Grant Awards

Natasha Slesnick, Professor, Department of Human Sciences, HDFS; EHE Associate Dean for Research

This Competitive Revision (CR) collects additional measures of suicide risk and evaluates the secondary benefits of housing first combined with preventive interventions to reduce suicidal ideation (SI) and related outcomes over time. Given the anticipated severity of suicide risk in our sample of youth experiencing homelessness, we will add “STEP” to the parent study’s preventive interventions targeting opioid use, including additional screening procedures and Cognitive Therapy for Suicide Prevention (CTSP) for those at high risk for suicide.

Sisi Cao, Postdoctoral Scholar

This project will assess the time-dependent effect of eggs on the bioavailability of plant-derived vitamins E and K, both of which are inadequate in most Americans’ diets. The expected outcome will support a new dietary strategy of eggs as a healthy snack option to help Americans overcome their suboptimal status of vitamins E and K.

Barbara Boone, Program Director of Family Engagement

For this project of CETE with the Ohio Department of Education there are two primary areas of action: 1) Supports and services for a state Family and Community Engagement Network – a community of practice for the Ohio Department of Education’s 16 State Support Teams and other key state partners. The Network’s purpose is to strengthen Ohio’s multi-tiered system of supports for families of students receiving special education services and other families facing significant challenges. These supports and services entail professional development and networking opportunities, webinars, onsite and virtual technical assistance, and support for regional implementation of high impact family engagement practices directed to families of students with disabilities, families of other vulnerable students, and school districts and 2) The implementation and reporting of results of a state-wide family survey for families of students with disabilities.  This survey, while directly supporting ODE’s accountabilities of federal reporting of Special Education, also provides the Ohio Department of Education and Ohio LEAs and their partners with valuable information for improving services to families of students with disabilities.

Tiffany Wild, Associate Professor

This project will advance efforts of the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program to better understand and promote practices that increase student motivations and capacities to pursue careers in fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM). For these students with visual impairments (VI), the possibility of a future in astronomy, or any science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) field, seems daunting. To help address this, the project will develop and research STEM Career Exploration Labs (CELs) for high school students with VI, using astronomy and 3D printing to bolster their interests in and knowledge of STEM and STEM careers, as well as their STEM skills. Project Details

Matthew Mayhew, Professor, Department of Educational Studies

This project addresses the lack of attention to welcoming worldview climate in the college choice process and the need for prospective college students to choose institutions suitable for their religious and spiritual needs. This project leverages data collected through the Interfaith Diversity Experiences and Attitudes Longitudinal Survey (IDEALS). Using these pre-collected and nationally-representative data, and through careful empirical analysis, this project will identify an array of policies, practices, and conditions that make some institutions more welcoming for worldview diversity from the student perspective. A survey will then gauge what an institution is, or is not, doing to create a welcoming worldview climate. The resulting data will be compiled to create the Interfaith, Spiritual, Religious, and Secular Campus Climate Index — or INSPIRES Index. This project has two goals: First, the INSPIRES Index will provide students with valuable information for college selection. Second, the INSPIRES Index incentivizes institutions to improve their worldview climate continually by provide data for both internal and external benchmarking efforts.

Natasha Slesnick, Professor, Department of Human Sciences, HDFS; EHE Associate Dean for Research

This study will provide essential information for researchers and providers on the efficacy of housing + opioid and related risk prevention services in an RCT on opioid use, how moderators affect the response, and mechanisms underlying change. This project utilizes existing efficacious models of prevention to generate valuable new information critical to prevention services delivery for a special population of highly vulnerable youth. Because youth experiencing homelessness are at increased risk for a variety of adverse outcomes, the proposed intervention may produce substantial health-care benefits to the youths and society at large. Project Details

Jessica Logan, Assistant Professor

The purpose of this study is to develop, refine, and evaluate a new math language intervention, Reading and Playing with Math (RP-Math). Math language is the specific content language (e.g., words and concepts such as more, fewer, a lot, many) that has distinct meanings when used in math contexts. It is one of the strongest predictors of growth in numeracy skills, yet there are currently no empirically supported tools for providing instruction in this domain. This project will iteratively develop picture books, guided play activities, session guides, and professional development (PD) modules in collaboration with teachers. They will then test and refine the feasibility of implementation and usability of RP-Math with teachers. Finally, they will conduct a small-scale cluster randomized trial to examine the promise of the fully developed RP-Math, and gather information about the cost to deliver the intervention.

Anneliese Johnson, Principal, A. Sophie Rogers School for Early Learning

This project provides support for literacy initiatives at the A. Sophie Rogers School for Early Learning and positions our program as a model demonstration site for Ohio Department of Education in language and literacy education of young children.