OFRS Faculty Research Awards

Project aims to improve low-income parents quality reading with their preschoolers by developing novel children’s books embedded with high-quality interactive prompts and training parents how to use them.

The purpose of this conference is to bring together scholars and researchers committed to using critical perspectives to develop an interdisciplinary research agenda focused on eradicating CSV. Through this conference, we aim to focus on the role of power and dominance in the ongoing problem of CSV, which includes our increased attention on perpetrator intervention, survivor-centered responses, multiply minoritized populations, community accountability, and transformative justice.

Superheroes training will be for special education teachers, counselors, school psychologists, and speech/language pathologists who work with students who are resistant to adult interaction.

The current work will examine the reliability, validity, and feasibility of a new psychophysiological data collection method that allows the investigation of psychological flexibility by comparing data collected both in the lab and ‘in the wild’— that is, in real-world and personally relevant contexts. These initial findings will be crucial in establishing proof-of-concept and protocol development that will be used in follow up work to investigate psychological flexibility in subsequent real-world field studies.

This study aims to evaluate resident sleep habits with the aid of wearable technology that automatically tracks hours and quality of sleep. This will fill an important gap in the research on medical resident sleep deprivation as the majority of studies rely on self-report data which are often faulty (Lauderdale et al., 2009). This study will also explore the relationship between sleep quality, which has not previously been possible to explore, and quantity and a number of important variables (e.g., burnout, stress, compassion fatigue, medical errors, and patient care quality).

This project will be a proof-of-concept study that provides foundational data for a future external grant application related to the development of a personalized learning system for 3D digitized objects (both tangible 3D prints and virtual 3D models) for middle school science learning.

Project PACT (Partnerships, Action, Collaboration, and Transformations) will prepare individuals working in early childhood education to strengthen their skills and advance their professional standing. Participants will serve as future leaders for others working in early childhood settings.

The Research Collaborative on Higher Education in Prison is part of the University of Utah Prison Education Project (UPEP), a multipronged approach to expand the field of quality higher education in prison. The Collaborative is interested in two issues regarding higher education in prison: quality (what is being provided?) and equity (who has access?). The purpose of the present study is to provide empirical baseline research regarding postsecondary educational opportunity inside U.S. prisons.Find out more at Laughing Gull's website >>

Coming Soon

The Cambia Health Foundation  for over 700 students in Salt Lake City School District’s Bryant Middle School and Salt Lake Center for Science Education. The services include school wide social emotional learning for all students, targeted group therapy for students who are at risk for psychological distress, and individualized psychotherapy for students with current psychological distress.

Coming Soon

Evaluation study focusing on local education agencies, to improve students’ college and career readiness through enhancing the skill level of school counselors to provide college and career counseling.

In this project, we will develop and evaluate technological tools that facilitate new models for training tomorrow’s mental health workforce. We plan to create and study a novel text-based counselor training platform that will test the pedagogical impact of (a) natural language processing driven helpers that provide feedback to trainees in real time, and, (b) crowd-sourced counseling using individuals with minimal training.

Content coming soon.

Provide training and technical assistance to pre-professionals (i.e., undergraduates, graduates, and residents) and professionals in the substance abuse prevention and health care fields. The regional Center will be located in the College of Education and is in partnership with the School of Dentistry at the University of Utah. The PTTC Region 8 Center is part of a national network of 10 regional centers across the U.S.

The goal of this project is to build evidence to support the needs of students with significant disabilities. UofU faculty and assistance will work with administrators and faculty to identify existing program strengths and assets that support identification of schools with % and rates of inclusion. Academic and behavioral assessment materials will be developed and intervention procedures will be piloted to assure proper measurement of impact of school placements. The project will target elementary age students with significant disabilities.

The Teacher Recruiting in Mild/Moderate 2 (TRIMM 2) Licensure Project is a partnership between the Utah State Board of Education and the Special Education Department at the University to address the critical shortage of teachers serving students with mild/moderate disabilities. Five individuals will receive 2-years of funding to complete program requirements for obtaining their special education license with mild/moderate endorsement. The TRIMM 2 Project is sponsored by IDEA funds from The Utah State Board of Education.

The University of Utah Project to Prepare New Early Childhood Special Educators (U-PSE/EL). The general purpose of this agreement is to allow a cohort of up to 10 students (five undergraduate and five graduate) to complete the University Master of Education Degree licensure program. Those who complete the program will receive a degree and license in preschool special education with an early intervention credential (birth-five years old).

The goal of this project is build capacity within identified schools to independently support the needs of students through a TBSP model. The project includes supporting the identified schools in developing identification, referral, intervention and follow-up processes, services, and materials. Finally, it includes the university supervision of graduate students to training school district personnel and school staff.

The project, Developing Mathematical Reasoning and Understanding Fractions at Tier 3, is a partnership between the Granite School District and the Special Education Department at the University to test the efficacy of a mathematics literacy intervention to improve the math and writing achievement of students with disabilities in upper elementary grades. This project is sponsored by the Utah State Systemic Improvement Plan (U-SSIP) from The Utah State Board of Education.

Teachers and paraprofessionals from the district will meet with relevant district staff and personnel for training and planning activities regarding the Bridges. Training and Planning will included: Preparation of the physical environment for incoming students. Developing a class wide behavior management system to be in place including a classroom schedule, rules and expectations and classroom reinforcement and other consequence systems. General plans for instructional content and activities.

The U-TTEC Lab partnership with the Canyons School District (CSD) to support students in CSD who engage in severe behavior and mental health problems and require placements in sub separate classrooms. The primary goal of this partnership is to support the behavioral and mental health needs of students who would other not be able to receive educational supports in the district. This program will allow the CSD to serve students with the highest emotional and behavioral needs to reduce more restrictive placements. This proposal includes the following components: training, coaching, systems and materials creation, and direct service provision.

U-TTEC Lab partnership with the Salt Lake City School District (SLCSD) to support students in SLCSD who engage in severe behavior and mental health problems and require placements in sub separate classrooms. The primary goal of this partnership is to support the behavioral and mental health needs of students who would otherwise not be able to receive educational supports in the district. This will be achieved by building off of the 2018-2019 academic year; we will continue to build capacity and sustain the contemporary child behavior therapy unit in Bryant Middle School.

The U-TIEC Lab partnership with the Weber County School District (WCSD) working to support the training and professional development needs within the district to support teachers, school staff, and students. Graduate students from the University of Utah will work with school personnel and students to reduce placement and/or program changes for students with problem behavior and/or disabilities.

Content coming soon.

The U-TTEC Lab a partnership with the Washington County School District working to support the training and professional development needs, behavior consultation, and psychoeducational testing needs within the district to support teachers, school staff, parents, and students.

The U-TTEC Lab a partnership with the Granite School District working to support the training and professional development needs, behavior consultation, and psychoeducational testing needs within the district to support teachers, school staff, parents, and students. Graduate students from the University of Utah will work with school personnel and students to reduce placement and/or program changes for students with problem behavior and/or disabilities

The U-TTEC Lab, in partnership with Salt Lake City School District, is developing and implementing a district-wide Behavior Support Response Team (BSRT) for Meadowlark Elementary School. The primary goal of this partnership is to support the behavioral needs of general education students within the district. The Meadowlark Elementary School aims to build capacity within the district to effectively manage behavior problems, while reducing placement and/or program changes for students with problem behavior. Services include the following components: training, coaching, and supervision of graduate students. Doctoral and Master’s level graduate research assistants in Special Education and School Psychology, and faculty within those programs provide these services. Additionally, this project allows graduate students the opportunity to gain school-based experience towards their Board Certification in Behavior Analysis.

The Cambia Health Foundation  for over 700 students in Salt Lake City School District’s Bryant Middle School and Salt Lake Center for Science Education. The services include school wide social emotional learning for all students, targeted group therapy for students who are at risk for psychological distress, and individualized psychotherapy for students with current psychological distress.

The U-TTEC lab of the University of Utah will provide consultative services to support the needs of special/general education teachers and paraprofessionals, their students, and the students’ parents through a telepresence robot problem-solving consultation framework. The U-TTEC Lab will provide weekly support to school staff including meetings, coaching and feedback, staff trainings, student and staff observations, parent training, and other related tasks (developing FBAs and BSPs, attending IEP meetings, etc.).

School of Life intervention is an after school program for students who are at risk for grade advancement or dropping out. The School of Life (SOLF) curriculum targets life skills that research indicates are linked to students drop out including: school connectedness, self-efficacy, avoiding negative peer influence and organizational skills. This pilot study will employ a pre-test/post-test quasi-experimental to evaluate the effects of SOLF intervention.

The Research Lab on Higher Education in Prison is a team of researchers at the University of Utah examining postsecondary education in prisons throughout the U.S. The purpose of this study is to provide empirical baseline research regarding postsecondary education inside U.S. prisons. We document availability and characteristics of postsecondary education programs inside prisons to understand, organize, and ultimately expand quality postsecondary education for incarcerated students.

As part of a larger interpretive policy analysis (Yanow, 2000) on Senate Bill (SB) 41, an Utah State initiative to establish dual-language pilot programs in Chinese, Spanish, French and Navajo. The larger research to this foundational research will examine through interviews with stakeholders (e.g., policymakers, implementers, and community members) the impetus and (non)implementation of SB 41. The current proposed research seeks to understand the status of the Navajo dual-language pilot program.

Malynda Tolbert has been awarded the Wing Institute’s Graduate Research Grant for the 2018-2019 year. The Wing Institute is an independent, nonprofit foundation committed to promoting evidence-based education and the professional development of teachers. Malynda’s award will be used to support her research study that will examine the professional development of special education teachers and ways to build their mathematical knowledge, pedagogy, and self-efficacy for teaching fractions to students with high incidence disabilities.