July 2014 Awards


MAHLMAN, ROBERT
EHE College Center: Center on Education and Training for Employment (CETE)
Project Title: National association of state directors of career technical education consortium (NASDCTEc) common career technical core alignment database
Project Dates: 07/01/2014 – 08/07/2014
Anticipated Total Award Amount: $3,390
Project Sponsor: National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEc)

NEWELL, GEORGE; Bloome, David; D’Agostino, Jerome; Hirvela, Alan; Lin, Tzu-Jung
EHE College Department: Teaching and Learning
Project Title: Teaching and learning literature-related argumentative writing in high school English language arts classrooms
Project Dates: 07/01/2014 – 06/30/2018
Anticipated Total Award Amount: $1,474,242
Project Sponsor: Institute of Education Sciences, US Department of Education
Project Abstract: Literature-related argumentative writing is defined as critical and analytic thinking about literary texts, rhetorical production, and a social practice involving the identification of a thesis (also called a claim), supportive evidence (empirical or experiential), and assessment of the warrants. Although school writing includes a range of genres and functions, teaching and learning argumentative writing in high school English language arts (ELA) classrooms is of particular significance. There is an emphasis in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) on informative and argumentative writing in secondary schools based on the premise that argumentation and argument writing facilitate success in higher education and career opportunities. However, empirically supported interventions that promote the instructional practice leading to student mastery of argumentative writing are limited.

Building on a previous IES Exploration project investigating teaching practices leading to student argumentative writing, researchers will develop an intervention targeting key teaching skills within 9th- and 12th-grade ELA teachers. Those teaching skills include viewing argumentation as a way of learning, building consensus, or creating new knowledge; gaining pedagogical knowledge for teaching argumentation; facilitating inhibited extended, in-depth, reasoned exchanges; teaching argumentation via integration throughout instructional units; and using specific rubrics for assessing argumentative writing. Additional information is available at the IES website.

PENTIMONTI, JILL; Gort, Mileidis ; Justice, Laura
EHE College Center: The Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy (CCEC)
Project Title: Development and validation of the systematic assessment of book reading
Project Dates: 07/01/2014 – 06/30/2018
Anticipated Total Award Amount: $1,598,455
Project Sponsor: Institute of Education Sciences
Project Abstract: The purpose of this project is to expand and validate a new version of an observational measure called the Systematic Assessment of Book Reading (SABR), developed with funding from previous studies funded by the Institute of Education Sciences. Measuring the quality of interactive shared book reading within the early childhood classroom represents a specific dimension of teacher-child interactions that is of great interest to researchers and practitioners. However, there are very few standardized tools available for quantifying or describing young children’s reading experiences. SABR measures the quality of teacher behaviors during shared book-reading sessions. In this study, the tool will be revised for greater ease of use and accuracy by improving training materials and scoring protocols that will be disseminated at no cost via the internet. In addition, a short version will be iteratively designed for use by practitioners (e.g., coaches and other education professionals), and for use to support professional development. Additional information is available at the IES website.

SHIVERDECKER, TERESA; Yu, Shirley
EHE College Center: Ohio Resource Center
Project Title: Nonfiction texts in inquiry-based science (NFTI science)
Project Dates: 07/01/2014 – 08/15/2015
Anticipated Total Award Amount: $70,426
Project Sponsor: Ohio Department of Education

SLESNICK, NATASHA
EHE College Department: Human Sciences
Project Title: Community shelter board / STAR house partnership
Project Dates: 07/01/2014 – 06/30/2015
Anticipated Total Award Amount: $12,000
Project Sponsor: Community Shelter Board