investigator: Kimberly Rhoades
• Bridging Science and Practice for Students with Emotional and Behavioral Problems
  Institution: Ohio State University
  Principal Investigator: Steven Evans
• Developing and Evaluating Processes for the Dissemination of Effective Universal and Targeted Classroom Management Practices
  Institution: Ohio University
  Principal Investigator: Julie Owens
• Efficacy of a Peer-Delivered Intervention for High School Students with ADHD
  Institution: Seattle Children's Hospital
  Principal Investigator: Margaret Sibley
• Initial Efficacy Trial of a Group-Based Implementation Strategy Designed to Increase Teacher Delivery of Evidence-Based Prevention Programs
  Institution: University of Minnesota
  Principal Investigator: Clayton R. Cook
• ECHO: Prosocial and Positive School Climate
  Institution: University of Missouri, Columbia
  Principal Investigator: Christi Bergin
• Measuring Prosocial Behavior in Schools through a Virtual Reality Game: vSchool
  Institution: University of Missouri, Columbia
  Principal Investigator: Christi Bergin
• Supporting Teachers in Engaging Parents (STEP): The Development of a Teacher Training Curriculum and Coaching Model to Foster Family Engagement
  Institution: University of Missouri, Columbia
  Principal Investigator: Tyler Smith
• Project BASICS (Behavioral Accountability for a Successful Instructional Climate in Schools)
  Institution: University of Oregon
  Principal Investigator: Claudia Vincent
• Project MIDAS: Development of a Multi-Informant Decisional Assessment System
  Institution: University of South Florida
  Principal Investigator: Nathaniel von der Embse
• Developing and Validating a Technically Sound and Feasible Self-Report Measure of Teachers Delivery of Common Practice Elements
  Institution: Virginia Commonwealth University
  Principal Investigator: Bryce McLeod
• Refinement and Further Development of the Washington Assessment of the Risks and Needs of Students
  Institution: Washington State University
  Principal Investigator: Paul S. Strand
• The Development and Validation of the Social and Emotional Learning Observation Checklist for Elementary School (SELOC-ES)
  Institution: Yale University
  Principal Investigator: Christina Cipriano

Research Training Programs in the Education Sciences (84.305B)

NCER made eight awards under Research Training Programs in the Education Sciences grant program (CFDA 84.305B) to applications considered under the August 2020 deadline. The total spending for all awards under CFDA 84.305B is approximately $10.4 million. Click on the title of each project to get more information about each award.

Pathways to the Education Sciences Research Training Program

• Pathways Fellows: Studying Supports and Barriers to and Through Higher Education
  Institution: California State University, Sacramento
  Principal Investigator: Jana Noel
• PURPOSE: Partners United for Research Pathways Oriented to Social Justice in Education
  Institution: Florida State University
  Principal Investigator: Jeannine Turner
• Research Institute for Scholars of Equity (RISE) 2.0: Conducting Mixed Methods Research to Improve Academic Outcomes among PK-20 African American and Latino/a Children, Youth and Young Adults
  Institution: North Carolina Central University
  Principal Investigator: Wynetta Lee
• Access, Wellness, and Relational Determinants of Student Success (AWARDSS) PLUS: Pathways to Doctoral Studies for Underrepresented Students in Education-Related Fields
  Institution: University of Arizona
  Principal Investigator: Michelle Perfect
• Career Pathways for Research in Learning and Education, Analytics and Data Science (CP-LEADS)
  Institution: University of California, Irvine
  Principal Investigator: June Ahn
• UTSA P20 Pathways to Education Research Training Program
  Institution: University of Texas, San Antonio
  Principal Investigator: Guadalupe Carmona

Postdoctoral Research Training Program in the Education Sciences

• University of Virginia Education Science (VEST) Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Training Program
  Institution: University of Virginia
  Principal Investigator: Sara Rimm-Kaufman

Methods Training for Education Researchers

• A Research Institute for Implementation Science in Education (RIISE) to Address the "Last Mile" in Education
  Institution: University of Washington
  Principal Investigator: Aaron Lyon

Education Research and Development Center Program (84.305C)

NCER made one new award under Education Research and Development Center Program grant program (84.305C) to applications considered under the August 2020 deadline. The total spending for all awards under 84.305C is approximately $10 million. Click on the title of the project to get more information about the award.

• Innovations in Technology-Enabled Instruction for Student Success and Equity (InTISE) Center
  Institution: SRI International
  Principal Investigator: Deborah Jonas

Statistical and Research Methodology in Education (84.305D)

NCER made nine new awards under the Statistical and Research Methodology in Education grant program (84.305D) to applications considered under the July 2020 deadline. The total spending for these awards is approximately $6.9 million. Click on the title of each project to get more information about each award.

Statistical and Research Methodology in Education

• Direct Adjustment in Combination With Robust or Nonlinear Regression: Software and Methods for RDDs, RCTs and Matched Observational Studies
  Institution: University of Michigan
  Principal Investigator: Ben Hansen
• Improving the Power of Education Experiments with Auxiliary Data
  Institution: University of Michigan
  Principal Investigator: Johann Gagnon-Bartsch
• Innovative, Translational, and User-Friendly Tools for Comprehensive Statistical Model Evaluation
  Institution: University of Missouri, Columbia
  Principal Investigator: Wesley Bonifay
• Scaling Bayesian Latent Variable Models to Big Education Data
  Institution: University of Missouri, Columbia
  Principal Investigator: Edgar Merkle
• Methods and Software for Handling Network Data and Text Data in Structural Equation Modeling
  Institution: University of Notre Dame
  Principal Investigator: Zhiyong Zhang
• Statistical Innovations for Clustered Observational Studies
  Institution: University of Pennsylvania
  Principal Investigator: Luke Keele
• Fully Latent Principal Stratification: A New Framework for Big, Complex Implementation Data from Education RCTs
  Institution: University of Texas, Austin
  Principal Investigator: Tiffany Whittaker
• Moderation and Non-compliance in Multi-Site Trials with Measurement Error and Missing Data
  Institution: Virginia Commonwealth University
  Principal Investigator: Yongyun Shin

Statistical and Research Methodology in Education—Early Career

• Improving Software and Methods for Estimating Diagnostic Classification Models and Evaluating Model Fit
  Institution: University of Kansas
  Principal Investigator: William Thompson

Research Networks Focused on Critical Problems of Education Policy and Practice (84.305N)

NCER made 12 new awards under the Research Networks Focused on Critical Problems of Education Policy and Practice (84.305N) grant program to applications considered under the February 2021 deadline. The total spending for all awards under 84.305N is approximately $33.7 million across 2 topic areas (Building Adult Basic Skills and Academic Attainment Through Technology and Digital Learning Platforms to Enable Efficient Education Research Network). Click on the title of each project to get more information about each award.

• Building Adult Basic Skills and Academic Attainment Through Technology
  Adult Skills Network Lead
  Institution: American Institutes for Research (AIR)
  Principal Investigator: Stephanie Cronen
• Teaching Skills That Matter (TSTM)–SkillBlox Research Team
  Institution: American Institutes for Research (AIR)
  Principal Investigator: Stephanie Cronen
• Writing in Adult Secondary Education Classes (W-ASE)
  Institution: Georgia State University
  Principal Investigator: Cynthia Puranik
• Adult Skills Assessment Program: Actionable Assessments for Adult Learners
  Institution: University of Massachusetts, Amherst
  Principal Investigator: Stephen Sireci
• Content-Integrated Language Instruction for Adults with Technology Support
  Institution: University of Minnesota
  Principal Investigator: Aydin Durgunoglu
• Adult Numeracy in the Digital Era: Adaptive Technology for Quantitative and Digital Literacy
  Institution: WestEd
  Principal Investigator: Ann Edwards
• Digital Learning Platforms to Enable Efficient Education Research Network
  The SEER Research Network for Digital Learning Platforms
  Institution: Digital Promise Global
  Principal Investigator: Jeremy Roschelle
• The ASU Learning at Scale (L@S) Digital Learning Network
  Institution: Arizona State University
  Principal Investigator: Danielle McNamara
• The Canvas+Terracotta LMS-Based Experimental Education Research Platform
  Institution: Indiana University
  Principal Investigator: Benjamin Motz
• Efficient Education Research via the OpenStax Learning Platform
  Institution: Rice University
  Principal Investigator: Richard Baraniuk
• MATHia: A Digital Learning Platform Supporting Core and Supplemental Instruction in Middle and High School Mathematics
  Institution: Carnegie Learning, Inc.
  Principal Investigator: Steven Ritter
• Revisions to the ASSISTments Digital Learning Platform to Expand Its Support for Rigorous Education Research
  Institution: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
  Principal Investigator: Neil Heffernan III

Research Grants Focused on Systematic Replication (84.305R)

NCER made one new award under the Research Grants Focused on Systematic Replication grant program (84.305R) to applications considered under the August 2020 deadline. The total spending for this award is approximately $4.5 million. Click on the title of the project to get more information about the award.

• An Effectiveness Replication of Targeted Reading Instruction: Investigating Long-Term Student and Teacher Impacts
  Institution: RTI International
  Principal Investigator: Robin Wisniewski

Using Longitudinal Data to Support State Education Policymaking (84.305S)

NCER made seven new awards under the Using Longitudinal Data to Support State Education Policymaking grant program (84.305S) to applications considered under the July 2020 deadline. The total spending for all awards is approximately $6.4 million. Click on the title of each project to get more information about each award.

• The Distributional Effects of Secondary Career and Technical Educational (CTE) Programs on Postsecondary Educational and Employment Outcomes: An Evaluation of Delaware's CTE Programs of Study
  Institution: Delaware Department of Education
  Principal Investigator: Luke Rhine
• Shaping Teacher Quality and Student of Color Experience in Massachusetts: Alignment of Preparation and Licensure Systems with Teacher Effects on Student non-Test Outcomes
  Institution: Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
  Principal Investigator: Claire J. Abbott
• Evaluation of a Predictive Model – Montana's Early Warning System for Dropouts
  Institution: Montana Office of Public Instruction
  Principal Investigator: Crystal Armstrong
• A Study in Equity: Oregon's 9th Grade Transition
  Institution: Oregon Department of Education
  Principal Investigator: Daniel Farley
• Understanding Pennsylvania's Educational Inequities in the time of COVID-19
  Institution: Pennsylvania Department of Education
  Principal Investigator: Rosemary Hughes
• Analyzing and Understanding the Educational and Economic Impact of Regional Career Pathways
  Institution: Tennessee Department of Education
  Principal Investigator: Jonathon Attridge
• Equity in Virginia's Public Education System: A Longitudinal Examination Spanning the COVID-19 Shutdown
  Institution: Virginia Department of Education
  Principal Investigator: Michael Bolling

Transformative Research in the Education Sciences Grants Program (84.305T)

NCER made four new awards under the Transformative Research in the Education Sciences grant program (84.305T) to applications considered under the February 2021 deadline. The total spending for all awards under 84.305T is approximately $12 million. Click on the title of each project to get more information about each award.

• Credential As You Go: Transforming the Credentialing System of the U.S.
  Institution: State University of New York (SUNY), Empire State College
  Principal Investigator: Nan Travers
• Increasing Educational Equity Through Culturally Responsive Schooling
  Institution: University of Pennsylvania
  Principal Investigator: Jonathan Supovitz
• Just Discipline and Effective Restorative Practices: Assessing the Potential of Design Innovations and Implementation Science as Catalysts for Sustainable School Transformation
  Institution: University of Pittsburgh
  Principal Investigator: James Huguley
• Reading Together: Building Family Literacy Through AI-Enabled Tutoring
  Institution: Amira Learning, Inc.
  Principal Investigator: Mark A. Angel