P-12 Scholars

From 2004-2007, the P-12 Scholars Program provided grants to initiate or advance research leading to increased understanding of and involvement in issues related to P-12 education. The findings of these research projects were highlighted in the publication Success for All Students (full document, PDF, 3.9 MB). This page includes summaries and links to individual reports for 2006, 2005, and 2004-05 scholars’ work.

2006 Scholars

Science + Education = Science Education

PI: Bryan Mark, Assistant Professor of Geography, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and Byrd Polar Research Institute; Partner: Carol Landis, Education Outreach Specialist, Byrd Polar Research Center. Amount funded: $30,000; matching from Byrd Polar Research Center: $37,900

The project sought to establish a high-tech lesson and presentation environment at the Byrd Polar Research Center for science educators (teacher interns and Metro High School teachers) and science graduate students to assess the transfer of knowledge and pedagogy from this type of interaction. This pilot project was intended to serve as a demonstration site for science, education, and technology learning for central Ohio.

Survey of Financial Education in Ohio’s High Schools: Assessment of Teachers, Programs, and Legislative Efforts

PI: Caezilia Loibl, Assistant Professor, Consumer Sciences, College of Education and Human Ecology; Research Partners: Creola Johnson, Associate Professor, College of Law; Steven Miller, Associate Professor, College of Education and Human Ecology; Abbejean Kehler, Director, Central Ohio Economics Education Program, College of Education and Human Ecology; Nancy Hudson, Assistant Professor, OSU Extension at Wooster; Susan Shockey, Associate Professor, OSU Extension. Amount funded: $32,800; matching from the Department of Consumer Sciences; College of Law; School of Teaching and Learning; School of Physical Activity and Educational Services; Department of Extension: $27,400 total

This project identified the personal finance topics taught in Ohio high schools, which teachers are teaching the courses, and which students attend the classes; determined the personal finance education and knowledge of high school teachers; compared legislative efforts concerning personal finance education in Ohio and other states; and conducted a meta-analysis of existing financial literacy programs and training available to Ohio K-12 teachers. The study found that the majority of personal finance instruction was offered by three academic content areas: Family and Consumer Sciences, Business Education, and Social Studies. Approaches to the topic differed by content area, but all three were challenged by the lack of classroom time and materials to teach personal finance. The survey was conducted just as the Ohio House of Representatives voted to mandate financial education in Ohio high schools.

Strategies for College Success

PI: Bruce Tuckman, Professor, School of Policy and Leadership, College of Education and Human Ecology; Partners: Project Grad, Columbus City Schools, Columbus, Ohio; Columbus Teaching Academy, Columbus City Schools and the Colleges of the Arts and Sciences; Metro High School, The Educational Council. Amount funded: $20,000; matching from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE): $42,118

This study was an extension of a project initiated with support from FIPSE. This phase of the project continued and expanded the research on Strategies for Achievement, an innovative approach to help students increase their motivation and learning skills. Aimed at secondary and postsecondary students, Strategies for Achievement has shown significant promise. This project provided additional evidence of its effectiveness.

P-12 Policy Scholar 2006: The School-Community Relationship in the Age of Choice

PI: Ann Allen, Assistant Professor, School of Policy and Leadership, College of Education and Human Ecology. Amount funded: $9,900; matching from the School of Educational Policy and Leadership: $9,900

Dr. Allen examined the school-community relationship in Dayton, Ohio, a city where public charter schools are a significant part of the public school landscape. The study increased understanding about how shifts in public policy affect the way public schools—district or charter—are supported in communities, how equity concerns are addressed, and how public interests are represented in school decisions.

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2005 Scholars

Comparison of Three Variations of Repeated Reading Lessons on Student Comprehension and Reading Passage Performance

PI: Laurice Joseph, Assistant Professor, School of Physical Activity and Educational Services, College of Education and Human Ecology; Partner: Wynona Smith, Special Education Director, Hamilton Local Schools. Amount requested: $19,901.

Very little research has been conducted on linking reading fluency instruction methods with reading comprehension performance. This project sought to determine the most effective and efficient method of improving reading comprehension and oral reading performance for disadvantaged primary grade children in Hamilton Local Schools, which is a district in need of intervention that desires a closer collaborative relationship with Ohio State.

Reducing Special Education Risk for Young At-Risk Urban Learners

PI: Gwendolyn Cartledge, Professor, School of Physical Activity and Educational Services, College of Education and Human Ecology; Partners: Columbus City Schools Early Childhood Department. Amount requested: $19,982.

Nearly 70% of urban poor and minority children lack the essential skills necessary for academic success. Poor minority children are referred to special education 2.3 times more often than their majority peers and one-half of this population drops out by 10th grade. Columbus City Schools students mirror these national statistics. This project focused on young urban students at their point of entry into school. It studied the effects of phonemic awareness and phonics early intervention with kindergarten students in Columbus City Schools, as delivered by teaching assistants.

Research with Immigrant and Urban Youth: Learning Academic and Social Languages in After-School Programs

PI: Patricia Enciso, Associate Professor, School of Teaching and Learning, College of Education and Human Ecology; Partner: The Educational Council, Brad Mitchell, Exec Director. Amount requested: $20,001.

Working across three action research studies and focused on after-school programming in monolingual communities, the project examined Hispanic students’ acquisition of academic tools and social skills. The study demonstrated the capacity of young people to be interested in the diversity around them, which can be used as a resource to make a positive contribution to their community and school lives.

The Transfer of Literacy Competencies by Adolescents in School and Internship Settings: A Pilot Study

PIs: Caroline Clark, Associate Professor, School of Teaching and Learning, Mollie Blackburn, School of Teaching and Learning; Helen Marks, School of Educational Policy and Leadership, College of Education and Human Ecology. Amount requested: $20,000.

This project was a pilot study in preparation for a proposal to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Research suggests that adolescents, regardless of race and ethnicity are not acquiring and applying understandings of literacy that would enable them to engage in higher-level problem solving and the complex forms of reading necessary in an information-driven society. The study developed and tested quantitative and qualitative research instrumentation examining the transfer of adolescent literacy competencies as they move from setting to setting and the adjustments they make that affect literacy transfer.

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2004-05 Scholars

Using ePortfolios to Assess and Facilitate High School Student Preparedness for University Writing Expectations

PI: Dr. Stephen R. Acker, Associate Professor of Journalism and Communication and Director of Learning Technologies Research and Innovation; Partners: Kay Halasek, Associate Professor of English and Coordinator of the University Writing Center; Sheryl Hansen, Director of Professional Development, The Ohio Learning Network; Pete Maneff, Executive Director of High School Curriculum and Career-Technical Education, Columbus City Schools; and Meredith Melragon, Coordinator of Quality Instruction, Dublin City Schools.

The study focused on improving the alignment between critical writing skills acquired by high school students and those important in college first-year writing programs.

Measuring School Effectiveness: Isolating School from Nonschool Effects

PI: Dr. Douglas B. Downey, Associate Professor of Sociology. Partners: Paul von Hippel, Statistician, Department of Sociology, and Melanie Hughes, graduate student, Department of Sociology

Dr. Downey’s study used the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort data from 20,000 students attending over 1,000 schools. Dr. Downey sought to develop an assessment tool that more persuasively separated school and nonschool effects on student learning, which has the potential to suggest changes in school evaluation.

High School Students’ Emotion and Emotion Regulation during Test Taking: The Role of Identification with Academics and School Belonging

PI: Dr. Heather A. Davis, Assistant Professor, School of Policy and Leadership, College of Education and Human Ecology; Partners: Paul Schutz, University of Georgia, Department of Educational Psychology and Christine DiStefano, Louisiana State University, Research Methodology

Dr. Davis sampled 600 Columbus metropolitan area students to explore the nature of high school students’ emotional experiences and emotion regulation during test taking, specifically with regard to student identification with academic and social belonging. The study will be used to develop a database of information that supports the professional development of high school teachers in public schools.

Mapping the Articulation of Computer and Information Literacies and Technology Resources in the Community Surrounding the OSU University District

Dr. Rick Voithhofer, Assistant Professor, School of Policy and Leadership, College of Education and Human Ecology

The study examined the conceptualization of computer and information literacies of key school educators and community leaders in the University District, determined the ways in which these literacies are supported with existing resources, and mapped the technology resources available to P-12 students in the University District.

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