Description:

Co-Principal Investigators: Herman, Keith; Riley-Tillman, Chris; Dong, Nianbo; Huang, Francis

The Missouri Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Research and Training Program addressed an area of ongoing need in education research, the capacity of researchers to design and conduct rigorous high quality research that is relevant for policy and practice. The ability of researchers to conceptualize and design high quality research involving advanced inquiry that builds upon and informs relevant policy and practice with empirically derived solutions is needed to impact the longstanding research to practice gap in education.

This IES Postdoctoral Research Training program prepared four fellows to conduct rigorous research on teacher training, including evaluation of training practices and development of teacher training models to support teachers in using effective practices that will lead to improved academic outcomes for students. Fellows were trained for at least 2 years each and were provided opportunities for collaboration with practitioners, researchers, educational leaders, and policy makers. In the program, the fellows: 1) worked closely with an education research mentor to plan a line of independent research, 2) audited courses in research methods and statistics, 3) learned how to develop and sustain meaningful researcher-practitioner partnerships, and 4) participated in a community of interdisciplinary scholars grounded in public health and implementation science. Research opportunities covered a range of IES goals and three IES topics: Effective Instruction, Early Learning Programs and Policies, and Social and Behavioral Context for Academic Learning.

Fellows participated in data collection, data analysis, dissemination of findings, and communication of findings to stakeholders across multiple funded projects within the IES goals (i.e., exploratory, development & innovation, efficacy & replication, measurement). Fellows participated in weekly prevention science seminars offered through the Missouri Prevention Science Institute, met with a host of scholars from the field of education sciences, presented their research for feedback, and participated in meetings with school partners.

Postdoctoral Fellows

Holmes, Shannon (ORCID)
Sinclair, James
Smith, Tyler (ORCID)
McCall, Chynna (ORCID)

As of 2021, Dr. Holmes was an assistant professor at the University of Missouri, Dr. Sinclair was a research associate at the University of Oregon, Dr. Smith was a senior research associate at the Missouri Prevention Science Institute, and Dr. McCall was a senior research associate at Missouri Prevention Science Institute.

RELATED PROJECTS Fellows had the opportunity to work on the following IES-funded grants:

Implementing A Comprehensive Data-Based Coordinated System Of Care For School Districts To Promote Youth Academic Success And Social Emotional Development: A Researcher-Practitioner Partnership (R305A170023)
The National Center for Rural School Mental Health (NCRSMH): Enhancing the Capacity of Rural Schools to Identify, Prevent, and Intervene in Youth Mental Health Concerns (R305C190014)
Identifying Discrete and Malleable Indicators of Culturally Responsive Instruction and Discipline (R305A180111)
Evaluation of a Training Program to Promote Effective School Leadership (R305A170180)
Evaluation of a Classroom Management Training Program for Middle School Teachers (R305A130143)
Evaluation of a Video-based Modeling Program to Promote Effective Classroom Management Teaching Practices (R305A100342)

Products and Publications

Book Chapters

Holmes, S.R., Reinke, W. M., Herman, K.C., Thompson, A. M., & Danforth, L. (2019). Supporting family-school partnerships in multi-tiered systems of supports. In S. A. Garbacz & C. Albers (Eds.), Implementing Family-School Partnerships: Student Success in School Psychology Research and Practice. New York, NY: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.

Journal articles, monographs, or newsletters

McCall, C., Romero, M., Yang, W. & Weigand, T. (2022) Utilizing Intersectionality to Shift Practices and systems

Sinclair, J., Herman, K. C., Reinke, W. M., Dong, N., & Stormont, M. (2021). Effects of a Universal Classroom Management Intervention on Middle School Students with or At Risk for Behavior Problems. Remedial and Special Education, 42, 18–30.

Smith, T., Herman, K.C., Reinke, W.M., & Sebastian, J. (2021). Exploring the link between principal leadership and family engagement across elementary and middle school. Journal of School Psychology, 84, 49–62.

Smith, T. E., Sheridan, S. M., Kim, E. M., Park, S., & Beretvas, S. N. (2020). The effects of family-school partnership interventions on academic and social-emotional functioning: A meta-analysis exploring what works for whom. Educational Psychology Review, 32(2), 511–544. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10648-019-09509-w

Smith, T. E., Reinke, W. M., Herman, K. C., & Huang, F. H. (2019). Understanding family–school engagement across and within elementary- and middle-school contexts. School Psychology, 34(4), 363–375. https://doi.org/10.1037/spq0000290

Reinke, W. M., Smith, T. E., & Herman, K. C. (2019). Family-school engagement across child and adolescent development. School Psychology, 34(4), 346–349. https://doi.org/10.1037/spq0000322

Sinclair, J., Hansen, S. G., Machalicek, W., Knowles, C., Hirano, K. A., Dolata, J. K., Blakely, A. W., Seeley, J. R., & Murray, C. (2018). A 16-year review of participant diversity in intervention research across a selection of 12 special education journals. Exceptional Children, 84(3), 312–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0014402918756989