Funded Research
Below is a list of some externally funded research projects that are currently underway. Click on the link for a description of the resesearch project.
Examining the Success of Early Reading First (The E-SERF Project) Principal Investigator: Nicole Patton Terry (EPSE)
The primary purpose of The E-SERF Project is to examine the relationship between participation in Early Reading First pre-kindergarten programs and later language and literacy achievement. Early Reading First is a federal grant program designed to help early childhood education programs become “centers of excellence” that provide children with quality, early language and literacy experiences. With a focus on prevention of reading difficulties among children who may be at-risk for later school failure, these primary purpose of these programs is to prepare young children to enter kindergarten with the skills they need to successful in school. In order to investigate the benefits of the program, E-SERF children’s growth in langauge and literacy skills will be followed from kindergarten through second grade. This project is sponsored by The United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta, Smart Start through a supplemental grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
Research and Development Center on Literacy and Deafness (CLAD) Principal Investigator: Amy Lederberg
Literacy outcomes for children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) have historically fallen behind those of their hearing peers. Researchers at Georgia State University’s College of Education intend to address this problem through a $10 million grant to create the first national research center aimed at dramatically improving DHH children’s reading. This competitive grant from the National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) will fund research leading to a better understanding of the how DHH students learn. This will in turn lead to the development of intervention models.” The National Research and Development Center for Literacy and Deafness (CLAD) is the first of its kind to focus on deaf children. According to the Center’s Principal Investigator, Professor Amy Lederberg, “this research will help create effective, evidence-based interventions that will have far reaching effects.” Co-Principal Investigator, Professor Susan Easterbrooks, explains that “we want to identify child and instructional factors that affect reading growth and develop individualized interventions tailored for DHH struggling readers.” Co-investigators from GSU include Dr. Lee Branum-Martin, Dr. Mi-Young Webb, and Dr. Paul Alberto. CLAD boasts a strong collaboration with researchers around the nation. Collaborative partners/co-investigators are Dr. Shirin Antia, from the University of Arizona; Dr. Brenda Schick, from the University of Colorado at Boulder; Dr. Carol Connor from Arizona State University; and Dr. Poorna Kushalnagar from the Rochester Institute of Technology. For more information on NCSER and the IES National Special Education Research and Development Centers, visit http://ies.ed.gov/ncser/RandD/
Improving Deaf Preschoolers’ Literacy Skills Principal Investigator: Amy Lederberg (EPSE) Co-Investigators: Susan Easterbrooks (EPSE) and Carol Connor
Funded by Institute of Education Sciences (IES)
The purpose of this study is to develop and obtain preliminary evidence on the efficacy of a curriculum designed to foster emergent literacy skills in deaf and hard of hearing preschoolers. The curriculum is designed to foster phonics, phonological awareness, vocabulary, narrative and comprehension skills in deaf and hard of hearing children. Specifically, the researchers will examine what instructional strategies and degree of individualization will improve literacy outcomes.
Policy and Research Implications for the Get Ready to Read! Program Principal Investigator: Nicole Patton Terry (EPSE)
In 2005, the Southeast Regional Center for Get Ready to Read! was established in Atlanta, Georgia through a partnership between the National Center for Learning Disabilities and Smart Start, the early education arm of the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta. The Center’s mission is to assure that young children in Georgia and the southeastern region of the United States enter kindergarten with the language and literacy skills they need to be ready to benefit from quality literacy instruction. Dr. Terry contributes to the succes of the program by evaluating program effectiveness, providing professional development throughout the metropolitan area, and assiting the Center in implementing the program in schools and programs throughout the state. This project is sponsored by The United Way Metropolitan Atlanta, Smart Start and the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) through funding from The Goizueta Foundation.
Post-Doctoral Research Training in Language and Literacy with Special Populations Program Contact: Amy Lederberg (EPSE)
Funded by: Institute of Education Sciences (IES)
The goal of this training program is to offer individualized research experiences within the context of interdisciplinary research teams. Program faculty have projects designed to empirically validate educational interventions that promote language or literacy dev elopement in special populations: children, adolescents, or adults at risk for, or with, identified disabilities. Trainees will have the opportunity to work on one of the IES or NIH funded projects, as well as work on archival data sets.
Project SCEIs Babies Can’t Wait Principal Investigator: Peggy Gallagher (EPSE)
The goal of the Georgia State University Skilled, Credentialed Early Interventionists (SCEIs) project with Georgia’s Babies Can’t Wait program is to assist in the implementation and evaluation of preservice and in-service training provided to public and private provides of early intervention services as well as to families who have children in the Babies Can’t Wait program. The Babies Can’t Wait program provides services for infants and toddlers who have developmental delays or disabilities and their families. This project is sponsored by the Georgia Department of Community Health.
Research on Reading Instruction for Struggling Adult Readers Principal Investigator: Daphne Greenberg (EPSE)
Daphne Greenberg leads a team of researchers from the College of Education and the College of Arts and Sciences to investigate reading instructional approaches for use with adults who read between a 3.0 and 5.9 word reading grade equivalency. The team is evaluating a number of instructional strategies for effectiveness with a focus on which strategies are most effective for different subtypes of adult learners. Additionally, the researchers are using Functional M.R.I. technology to measure the effects of instruction on adult learners’ neural activation. This project is sponsored by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute for Literacy, and the U.S. Department of Education, grant #1 R01 HD 43801-01.
ERP and Behavioral Studies of Word-to-Text Intergration and Word Learning
Gwen Frishkoff, Charles Perfetti (University of Pittsburgh)
Georgia Wolf Trap for English Language Learners
Ann Cale Kruger
Parent-Implemented Augmented Language Interventions for Young Children with Developmental Disabilities
Mary Ann Romski, Rose Sevcik, Lauren Adamson, Roger Bakeman