Becoming a teacher is not easy. Along with the required formal education, the process requires plenty of patience, preparation, curiosity and enthusiasm.
One less-apparent ingredient of learning to be a teacher is the ability to navigate the ever-changing landscape of diversity in schools, including socio-economic, racial, linguistic, cultural and other demographic characteristics.
A student’s ability to read is a critical predictor of academic and lifelong success. In Nebraska, the COVID-19 pandemic hit students with reading difficulties especially hard, particularly students attending rural schools.
A team of Nebraska researchers is working to boost reading outcomes for rural students in kindergarten through third grade by providing professional learning opportunities to teachers across the state, speeding up pandemic recovery for students with reading difficulties, as well as those at risk.
Nebraska, like other states, faces a shortage of qualified early childhood professionals to meet its demand for quality care and education. This shortage not only poses significant problems for families with young children, but also threatens the state’s future economic prosperity.
In recent years, there has been an increase in global initiatives aimed at providing mental health support in low- and middle-income countries for those affected by disaster, conflict and forced migration.
However, older refugees and refugees with disabilities have received less attention in humanitarian research and often face barriers to accessing wellness-promoting interventions.
As a former special education teacher, Ciara Ousley has worked with young students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.
She often used technology to assist students who struggled to communicate in her classroom. Speech-generating devices — one form of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) — showed promise to support more inclusive learning and development.
Research suggests nonbinary individuals — those who do not identify exclusively as men or women — experience bias and discrimination more frequently than cisgender and binary transgender people, contributing to negative mental health outcomes.
One study revealed that 71% of transgender and nonbinary youth reported having experienced discrimination, and 46% of transgender and nonbinary adults reported being verbally harassed because of their gender identity.
Students who struggle with social and behavior issues are at high risk of developing long-term problems, both at school and in life.
When those students live in rural parts of the country, with limited access to behavioral health services, those challenges can significantly increase.
A team of Nebraska researchers is working with teachers to share stories from the past and connect them to the larger historical narrative of America through animation and film.
The project, “Animating History,” takes an interdisciplinary approach to advance knowledge in areas no single discipline can achieve on its own. This project aligns with the UNL Grand Challenge of anti-racism and racial equity.
