From the Office of Research and Graduate Education: Congratulations to recent grant recipients

“Growing Our Own”: A Mixed Methods Study of Black Youths in High School Early Childhood Education Career Pathway Programs

  • PI: Morgan Faison, clinical associate professor, Department of Educational Theory and Practice
  • Sponsor: Foundation for Child Development Young Scholar Program
  • Amount: $225,000

Congratulations to Morgan Faison for receiving a Foundation for Child Development Young Scholar award. The overarching purpose of this study is to describe the academic experiences and racial/cultural identities of Black youths studying early childhood education in non-selective high school career pathway programs in one state, to determine their technical skills and professional dispositions and to infer how they may be shaped by academic, racial/cultural, and other factors.

View the grant webpage.


Paving the Way for High-Quality Personnel Entering the Workforce in Support of Young Children With Disabilities

  • PI: Rebecca Lieberman-Betz, associate professor, Department of Communication Sciences and Special Education
  • Co-PIs: Cynthia Vail, professor; Alicia Davis, clinical professor, Department of Communication Sciences and Special Education
  • Sponsor: U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities
  • Amount: $927,729

Congratulations to Rebecca Lieberman-Betz, Cindy Vail, and Alicia Davis on receiving the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities award. This project aims to provide training to students seeking certification and endorsement in the areas of birth through kindergarten and early childhood special education.

View the grant webpage.


Identifying Systemic Racism in Mathematics Teacher Education: Building a Cross-Site Community with Preservice Teachers of Color

  • PI: Dorothy Y. White, professor, Department of Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies Education
  • Co-PIs: Luz A. Maldonado Rodríguez, associate professor, Texas State University; Juanita M. Silva, assistant professor, Texas State University; Peter Eley, professor and interim dean, Alabama A&M University
  • Sponsor: National Science Foundation Racial Equity in STEM Education and Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program
  • Amount: $644,642

Congratulations to Dorothy White and her colleagues on receiving a National Science Foundation Racial Equity in Education grant award. This project will make significant contributions to racial equity in STEM by identifying and describing forms of systemic racism inherent in mathematics teacher education programs.

View the grant webpage.