Advanced methodology sets the foundation for a UNL team studying the effects of school environment on student performance.
CYFS faculty affiliate Jim Bovaird, founding director of the MAP Academy and associate professor of educational psychology, joins faculty from the Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction for a four-year study of schools’ indoor environmental effects on the academic achievement of students from kindergarten through 12th grade.
The UNL team, which includes Durham professors Lily Wang and Clarence Waters, and assistant professor Josephine Lau, recently secured a $998,433 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency. It is housed within the Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools and is one of seven grants funded through the EPA’s healthy schools initiative.
Bovaird will contribute expertise in methodological applications and innovations in the use of advanced multivariate techniques. His experience is integral, Wang said, as the study begins with the statistical analyses of a publicly available database and then continues with data analyses from Nebraska school districts.
Bovaird looks forward to the project’s potential for definitive outcomes and applications.
“My work as a methodologist often revolves around creating programs for human subjects, and I don’t always see direct results from my project contributions,” Bovaird said. “It is exciting to be part of something that has tangible deliverables.”
More information on UNL’s research through the EPA healthy initiatives grant is available here.