NationalCenter for Education Research
Projects and Programs
2002-2008
In 2002, we began with three research grant competitions – one focused on reading instruction, one on preschool curricula, and one on student learning from a cognitive science perspective. These competitions resulted in a total of 24 research grants. Since that auspicious beginning, the grant competitions sponsored by the NationalCenter for Education Research (NCER) have experienced tremendous growth. Since 2002, we have supported more than 265 education research grants that range from the development of a board game designed to improve preschool children's ability to estimate numerical magnitude – a skill that turns out to be related to arithmetic skill and conceptual understanding of computational procedures – to a large scale randomized field trial to evaluate the effects of school choice on student achievement. In addition to funding education research in reading, writing, mathematics, and science; teacher quality; education leadership; education policy, finance, and systems; high school reform; postsecondary education; preschool curricula; early childhood programs and policies; social and character development interventions; social and behavioral context for academic learning; cognition and student learning; and education technology, NCER currently supports 13 predoctoral and 17 postdoctoral research training programs in the education sciences, and 13 Education Research and Development Centers.
I am proud of the work that is being accomplished by NCER researchers. This booklet is a compilation of the research grants and contracts and the training grants that NCER has awarded since our first year. The projects listed represent a new generation of education research – research that is rigorous, relevant, and intended to improve the quality of education in the United States.
Lynn Okagaki
Commissioner for Education Research
CONTENTS
Cognition and Student Learning……………………………………...1
Early Childhood Programs and Policies..…………………...... 13
Education Leadership…………………………………….………….14
Education Policy, Finance, and Systems………………………….15
Education Technology …………….……………………...... 18
Interventions for Struggling Adolescent and Adult Readers….…20
Mathematics and Science Education………………………………21
Middle and High School Reform…..………………………….…….29
National Research and Development Centers………...………31
Postdoctoral Research Training Program…………………………33
Predoctoral Research Training Program…………………………..36
Preschool Curriculum Evaluation Research…………………...... 38
Postsecondary Education ………………..…………………………40
Reading and Writing………………………………………………….42
Social and Behavioral Context for Learning ……………………....52
Social and Character Development...... 53
Teacher Quality: Mathematics and Science Education…………..54
Teacher Quality: Reading and Writing……………………………..58
Unsolicited and Other Awards………………………………………63
COGNITION AND STUDENT LEARNING
FY 2008 AWARDS
- Name of Institution: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Principal Investigator: Richard Anderson
Goal: Efficacy and Replication
Title: Mindful Instruction of Nonmainstream Children
- Name of Institution: KentStateUniversity
Principal Investigator: Katherine Rawson
Co-Principal Investigator:John Dunlosky
Goal: Development
Title: Developing the Retrieval-Monitoring-Feedback (RMF) Method for Improving the Durability and Efficiency of Student Learning
- Name of Institution: Teachers College, ColumbiaUniversity
Principal Investigator:Deanna Kuhn
Goal: Development
Title: Extension of an Argument Curriculum to an Academically Disadvantaged Middle-School Population
- Name of Institution: MichiganStateUniversity
Principal Investigator: Kelly Mix
Co-Principal Investigator: Linda Smith (IndianaUniversity)
Goal: Development
Title: Making Sense of Concrete Models for Mathematics
- Name of Institution: VanderbiltUniversity
Principal Investigator:Laura Novick
Co-Principal Investigators:Kefyn Catley (WesternCarolinaUniversity)
Goal: Development
Title: A Cognitive Approach to Implementing Tree Thinking in High School and College Biology Curricula
- Name of Institution: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Principal Investigator:Sadhana Puntambekar
Co-Principal Investigators:N. Hari Narayanan (AuburnUniversity), Roland Hubscher (BentleyCollege), Nobel Sanjay Rebello (KansasStateUniversity)
Goal: Development
Title: Scaffolding Students' Use of Multiple Representations for Science Learning
- Name of Institution: Northwestern University
Principal Investigator:Lance Rips
Goal: Identification
Title: The Organization of Mathematical Knowledge
- Name of Institution: FordhamUniversity
Principal Investigator: William B. Whitten, II
Co-Principal Investigators:Mitchell Rabinowitz
Goal: Development
Title: Guided Cognition for Unsupervised Learning of Mathematics
- Name of Institution: University of TexasHealthScienceCenter at Houston
Principal Investigator: Jason Anthony
Co-Principal Investigators:Carolyn Denton, Paul Swank
Goal: Efficacy and Replication
Title: Efficacy of Earobics Step 1 in English Language Learners and Low SES Minority Children
- Name of Institution: BostonCollege
Principal Investigator: Michael Russell
Co-Principal Investigators:Jessica Masters (BostonCollege), Mark Driscoll (EducationDevelopmentCenter), Rachel Wing (EducationDevelopmentCenter)
Goal: Measurement
Title: The Diagnostic Geometry Assessment Project
- Name of Institution: CarnegieMellonUniversity
Principal Investigator: Robert Siegler
Co-Principal Investigator:Geetha Ramani (University of Maryland)
Goal: Development
Title: Improving Children's Numerical Understanding
FY 2007 AWARDS
- Name of Institution: BoiseStateUniversity
Principal Investigator: KeithThiede
Co-Principal Investigators: Jonathan Brendefur, Jennifer Wiley, Thomas Griffin (University of Illinois at Chicago)
Goal: Development
Title: Improving Metacomprehension and Self-Regulated Learning From Scientific Texts
- Name of Institution: GeorgeMasonUniversity
Principal Investigator: Robert Pasnak
Co-Principal Investigator: Julie Kidd
Goal: Efficacy and Replication
Title: An Economical Improvement in Literacy and Numeracy
- Name of Institution: CarnegieMellonUniversity
Principal Investigator: David Mostow
Co-Principal Investigators:Albert Corbett, Mosur Ravishankar
Goal: Development
Title: Explicit Comprehension Instruction in an Automated Reading Tutor that Listens
- Name of Institution: CarnegieMellonUniversity
Principal Investigator: PhilipPavlik
Co-Principal Investigator:Kenneth Koedinger
Goal: Development
Title: Bridging the Bridge to Algebra: Measuring and Optimizing the Influence of Prerequisite Skills on a Pre-Algebra Curriculum
- Name of Institution: Northern IllinoisUniversity
Principal Investigator: KeithMillis
Co-Principal Investigators:M. Anne Britt, Katja Weimer-Hastings, Joseph Magliano, Art Graesser (University of Memphis), Diane Halpern (ClaremontMcKennaCollege)
Goal: Development
Title: Acquiring Research Investigative and Evaluative Skills (ARIES) for Scientific Inquiry
- Name of Institution: OhioStateUniversity
Principal Investigator: Vladimir Sloutsky
Co-Principal Investigator: Jennifer Kaminski
Goal: Development
Title: The Role of External Representations in Learning and Transfer of Mathematical Knowledge
- Name of Institution: University of California, San Diego
Principal Investigator: HalPashler
Co-Principal Investigator: Doug Rohrer (University of SouthFlorida)
Goal: Development
Title: Harnessing Retrieval Practice to Enhance Learning in Diverse Domains
- Name of Institution: Boulder Language Technologies
Principal Investigator: Wayne Ward
Co-Principal Investigators: RonaldCole, Sarel Van Vuuren, Barbara Wise (University of Colorado at Boulder)
Goal: Development
Title: Improving Science Learning Through Tutorial Dialogs
- Name of Institution: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Principal Investigator: BrianRoss
Co-Principal Investigators: Jose Mestre, Timothy Nokes (University of Pittsburgh)
Goal: Development
Title: Conceptual Analysis and Student Learning in Physics
- Name of Institution: University of Notre Dame
Principal Investigator: NicoleMcNeil
Goal: Development
Title: Arithmetic Practice that Promotes Conceptual Understanding and Computational Fluency
- Name of Institution: University of Oregon
Principal Investigator: Helen Neville
Goal: Development
Title: Training Attention in Preschool: Effects on Neurocognitive Functions and School Performance
FY 2006 AWARDS
- Name of Institution: CarnegieMellonUniversity
Principal Investigator: David Klahr
Co-Principal Investigator: Junlei Li (University of Pittsburgh)
Goal: Development
Title: Training in Experimental Design: Developing Scalable and Adaptive Computer-Based Science Instruction
- Name of Institution: CityUniversity of New York
Principal Investigator: Barry Zimmerman
Co-Principal Investigators: Bert Flugman, John Hudesman
Goal: Development
Title: Enhancing Self-Reflection and Mathematics Achievement of At-Risk Students at an Urban TechnicalCollege: A Self-Regulated Learning Intervention
- Name of Institution:ColumbiaUniversity
Principal Investigator: Janet Metcalfe
Co-Principal Investigator: Lisa Son (BarnardCollege)
Goal: Development
Title: The Effect of Metacognition on Children's Control of Their Study and of Their Cognitive Processes
- Name of Institution: University of California, Los Angeles
Principal Investigator: Philip Kellman
Co-Principal Investigator: Christine Massey (University of Pennsylvania)
Goal: Development
Title: Integrating Conceptual Foundations in Mathematics Through the Application of Principles of Perceptual Learning
- Name of Institution: University of Kentucky
Principal Investigator: Elizabeth Lorch
Goal: Development
Title: Teaching the Logic of the Scientific Method in the FourthGrade
- Name of Institution: University of Washington
Principal Investigator: Deborah McCutchen
Goal: Development
Title: Making Meaning: Morphological Processing and Its Contribution to Adolescent and Pre-Adolescent Literacy
- Name of Institution: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Principal Investigator: Martha Alibali
Co-Principal Investigators: Eric Knuth, Mitchell Nathan, R. BreckinridgeChurch (Northeastern IllinoisUniversity)
Goal: Development
Title: Does Visual Scaffolding Facilitate Students’ Mathematics Learning? Evidence From Early Algebra
- Name of Institution: VanderbiltUniversity
Principal Investigator: Gautam Biswas
Co-Principal Investigators: Kefyn Catley, Dan Schwartz (StanfordUniversity)
Goal: Development
Title: A Learning by Teaching Approach to Help Students Develop Self-Regulatory Learning Skills in Middle School Science Classrooms
- Name of Institution: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Principal Investigator: Stephen Hooper
Co-Principal Investigator: Nathan Vandergrift
Goal: Efficacy and Replication
Title: Attention, Memory, and Executive Functions in Written Language Expression in Elementary School Children
- Name of Institution: WashingtonUniversity in St. Louis
Principal Investigator: Henry Roediger, III
Co-Principal Investigators: Mark McDaniel, Kathleen McDermott, Gordon Hodge (University of New Mexico)
Goal: Efficacy and Replication
Title: Test-Enhanced Learning in the Classroom
FY 2005 AWARDS
- Name of Institution:FordhamUniversity
Principal Investigator: William Whitten, II
Co-Principal Investigator: Mitchell Rabinowitz
Goal: Development
Title:Guided Cognition of Unsupervised Learning
- Name of Institution:IndianaUniversity
Principal Investigator: Robert Goldstone
Co-Principal Investigator: Linda Smith
Goal: Development
Title:Grounded and Transferable Knowledge of Complex Systems Using Computer Simulations
- Name of Institution:KentStateUniversity
Principal Investigators: John Dunlosky, Katherine Rawson
Goal: Development
Title:Supporting Efficient and Durable Student Learning
- Name of Institution:HarvardUniversity
Principal Investigator: Jon Star
Co-Principal Investigator: Bethany Rittle-Johnson (VanderbiltUniversity)
Goal: Development
Title:Using Contrasting Examples to Support Procedural Flexibility and Conceptual Understanding in Mathematics
- Name of Institution: Northwestern University
Principal Investigator: David Uttal
Co-Principal Investigator: Judy DeLoache (University of Virginia)
Goal: Development
Title:Understanding and Facilitating Symbolic Learning
- Name of Institution:OhioStateUniversity
Principal Investigator: Andrew Heckler
Goal: Development
Title:Scientific Misconceptions: From Cognitive Underpinning to Educational Treatment
- Name of Institution:University of Chicago
Principal Investigator:Sian Beilock
Goal: Development
Title:Improving the Assessment Capability of Standardized Tests: How High-Stakes Testing Environments Compromise Performance
- Name of Institution:University of Memphis
Principal Investigator: Barry Gholson
Co-Principal Investigators: Arthur Graesser, Wali Abdi
Goal: Development
Title:An Implementation of Vicarious Learning With Deep-Level Reasoning Questions in Middle School and High School Classrooms
- Name of Institution:University of Southern California
Principal Investigator: Carole Beal
Goal: Development
Title:Dynamically Modifying the Learning Trajectories of Novices With Pedagogical Agents
- Name of Institution:CarnegieMellonUniversity
Principal Investigator: Robert Siegler
Goal: Development
Title:Improving Children's Pure Numerical Estimation
- Name of Institution: Northern IllinoisUniversity
Principal Investigator: M. Anne Britt
Co-Principal Investigators: Christopher Wolfe (MiamiUniversity of Ohio), Peter Wiemer-Hastings (DePaulUniversity)
Goal: Development
Title:Creating a Usable Environment to Teach Argument Comprehension and Production Skills
- Name of Institution:DukeUniversity
Principal Investigator: David Rabiner
Goal: Efficacy and Replication
Title:A Randomized Trial of Two Promising Interventions for Students With Attention Problems
FY 2004 AWARDS
- Name of Institution:FloridaStateUniversity
Principal Investigator: Carol Connor
Co-Principal Investigator: Fred Morrison (University of Michigan)
Goal: Development
Title:Child Instruction Interactions in Early Reading: Examining Causal Effects of Individualized Instruction
- Name of Institution:University of California, San Diego
Principal Investigator: Harold Pashler
Goal: Development
Title:Optimizing Resistance to Forgetting
- Name of Institution: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Principal Investigator: Brian Bottge
Goal: Development
Title:Advancing the Math Skills of Low-Achieving Adolescents in Technology-Rich Learning Environments
- Name of Institution:BostonCollege
Principal Investigator: Michael Russell
Co-Principal Investigator: Joan Lucariello
Goal: Measurement
Title:Bridging the Gap: Applying Algebra Cognition Research to Develop and Validate Diagnostic Classroom Algebra Testlets
FY 2003 AWARDS
- Name of Institution:CarnegieMellonUniversity
Principal Investigator: John Anderson
Title:The Neural Markers of Effective Learning
- Name of Institution:CarnegieMellonUniversity
Principal Investigator: David Klahr
Title:From Cognitive Models of Reasoning to Lesson Plans for Inquiry (2003-2007)
- Name of Institution:ColumbiaUniversity
Principal Investigator: Janet Metcalfe
Title:Study Enhancement Based on Principles of Cognitive Science (2003-2007)
- Name of Institution:GeorgeMasonUniversity
Principal Investigator: Robert Pasnak
Title:Increasing Learning by Promoting Early Abstract Thought (2003-2006)
- Name of Institution:University of California, Los Angeles
Principal Investigator: Keith Holyoak
Title:A Multidisciplinary Study of Analogical Transfer in Children's Mathematical Learning (2003-2006)
- Name of Institution:University of Illinois at Chicago
Principal Investigator: Jennifer Wiley
Co-Principal Investigator: Keith Thiede
Title:Improving Monitoring Accuracy Improves Learning From Text (2003-2007)
- Name of Institution:University of Maryland, College Park
Principal Investigator: Thomas Wallsten
Title:Computer-Assisted Instruction for Learning and Long-Term Retention Based on Recent Cognitive and Metacognitive Findings (2003-2007)
- Name of Institution:University of Pittsburgh
Principal Investigator: Erik Reichle
Co-Principal Investigator: Jonathan Schooler (University of British Columbia)
Title:Lapses in Meta-Cognition During Reading: Understanding Comprehension Failure (2003-2007)
- Name of Institution: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Principal Investigator: Arthur Glenberg
Co-Principal Investigator: Joel Levin (University of Arizona)
Title:Training Indexing to Enhance Meaning Extraction in Young Readers (2003-2007)
- Name of Institution:WashingtonUniversity in St. Louis
Principal Investigator: Henry Roediger, III
Co-Principal Investigators: Kathleen McDermott, Mark McDaniel
Title:Test-Enhanced Learning (2003-2006)
- Name of Institution:YaleUniversity
Principal Investigator: Robert Sternberg
Co-Principal Investigator: Linda Jarvin
Title:Understanding Students' Mathematical Competencies: An Exploration of the Impact of Contextualizing Mathematical Problems (2003-2007)
FY 2002 AWARDS
- Name of Institution:CarnegieMellonUniversity
Principal Investigator: Robert Siegler
Title:Using Cognitive Analyses to Improve Children's Math and Science Learning (2002-2006)
- Name of Institution:ColumbiaUniversity
Principal Investigator: Jennifer Mangels
Co-Principal Investigator: Carol Dweck (StanfordUniversity)
Title:The Influence of Students' Intelligence Beliefs on Attention, Information Processing, and Learning: A Neurophysiological Analysis (2002-2007)
- Name of Institution: Northern IllinoisUniversity
Principal Investigator: M. Anne Britt
Title:Improving Students' Comprehension and Construction of Arguments (2002-2006)
- Name of Institution: Northwestern University
Principal Investigator: David Uttal
Co-Principal Investigator: Judy DeLoache (University of Virginia)
Title:Learning From Symbolic Objects (2002-2006)
- Name of Institution:University of California, Los Angeles
Principal Investigator: Robert Bjork
Co-Principal Investigator: Marcia Linn (University of California, Berkeley)
Title:Introducing Desirable Difficulties for Educational Applications in Science (2002-2006)
- Name of Institution:University of California, Riverside
Principal Investigator: H. Lee Swanson
Title:Age-Related Changes in Word Problem Solving and Working Memory (2002-2005)
- Name of Institution:University of California, San Diego
Principal Investigator: Harold Pashler
Title:Optimizing Resistance to Forgetting (2002-2005)
EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS AND POLICIES
FY 2008 AWARDS
- Name of Institution: OhioStateUniversity
Principal Investigator: Laura Justice
Goal: Efficacy and Replication
Title: Efficacy of Read It Again! in Rural Preschool Settings
- Name of Institution: FloridaStateUniversity
Principal Investigator: Beth Phillips
Goal: Development
Title: Using Educational Television to Enhance Young Children’s Language and Vocabulary Skills
- Name of Institution: FloridaStateUniversity
Principal Investigator: Cynthia Puranik
Goal: Measurement
Title: Test of Emergent Writing Skills
- Name of Institution: University of California
Principal Investigator: Prentice Starkey
Goal: Efficacy and Replication
Title: Closing the SES Related Gap in Young Children's Mathematical Knowledge
- Name of Institution: University at Buffalo, The StateUniversity of New York
Principal Investigator: Doug Clements
Co-Principal Investigators: Julia Sarama
Goal: Efficacy and Replication
Title: Increasing the Efficacy of an Early Mathematics Curriculum with Scaffolding Designed to Promote Self-Regulation
EDUCATION LEADERSHIP
FY 2008 AWARDS
- Name of Institution:University of Michigan
Principal Investigator: Roger Goddard
Goal: Efficacy and Replication
Title: A Randomized Controlled Trial to Assess the Efficacy of the Balanced Leadership Program
- Name of Institution:University of Pennsylvania
Principal Investigator: Andrew Porter
Goal: Measurement
Title: The Development and Validation of the Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education
FY 2007 AWARDS
- Name of Institution:VanderbiltUniversity
Principal Investigator: Leonard Bickman
Goal: Development
Title: Improving Principal Leadership Through Feedback and Coaching
FY 2005 AWARDS
- Name of Institution: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Principal Investigator: Anthony Milanowski
Co-Principal Investigators: Steven Kimball, Herbert Heneman, III
Goal: Identification
Title: Study of Innovative School Leadership Performance Evaluation Systems
- Name of Institution:SchoolLeadershipCenter of Greater New Orleans
Principal Investigator: Brian Riedlinger
Co-Principal Investigators: Scott Bauer (GeorgeMasonUniversity),Betty Porter,Jeffrey Oescher (University of
Southeastern Louisiana)
Goal: Development
Title:The Coaching Model: A Collaborative Pilot Program
FY 2004 AWARDS
- Name of Institution: MDRC
Principal Investigator: Janet Quint
Co-Principal Investigator: Jason Snipes
Goal: Development
Title:Learning From Efforts to Strengthen Educational Leadership in Urban School Districts (2004-2008)
- Name of Institution:University of Pennsylvania
Principal Investigator: Jonathan Supovitz
Co-Principal Investigators: James Spillane (Northwestern University), Carol Barnes (University of Michigan), Eric Camburn (University of Michigan), Ellen Goldring (VanderbiltUniversity)
Goal: Efficacy and Replication
Title: Assessing the Impact of Principals' Professional Development: An Evaluation of the National Institute for School Leadership
EDUCATION POLICY, FINANCE, AND SYSTEMS
FY 2008 AWARDS
- Name of Institution: Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Principal Investigator: Carrie Conaway
Goal: Efficacy and Replication
Title: Massachusetts Expanded Learning Time: Implementation and Outcomes
- Name of Institution: University of Pennsylvania
Principal Investigator: Elliot Weinbaum
Goal: Identification
Title: School Responses to AYP Classification Due to Student Subgroups and the Relationship to Student Achievement
- Name of Institution: University of Pennsylvania
Principal Investigator: John Fantuzzo
Goal: Identification
Title: Kids Integrated Data System (KIDS): An Evidence-based System for Enhancing Educational Proficiency and Social Adjustment