Research

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.

How can caterpillars help preschoolers develop coding skills and computational thinking? Fisher-Price and the Fisher-Price Endowed Early Childhood Research Center (ECRC) in the Graduate School of Education are working together to answer this question in preschool classrooms and children’s homes.

Sam Abramovich, assistant professor from the Department of Learning and Instruction and the Department of Library and Information Studies, in collaboration with the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, has been awarded a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to develop reliable and valid ways to measure the learning and associated benefits of Makerspaces in libraries.

Amanda Nickerson, director of the Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention, and professor from the Department of Counseling, School and Educational Psychology, and Dan Albertson, associate professor from the Department of Library and Information Studies, have been awarded $175,000 from the New York State (NYS) Developmental Disabilities Planning Council (DDPC) for their collaborative research project, “Multimedia and Peer-to-Peer Prevention Support.”

The Graduate School of Education, in collaboration with Buffalo Public Schools, will launch the UB Teacher Residency Program in summer 2019. The program has three goals for the initial urban teaching cohort: (1) increase the number of learner-ready teachers in the city of Buffalo; (2) diversify the pool of teachers in the city of Buffalo; and (3) increase the number of teachers who stay in the teaching profession in Western New York urban schools. The UB Teacher Residency Program was launched with the support of a Cullen Foundation grant and has since been awarded additional funding through a federal Teacher Quality Partnership grant.

According to a nationwide 2017 Gallup poll, investments in security measures by schools and school districts increase sharply every time a major violent event occurs. “Despite these high costs, research on the contribution of security practices to school and student safety, misbehavior, discipline and academic performance is sorely lacking, and sometimes even paints a negative picture,” said Jeremy Finn,  SUNY Distinguished Professor from the Department of Counseling, School and Educational Psychology.

Claire Cameron, associate professor from the Department of Learning and Instruction, is partnering with the Community Action Organization of Western New York (CAO) to determine the existing school readiness assessment practices and supports across 32 CAO Head Start programs, which serve over 2,700 children in Erie and Niagara counties. 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.

Ji-Won Son, associate professor from the Department of Learning and Instruction, is partnering with the Christian Central Academy in Williamsville to develop and implement a history-infused mathematics curriculum in K–12 classrooms and analyze the effects of the curriculum. The collaboration is part of the UB Graduate School of Education Faculty in Residence Program, and is funded by a National Council of Teachers of Mathematics 7–12 Classroom Research Grant.

Worldwide, 30 million people practice yoga and half of them say they started yoga because of recommendations from a physician or therapist. Practicing yoga can lead to an improved quality of life, including a lower heart rate, relief from anxiety, stress, depression and insomnia, and overall physical health, strength and flexibility.