$12.4M in Funding Awarded to CASTL Researchers in 2019

In 2019, faculty at the Curry School of Education and Human Development’s Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning (CASTL) received a total of $12.4 million in new grant funding to research a range of topics spanning early childhood to postsecondary education. With the funding, CASTL is working side-by-side with policy and practice partners to address critical issues facing the education field, including scaling up teacher supports to improve well-being, developing evidence-based online courses, integrating learning mindset-supportive practices into postsecondary access initiatives, testing tiered delivery of reading interventions, using data to inform teacher professional development planning and selection of evidence-based practices for use with students.

The following grants were awarded in 2019:

1. Project CATALYZE: The Impact of CARE and PATHS on Students’ Success 

   • Faculty: Patricia Jennings

   • Funding Source: US Department of Education

   • Amount: $4,000,000

   • Relevant articles: Does Supporting Teachers' Well-Being Improve Student Outcomes?

2. Virginia Kindergarten Readiness Program 2019-20

   • Faculty: Amanda Williford

   • Funding Source: Virginia Department of Education

   • Amount: $1,450,000

   • Relevant articles:

     • Virginia Legislature Expands UVA’s Kindergarten Readiness Program Statewide

     • Boosting Kindergarten Readiness Through Professional Development

3. Assessment, Instruction and Mathematics in Kindergarten Classrooms (AIM)

   • Faculty: Virginia Vitiello

   • Funding Source: Institute of Education Sciences

   • Amount: $1,399,974

   • Relevant articles: Researchers AIM to Enhance Kindergarten Math Instruction With New Grant

4. Learning Mindset Supports and Practices in Effective Postsecondary Advising

   • Faculty: Chris Hulleman

   • Funding Source: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

   • Amount: $1,159,053

   • Relevant articles: Gates Foundation Awards UVA $1.2M For Learning Mindset Study

5. Advancing Effective Interactions and Instruction in Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI) Classrooms

   • Faculty: Amanda Williford

   • Funding Source: Virginia Department of Education

   • Amount: $1,050,000

6. Testing the Efficacy of Reading RULES: A Tier 1 and Tier 2 Intervention for First Grade Children with Decoding and Comprehension Difficulties

   • Faculty: Emily Solari

   • Funding Source: Institute of Education Sciences

   • Amount: $753,305

7. Developing and Testing Online, Scalable, Effective Early Childhood Courses in the Context of Innovative Partnerships

   • Faculty: Jennifer LoCasale-Crouch

   • Funding Source: Stranahan Foundation

   • Amount: $600,000

8. University System of Georgia STEM Initiative Support

   • Faculty: Chris Hulleman

   • Funding Source: Board of Regents of The University System of Georgia

   • Amount: $400,000

9. Do Excessive School Absences Link to Children's Social-Behavioral Development and Executive Functioning?

   • Faculty: Arya Ansari

   • Funding Source: U.S. National Institutes of Health

   • Amount: $175,000

10. STREAMin3 Curriculum Model Pilot

    • Faculty: Amanda Williford

    • Funding Source: Virginia Department of Social Services

    • Amount: $325,000

    • Relevant articles: UVA Researchers Pilot New Early Childhood Education Curriculum in Virginia

11. iTHRIV Scholar - Parent-Child Brain Synchrony in Autism Spectrum Disorders

    • Faculty: Tanya Evans

    • Funding Source: School of Medicine/U.S. National Institutes of Health

    • Amount: $282,515

12. Valor Academies Evaluation

    • Faculty: Sara Rimm-Kaufman

    • Funding Source: Valor Collegiate Academies

    • Amount: $226,535

13. Alleghany STREAMin3

    • Funding Source: Alleghany Highlands YMCA

    • Amount: $192,000

    • Relevant articles: UVA Researchers Pilot New Early Childhood Education Curriculum in Virginia

14. Creating Productive Learning Mindsets in the University System of Georgia

    • Faculty: Christopher Yoichi Ito Tibbetts

    • Funding Source: Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia

    • Amount: $100,000

15. Charrette Design and Presentations

    • Faculty: Stephanie Wormington

    • Funding Source: Tennessee Board of Regents

    • Amount: $100,000

16. Quality Development in Child Daycare Through Web-Mediated Further Training for Supportive Child-Child Interaction in Heterogeneous Groups of Toddlers

    • Faculty: Jennifer LoCasale-Crouch

    • Funding Source: Universität Konstanz

    • Amount: $69,229

17. Nashville State Community College Student Engagement, Retention and Success (SERS) and College Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP)

    • Faculty: Christopher Yoichi Ito Tibbetts

    • Funding Source: Nashville State Community College

    • Amount: $41,976

18. Improving Teacher-Child Interactions in Ecuador

    • Faculty: Jennifer LoCasale-Crouch

    • Funding Source: Inter-American Development Bank

    • Amount: $28,032

19. African American Adolescent Development in Context: The Role of Congruence across Socialization Agents and Settings 

    • Faculty: Shereen El Mallah

    • Funding Source: Society for Research in Child Development

    • Amount: $7,500

20. MyTeachingPartner - Secondary PACE Project

    • Faculty: Kathy Neesen

    • Funding Source: Pace Academy

    • Amount: $5,423