CREP News
CREP Team Evaluates Virginia Enrichment Program
The Center for Research in Educational Policy (CREP) at UofM has partnered with the Virginia Department of Education to evaluate afterschool and summer academic enrichment opportunities for children at high-poverty and low-performing schools in a program known as Virginia’s 21st Century Community Learning Center. The program was evaluated by CREP Research faculty and staff Cindy Muzzi, Dr. Brenda McSparrin Gallagher, Pete Shearon, S. Feibelman and Dr. Todd Zoblotsky. The statewide evaluation of Virginia’s 21st Century Community Learning Center programs found that overall the programs resulted in positive academic and behavioral gains for students. Read more about how CREP’s work is positively impacting students in Virginia here >.
CREP Partners with Engineering Research Visioning Alliance
The College of Education Center for Research in Educational Policy (CREP) is beginning a prestigious partnership with the Engineering Research Visioning Alliance (ERVA). Established via a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation, the Engineering Research Visioning Alliance (ERVA) was officially launched on April 7, 2021. The first engineering research visioning alliance of its kind, ERVA is a diverse, inclusive and engaged partnership that enables an array of voices to impact national research priorities. ERVA will help the U.S. remain an international leader by identifying and developing new, high-impact engineering research directions to help the engineering community solve major challenges and improve daily life.
CREP’s team is led by P.I. Dr. Todd Zoblotsky with Dr. Carolyn Kaldon and Dan Strahl serving as Co-P.I. CREP’s portion of the award as a Subawardee to ERVA is $800K for the first five years with more years anticipated. Dr. Zoblotsky, P.I, states, “CREP is excited and honored to be part of this amazing alliance tasked with setting the direction for engineering research for the nation. Along with Co-PIs Dr. Carolyn Kaldon and Dan Strahl, we look forward to showcasing ERVA’s progress and success. This partnership is not only a highlight in CREP’s research portfolio but will elevate the University’s profile through this important work.”
To learn more about ERVA and get involved, visit www.ERVAcommunity.org> and follow @ERVACommunity on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Learn more about CREP and their work at memphis.edu/crep>.
CREP Leads K-8 Literacy Assessment
The Center for Research in Educational Policy (CREP) has been awarded $1.4 million
to conduct a large-scale literacy assessment study. PI Dr. Carolyn Kaldon, along with
co-PI Dr. Todd Zoblotsky, will lead a team at CREP to conduct a nationally representative
validation study of the English and Spanish versions of a K-8 literacy assessment
which provides rich, individualized data on each student's reading behaviors to guide
teachers' decision making and enhance students' literacy instruction. CREP is partnering
with a leader in the field of literacy to validate these assessments, and the project
will involve approximately 36 schools and 1,200 students in grades K-8 across multiple
regions in the US: Northeast, Southeast, West, and Midwest. The project team will
lead the administration of over 3,600 one-on-one student assessments on three separate
occasions across two school years. They will then conduct both quantitative and qualitative
analyses after each administration to provide statistical feedback for assessment
modifications, and after the last administration, provide thorough evidence of the
reliability and validity of the assessments. This project will provide long-term benefits
to educators and practitioners. When literacy assessments are being considered for
purchase by a school or a district, administrators seek validation research to enable
them to adopt such evidence-based materials.