Research

Nationwide, school lessons in personal growth and job skills have taken a backseat to preparation for standardized tests, according to new research led by Jaekyung Lee, PhD, professor of counseling, school and educational psychology in the Graduate School of Education.

Stephen Jacobson, UB Distinguished Professor from the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy, has been all over the world teaching courses and participating in many different research projects. “Everyone wants to go visit a country that is excelling in education, but there is more to learn by going to places that are still evolving,” says Jacobson, who was brought to Albania to discuss education from an American perspective, and is involved with a large international research project in India to reduce gender-based violence with the use of prosocial computer games.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded Say Yes Buffalo and its partner institutions — including UB — a 22 month, $2.9 million grant to increase college completion rates for Buffalo Public School (BPS) graduates. Say Yes Buffalo, launched in 2012, is a community collaboration dedicated to increasing high school and postsecondary graduation rates. Say Yes Buffalo is also a college scholarship program for BPS students.

Megan Holland, research assistant professor from the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy, is partnering with a nonprofit that provides a college preparatory pipeline program for traditionally underrepresented students to analyze alumni data to better understand the experiences of their alumni, including the impact of the supports they receive in college. The collaboration is part of the UB Graduate School of Education Faculty in Residence Program.

In 2012, Nathan Daun-Barnett, associate professor from the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy, partnered with Buffalo Public Schools and the Buffalo Promise Neighborhood to create a College Success Center at Bennett High School, which is one of the district’s persistently low achieving schools.

The college application process is complicated, including how high school students obtain and use information to narrow down their college choices. This selection process can be especially challenging for students at racially and socioeconomically diverse high schools, who may be influenced by the marketing techniques of less and noncompetitive schools that at times come with high price tags.

The concept of “undermatching” refers to high-performing students, often from economically-disadvantaged households, who attend less competitive colleges that do not match the students’ high qualifications. A current research study now suggests that undermatching correlates with delayed graduation.

Corey Bower, assistant professor from the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy, is partnering with the Buffalo Public Schools to analyze and disseminate the results of the 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, and redesign the survey for its use in the district in 2019. The collaboration is part of the UB Graduate School of Education Faculty in Residence Program.

Corrie Stone-Johnson, associate professor from the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy, is partnering with the Buffalo Public Schools to address the development of a principal pipeline, which will guarantee that more individuals from minority backgrounds are recruited into leadership programs and supported throughout their development. The collaboration is part of the UB Graduate School of Education Faculty in Residence Program.

Nathan Daun-Barnett, associate professor from the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy, has been awarded a three-year grant from the private firm vibeffect. The goal of the grant is to evaluate the effectiveness of an electronic guidance strategy designed by vibeffect to help students make more informed decisions in the college-choice and enrollment process, as well as its implications for higher education institutions.