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.
As technology continues to rapidly evolve, a group of Nebraska researchers is collaborating with the state’s K-12 educators, artists and administrators to imagine the future of education.
The Teaching with Arts and Emerging Media (Art TEAMS) project is underway in classrooms throughout Nebraska. The five-year pilot project is designed to promote teaching innovation through arts and emerging media in Nebraska public schools.
Traditionally, minoritized ethnic-racial groups have been excluded or significantly underrepresented from participating in research. According to some estimates, 96% of psychological studies come from countries with only 12% of the world’s population, and tend to include mostly white participants.
For small towns scattered throughout Nebraska, mental health professionals are hard to come by. Recruiting and retaining such professionals is crucial to ensuring these rural populations have access to quality mental health care.
Because mental health trainees are more likely to remain and work in the rural communities where they live, Beth Doll, professor of educational psychology, and Matthew Gormley, assistant professor of educational psychology are leading a virtual training program that can be accessible to anyone interested in a career in school psychology, no matter where they reside.
As in other states, Nebraska’s ability to deliver high-quality instruction to students served in special education depends on the availability of qualified teachers.
Unfortunately, shortages of special education teachers — both statewide and nationally — leave many students in individualized education programs at further risk for compromised educational outcomes. According to the U.S. Department of Education, 49 states and the District of Columbia reported shortages of special education teachers in 2021.
Researchers in Lincoln and Kearney are working to bridge the distance between two University of Nebraska campuses and converge their shared interests on the state’s accountability system to ensure all students have equal opportunities to succeed.
The 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act brought greater attention to the need for equity to reduce opportunity gaps in K-12 education, prompting Nebraska policymakers to redesign the state’s school accountability system with an emphasis on education equity for all students.
A family-school intervention program that has seen success in Nebraska and surrounding states is expanding its reach.
Susan Sheridan, director of the Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools, and Amanda Witte, CYFS research assistant professor, are working with University of Wisconsin researchers to bring the Teachers and Parents as Partners (TAPP) intervention to schools in their state, along with ongoing studies in the region.
