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Cross-campus collaboration helps sharpen focus on teacher shortages, job satisfaction

Last fall, more than 900 teacher positions in Nebraska were either vacant or filled by underqualified personnel, according to the Nebraska Department of Education.

With so many vacancies, school districts are forced to compete for candidates from a relatively small pool — something that can have long-term negative effects on rural Nebraska communities. Full Article

MAP Academy helps researchers see big picture of rural adolescent nutrition insecurity

Making sure rural youth have enough to eat is important for both their health and education. Attending school with an empty stomach affects a student’s ability to focus and learn, making proper nutrition essential for academic success.

Nebraska Extension educators Beth Nacke and Natalie Sehi are leading research focused on adolescent nutrition insecurity. They recently worked with the MAP Academy to create a database to analyze the nutritional and economic impact of Nebraska Extension’s statewide Monthly Meal Kit program. Full Article

Project examines ways to foster future leaders in rural communities

As the makeup of American communities changes in coming years to grapple with impending transfers of wealth and leadership, sustainability of rural communities is a priority.

Lindsay Hastings, Clifton Professor in Mentoring Research at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, has recently worked with her team — Justine Bircher, Mary Emery and Jordan Rasmussen — on a project to build leadership development systems to sustain rural communities for the future. Full Article

Video available for MAP Academy presentation featuring Yingying Wang

Yingying Wang, associate professor of special education and communication disorders, and director of UNL’s Neuroimaging for Language, Literacy and Learning (NL3) Lab, led the Spring 2024 Methodology Applications Series presentation May 3.

Video is now available of Wang’s presentation, “Capturing Life in Motion: Leveraging Wearable Technology for Human Subjects Research.” Full Article

Early Childhood Research Summit helps connect research, practice, policy

Creating connections among early childhood research, practice and policy — and how each can enhance the lives of young children and their families — provided the central theme of the 2024 CYFS Early Childhood Research Summit.

Almost 200 attendees, including researchers from across the University of Nebraska system, practitioners, administrators, community partners and policymakers, gathered April 23 at Nebraska Innovation Campus for the daylong, seventh biennial summit, which highlighted the latest research to advance early childhood education and development, and implications for practice and policy. Full Article

Research explores how classroom time affects children’s self-regulation skills

In recent years, illnesses, quarantines and school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic have increased emphasis on the importance of instructional time for children’s academic achievement following absences from the classroom.

There is also recent evidence that pandemic school closures disproportionately affected U.S. schools that had students with lower third-grade standardized test scores and higher shares of students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. Full Article

MAP Academy selects three faculty to receive ‘Catalyst’ awards

The Nebraska Academy for Methodology, Analytics and Psychometrics (MAP Academy) is awarding $5,000 through a competitive funding opportunity created to address the increased need to enhance the rigor of field-based human subjects research at the University of Nebraska. These awards were made possible by a grant from the Nebraska Research Initiative. Full Article

Brain-connected technology opening doors for children with severe speech, physical impairments

Imagine being locked inside your own body, isolated and struggling to meaningfully connect and communicate with those around you.

Now imagine trying to cope with such isolation as a child.

For children with severe speech and physical impairments (SSPI), the lack of a reliable communication methods has devastating impacts on their quality of life, well-being, medical care and social interactions. Full Article