Research and Grant Projects
After-School All-Stars Atlanta
www.atlantaafterschoolallstars.org
Principal Investigator: Walt Thompson
After-School All-Stars is a fee-free afterschool program for inner-city middle-school students. The program has been implemented successfully in four schools in Atlanta. The program improves kids' lives by nurturing their minds, bodies, and spirits through activities that incorporate independent learning, academic study, and enrichment. Instrumental to the success of the program is the understanding that the program must become part of the school community, not merely an extension of the school day. Specific activities are designed in consultation with the school to ensure that particular needs are addressed.
A.P.S. Early College High School
http://www.earlycolleges.org/
Principal Investigator: Gwendolyn Benson (Dean's Office)
Early College High School, one of the four New Schools at Carver, partners the Atlanta Public Schools with Georgia State University in a state-sponsored program providing underserved groups of Georgians the opportunity to earn a high school diploma and 60 college credits simultaneously. Students participate in learning experiences that require debate, real-life problem solving, project development, and writing for different purposes. Strong emphasis is placed on peer learning, personal counseling, academic and career advisement, improved communication, and codes of personal and professional conduct. This project is sponsored by the Georgia Department of Education and University System of Georgia Board of Regents Early College Initiative.
Best Practices Training Initiative
http://bestpractices.gsu.edu
Principal Investigator: Sherry P. Howard (ECE)
For over fifteen years, Best Practices has delivered a model of exceptional training to Georgia's Pre-k teachers. This project is sponsored by Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning. Best Practices trainers travel throughout the state of Georgia reaching over 7,500 teachers a year. Professional development is offered on a variety of topics based on the most current research and field tested methods. Training is deliver ed in a hands-on format with practical application for Georgia's Pre-k teachers. In addition to face-to-face training, online courses are implemented to support ongoing learning and sustain the excitement and optimal practice in the classroom. A research component of the initiative studies the impact of training on teacher's levels of confidence in implementing best practices.
Development and Validation of a Screener for Behavioral and Emotional Problems in Elementary and Middle School
Principal Investigator: Randy Kamphaus
The purpose of this study is to create three 5-minute screeners (teacher, child, and parent versions) of child behavior and emotions that are drawn from a widely used comprehensive measure of children's behavior and emotional adjustment and that are practical for use with all children in kindergarten through 7th grade. Researchers will evaluate internal consistency and interrater reliability for the screeners; evaluate criterion-related and predictive validity of the screeners for a variety of academic, special education, behavioral and emotional, and mental characteristics; and assess the validity of the screeners for identifying children in need of further assessment, referral, or placement in special education or related programs or services. The researchers hope to provide evidence that either statistical theory or psychopathological theory is better suited to developing a behavioral and emotional screener for children.
Examining the Success of Early Reading First (The E-SERF Project)
Principal Investigator: Nicole Patton Terry (EPSE)
The primary purpose of The E-SERF Project is to examine the relationship between participation in Early Reading First pre-kindergarten programs and later language and literacy achievement. Early Reading First is a federal grant program designed to help early childhood education programs become "centers of excellence" that provide children with quality, early language and literacy experiences. With a focus on prevention of reading difficulties among children who may be at-risk for later school failure, these primary purpose of these programs is to prepare young children to enter kindergarten with the skills they need to successful in school. In order to investigate the benefits of the program, E-SERF children's growth in langauge and literacy skills will be followed from kindergarten through second grade. This project is sponsored by The United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta, Smart Start through a supplemental grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
Georgia Measurement and Assessment Training Program
Principal Investigator: Randy Kamphaus
Postdoctoral fellows selected for this program participate in a cooperative training arrangement between the Colleges of Education at Georgia State University and the University of Georgia. Fellows receive training from mentor faculty who have active research training, research programs, and high levels of expertise in applied educational and psychological assessment, test development, identification of abnormal score patterns that characterize groups taking high stakes educational tests, research on testing accommodations and alternate assessments, early intervention oriented assessment and intervention programs for children with behavioral and emotional problems that impede learning, and classification methods for child behavioral and emotional problems. Trainees obtain skills that complement their prior doctoral disciplinary training. Depth of training will be provided by assigning each trainee 4 days a week to the research programs in either Atlanta or Athens with secondary involvement for 1 day per week at the other site. Two fellows are being trained in the first 2 years and another two in years 3 and 4.
Georgia Sensory Assistance Project
http://education.gsu.edu/georgiadeafblindproj/
Principal Investigator: Kathy Heller (EPSE)
The Georgia Sensory Assistance Project works with state agencies to identify children with deaf-blindness and provide assistance to these children primarily through dissemination of research on best practices and through statewide technical assistance to school personnel, families, agencies, and others who provide services to children with deaf-blindness (from birth to twenty-two years of age) . The project collaborates with and supports the Georgia Deaf-blind Stakeholders and Advisory Committee and national projects, such as the National Deafblind Cochlear Implant Research Project. The Georgia Sensory Assistance Project is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. Read more...
Georgia Wolf Trap/Alliance Theatre Institute for Educators
http://www.alliancetheatre.org/education.aspx?id=62
Principal Investigator: Ann Cale Kruger (EPSE)
Ann Cale Kruger leads a research team to evaluate the effects of the Alliance Theatre Company’s outreach program, Georgia Wolf Trap, for low-income children in kindergarten. Over three years, the researchers will collect data to investigate the effects of the program on students’ verbal and nonverbal communication and on their performances on the state-mandated test for school readiness and as emergent writers. The researchers will investigate how drama affects Georgia students’ emergent literacy skills, enhances their emotional understandings, and increases their awareness of the art of theatre. This project is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education through its Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination Grant Program.
Hypercortisolemia and Aphasia
Principal Investigator: Jacqueline Laures-Gore (EPSE)
This project is funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), R03. The study investigates the role that physiological stress, as measured by salivary cortisol, plays in the recovery of aphasia post-stroke.
Improving Deaf Preschoolers’ Literacy Skills;
Principal Investigator: Amy Lederberg (EPSE)
Co-Investigators: Susan Easterbrooks (EPSE) and Carol Connor
Funded by Institute of Education Sciences (IES)
The purpose of this study is to develop and obtain preliminary evidence on the efficacy of a curriculum designed to foster emergent literacy skills in deaf and hard of hearing preschoolers. The curriculum is designed to foster phonics, phonological awareness, vocabulary, narrative and comprehension skills in deaf and hard of hearing children. Specifically, the researchers will examine what instructional strategies and degree of individualization will improve literacy outcomes.
Integrated Literacy for Students with Moderate and Severe Disabilities
Principal Investigator: Paul A. Alberto (EPSE) Through the Advanced Academy for Future Teachers, students have opportunities for collaboration with master teachers, teaching/tutoring, educational seminars and workshops, and opportunities for professional and academic preparation. These students also develop leadership skills by presenting information about teaching in Georgia to other students and to develop future teacher clubs. Read more... Principal Investigator: Diane Truscott http://pds2.gsu.edu/ Principal Investigator: Nicole Patton Terry (EPSE) Contact: Amy Lederberg (EPSE)
Co-Principal Investigator: Laura Fredrick (EPSE)
Funded by Institute of Educational Sciences (IES)
The purpose of this project is development of a comprehensive framework for literacy, for students with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities. Project components are integrated and accessible across levels of student functioning and age. The three project curricular components are: visual literacy instruction, sight word instruction, and phonics instruction. The contents within each component and the connections among components will enable a teacher and IEP committee to select an appropriate entry point for students of any age and at a wide range of functioning levels. This accessibility will allow accommodations for literacy instruction for the elementary or secondary student from the level of learning to identify persons in pictures through phonically decoding connected environmental text.
Metropolitan Atlanta P-16 Community CouncilPartnership Alternative Certification Training Pathways (PACT+)
The primary goal of the PACT+ program is to increase the number of highly qualified teachers committed to high-need schools. Project objectives and activities focus on four areas: recruitment and selection; training and certification; school partnership placements; and retention. Revisions to the current Urban Alternative Preparation Program include specialized curriculum and site-based activities focused on quality instruction for children who speak English as an Other Language (ESOL). In addition to certification in K-5, certification candidates receive an ESOL endorsement during the certification year and a master's degree in year 2. The PACT+ program works in partnership with the DeKalb County School System on targeted recruitment efforts and developing a professional development school network exemplifying quality professional learning communities.
PDS2: Professional Development School Partnerships Deliver Success
Principal Investigator: Gwendolyn Benson (Dean's Office)
To address the shortage of qualified urban teachers in Metropolitan Atlanta school districts, Georgia State University, Clark Atlanta University, Georgia Perimeter College, the Georgia Association of Educators, and the school districts have formed partnerships to identify best practices for urban schools and to prepare teacher candidates with instruction in these practices. Schools within each system are designated as professional development schools, where specific intern experiences for preservice teachers, a collaborative induction model for new teachers, professional development opportunities for in-service teachers, and on-going opportunities for improved content-area learning are provided. This project is sponsored in part by the U.S. Department of Education's Teacher Quality Enhancement Grants Program for Partnerships.Policy and Research Implications for the Get Ready to Read! Program
In 2005, the Southeast Regional Center for Get Ready to Read! was established in Atlanta, Georgia through a partnership between the National Center for Learning Disabilities and Smart Start, the early education arm of the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta. The Center's mission is to assure that young children in Georgia and the southeastern region of the United States enter kindergarten with the language and literacy skills they need to be ready to benefit from quality literacy instruction. Dr. Terry contributes to the succes of the program by evaluating program effectiveness, providing professional development throughout the metropolitan area, and assiting the Center in implementing the program in schools and programs throughout the state. This project is sponsored by The United Way Metropolitan Atlanta, Smart Start and the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) through funding from The Goizueta Foundation.
Post-Doctoral Research Training in Language and Literacy with Special Populations Program
Funded by: Institute of Education Sciences (IES)
The goal of this training program is to offer individualized research experiences within the context of interdisciplinary research teams. Program faculty have projects designed to empirically validate educational interventions that promote language or literacy dev elopement in special populations: children, adolescents, or adults at risk for, or with, identified disabilities. Trainees will have the opportunity to work on one of the IES or NIH funded projects, as well as work on archival data sets.
Project ACT Early: Screening for Child Behavioral and Emotional Problems in Elementary and Middle School
http://ies.ed.gov/funding/grantsearch/details.asp?ID=399
Principal Investigator : Randy Kamphaus, Ph.D., and Co-Principal Investigator: Christine DiStefano, Ph.D.,
Behavioral and emotional problems of childhood take their place alongside child academic readiness as major determinants of academic problems in reading, mathematics and other achievement areas. At this point, however, schools and communities are generally unprepared to identify or intervene to ameliorate these problems. This project uses an accelerated longitudinal research design to assess the validity of two teacher completed (5 minutes per child) universal screening measures for behavioral and emotional problems. In each of three years of there project 1,440 children will be assessed in the Kindergarten through 7th grades and outcome criteria data collected. A diverse sample will be collected from 20 elementary and 10 middle schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Project LIBERATE (Literacy Instruction Based on Evidence through Research for Adjudicated Teens to Excel)
Principal Investigator: David Houchins (EPSE)
Co-Investigator: Kristine Jolivette (EPSE)
Liberate is a $2.94 million four year study. Funding is provided by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). The primary purpose of Project LIBERATE is to determine the comparative effectiveness of three literacy instructional packages (two treatments and one control group) on the reading, writing, and spelling performance of incarcerated struggling readers with and without disabilities. Student motivational and teacher implementation factors also will be considered. Much has been learned in recent years about how to teach literacy skills at the elementary school level yet little is known about how to teach literacy at the secondary level, particularly to struggling readers who are on the fringe of society. Estimates suggest that up to 45% of the incarcerated students in Georgia have disabilities. No data are available regarding comprehensive literacy instruction for these students.
Additional participants include Dr. Chris Henrich (data manager), Dr. Candy Steventon (project manager), and Rich Lambert (statistician). For additional information, please contact Dr. Houchins at 404-413-8338 or dhouchins@gsu.edu.
http://education.gsu.edu/sceis/ Principal Investigator: David Houchins (EPSE) Principal Investigator: David Houchins (EPSE) Principal Investigator: Daphne Greenberg (EPSE)Project SCEIs Babies Can't Wait
Principal Investigator: Peggy Gallagher (EPSE)
The goal of the Georgia State University Skilled, Credentialed Early Interventionists (SCEIs) project with Georgia's Babies Can't Wait program is to assist in the implementation and evaluation of preservice and in-service training provided to public and private provides of early intervention services as well as to families who have children in the Babies Can't Wait program. The Babies Can't Wait program provides services for infants and toddlers who have developmental delays or disabilities and their families. This project is sponsored by the Georgia Department of Human Resources. The goal of the Georgia State University Skilled, Credentialed Early Interventionists (SCEIs) project with Georgia's Babies Can't Wait program is to assist in the implementation and evaluation of preservice and in-service training provided to public and private provides of early intervention services as well as to families who have children in the Babies Can't Wait program. The Babies Can't Wait program provides services for infants and toddlers who have developmental delays or disabilities and their families. This project is sponsored by the Georgia Department of Human Resources. Preparing Urban Leaders in Special Education (PULSE)
Co-Principal Investigator: Kristine Jolivette (EPSE)
The focus of the Preparing Urban Leaders in Special Education project is preparing educational leaders who will develop and implement research in special education teacher attrition and retention in urban schools. Currently in its third year of funding, this project is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education’s Personnel Preparation to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities Preparation of Personnel in Minority Institutions program.Preparing Researchers in Delinquency and Exceptionalities (PRIDE)
Co-Principal Investigator: Kristine Jolivette (EPSE)
A collaboration with the Department of Criminal Justice, this project provides financial support to doctoral-level students concentrating in juvenile justice special education beginning in 2006. The emphasis of the project is on increasing high-quality research, instruction, and service in juvenile justice special education. This project is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education.Research on Reading Instruction for Struggling Adult Readers
Daphne Greenberg leads a team of researchers from the College of Education and the College of Arts and Sciences to investigate reading instructional approaches for use with adults who read between a 3.0 and 5.9 word reading grade equivalency. The team is evaluating a number of instructional strategies for effectiveness with a focus on which strategies are most effective for different subtypes of adult learners. Additionally, the researchers are using Functional M.R.I. technology to measure the effects of instruction on adult learners' neural activation. This project is sponsored by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute for Literacy, and the U.S. Department of Education, grant #1 R01 HD 43801-01.