Research

Musical sounds surround a child, even before the moment of birth. Whether a child is listening to music, singing a song or moving creatively to the sounds around them, music is a vital part of a child's life. “Young children often create music as a part of their play experiences, thus sustaining imagination and creativity,” said Maria Runfola, professor in the Department of Learning and Instruction and the director of the GSE MusicPlay project.

Before Richard Lamb was a teacher, he was a soldier. In addition to spending eight months in Bosnia, Lamb served in Afghanistan for over a year, beginning September 22, 2001.

The belief that parents can shape positive behavior and experiences in their children, including those with behavioral challenges such as ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder), is well known. Traditional positive parenting programs have typically been used for mothers, creating a need for a program that would lend itself more to fathers.

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 Graduate School of Education is participating in a program called TeachLivE that uses a simulated teaching environment to assist in the preparation of student teachers. The simulated environment is one tool that allows student teachers the opportunity to learn teaching skills and craft their practice without placing “real” students at risk during the learning process.

Enhancing language support and reducing impediments caused by language are among priorities at UB to promote international student inclusion and engagement, and enable students to achieve their educational and social goals.

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.

To bridge the communities of early childhood researchers, pre-service teachers and toy industry experts, X. Christine Wang and Corinne Eggleston, director and associate director of ECRC have been working in close collaboration with colleagues at the Fisher-Price Play Lab to design Project Play.

The Center for Literacy and Reading Instruction (CLaRI) at UB is a reading center that has provided reading services in Western New York since 1963. The center is a community resource for the assessment of children’s literacy development and individualized reading instruction, as well as a site for conducting literacy research.

Lynn Shanahan, associate professor from the Department of Learning and Instruction is partnering with Enterprise Charter School and the Amherst Central School District Middle School to assist in the development of a middle school response to intervention system for literacy learning. This collaboration is part of the UB Graduate School of Education Faculty in Residence Program.