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Category: Academic Intervention & Learning

Get SET Nebraska addresses special education teacher shortage

From left, HyeonJin Yoon, Pam Brezenski, Kris Elmshaeuser and Amanda Witte are leading the Get SET project to help retain special education teachers in Nebraska. Learn more about this project in the CYFS Research Network.

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. Full Article

Nebraska education researchers work to build statewide consensus on equity

Taeyeon Kim, assistant professor of educational administration, and Ted Hamann, professor of teaching, learning and teaching education, are building a strong research team to conduct large-scale research on equity-driven accountability systems in K-12 education in Nebraska. Learn more about the project in the CYFS Research Network.

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. Full Article

Nebraska researchers expand reach of TAPP family-school intervention

From left, Amanda Witte, CYFS research assistant professor, and Susan Sheridan, CYFS director, are leading efforts to expand the reach of TAPP. Learn more about this project in the CYFS Research Network.

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. Full Article

Multi-institutional study explores how students approach course work once class ends

Researchers investigating undergraduate students’ strategies for completing out-of-class homework include, front row, from left: Allison Upchurch, Dana Kirkwood-Watts and Brian Couch. Back row, from left: Lorey Wheeler, Kati Brazeal, Sarah Spier and Gabrielle Johnson. Learn more about this project in the CYFS Research Network.

As learning environments increasingly rely on online course formats that work with busy college student schedules — particularly after disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic — a better understanding of how students complete out-of-class assignments is crucial to ensuring equitable opportunities for academic success. Full Article

Misperceptions may increase problem drinking, dating violence among LGBTQ+ youth

Recent surveys found LGBTQ+ teens tended to overestimate the level of alcohol consumption by their LGBTQ+ peers. The results shed light on the influence of social norms and misperceptions among sexual minority teens. Learn more about the project in the CYFS Research Network.

As researchers strive to develop and expand affirming prevention and intervention efforts for sexual and gender minority youth, an ongoing project’s preliminary findings are bringing into focus the impacts of dating violence and problem drinking — and the strengths of LGBTQ+ youth. Full Article

Interdisciplinary program takes long-range view of visual impairment instruction

Mackenzie Savaiano, associate professor of practice in the Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders, is leading a project to recruit and train new teachers to meet the needs of students with visual impairments. Learn more in the CYFS Research Network.

According to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Ophthalmology, the number of American preschool children with visual impairment is projected to increase by more than 25 percent in the coming decades, with most visual impairment resulting from simple uncorrected vision problems that interfere with clear sight. Full Article

2022 Summit on Research in Early Childhood helps connect research, practice, policy

Participants gather during the 2022 CYFS Summit on Research in Early Childhood at the Nebraska Innovation Campus Conference Center on April 13. View photo gallery.

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 2022 CYFS Summit on Research in Early Childhood.

Nearly 200 attendees, including researchers from across the University of Nebraska system, practitioners, administrators, community partners and policymakers, gathered April 13 at Nebraska Innovation Campus for the daylong, sixth biennial summit, which highlighted the latest research to advance early childhood education and development, and implications for practice and policy. Full Article

TAPP brings new tool to students, parents and teachers in Brazil

From left, Renata T.M. Gomes, CYFS graduate research assistant and doctoral candidate, and Natalie Williams, associate professor and graduate chair in the Department of Child, Youth and Family Studies, discuss TAPP during a meeting at the Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal Foundation in Brazil. Gomes is leading a project to introduce TAPP to students in Brazil. Learn more in the CYFS Research Network.

As students in Brazil slowly return to in-person learning following the COVID-19 pandemic, some are being introduced to a program designed to foster parent-teacher partnerships to help boost children’s academic and social and emotional success.

Renata T.M. Gomes, CYFS graduate research assistant and doctoral candidate, is leading the effort to bring Teachers and Parents as Partners (TAPP) to Brazil. Full Article