Faculty Research Residencies Showcase NCE Thought Leadership

In our NCE Impact Report 2020-2021, we wrote about our community-based, equity-focused, action-oriented research, scholarship, and grant-funded activity. One way our faculty showcase and fund their scholarship is through faculty research residencies and SEED grants. The latter awards pilot research of strategic importance to NLU or research that has future funding potential from external sources. 

2021-2022 SEED Grants include: 

Equity, Inclusion, and Access in Higher Education Learning Spaces, Jacyln Rivard, assistant professor 

Using the Rainbow Color Value System (RCVS) to Build a Pathway for Place Value, Xiuwen Wu, associate professor 

Language Equity in the Postsecondary Classroom, Colleen Hamilton, Assistant Professor, and Ryan McCarty, Assistant Professor

Meanwhile, the Faculty Research Residency program provides a vehicle for NCE curriculum renewal through small field-engaged research projects. Interested teams submit a research proposal that 1) identifies a problem of practice in the curriculum for investigation; 2) develops a coherent research plan to investigate the problem in one or more schools; and 3) targets three or more courses that are delivered within or across programs that will be improved as a result of the proposed research. It is open to both tenure track and professional practice track faculty.

As of the 2020-21 academic year, NCE has seen 30 total projects across 13 different academic disciplines, with 54 engaged faculty members. 

One project entitled “Re-Envisioning the Reading Program through an Equity Lens” proposed to examine the Reading Master’s program to understand how to make the course of study more equitable for all students. The faculty team, in collaboration with Educational Leadership faculty, created a case study approach and examined practices used by faculty. They also discussed readings and interrogated their teaching to answer the following questions: 

1. In what ways does our program (and the courses within it) currently highlight or uphold oppressive literacy practices and in what ways does it highlight or uphold anti-bias/anti-racist literacy practices? 
2. What changes can we make to our program/courses that will deliberately embed course elements, including readings, videos, and assignments, that reflect an equity-focused, culturally sustaining approach to literacy instruction?
1. What immediate changes can be implemented?
2. What long-range, sustainable, and socially and racially just changes can be mapped out?
3. What can we identify from our study that is most influential in moving us toward these changes? 

While the research is ongoing, the Reading Program has already taken several steps as a result of this project. They have created essential questions focused on equity to guide the overall program and each course and they are in the process of revising the program philosophy statement and program learning outcomes to center equity. This project has surveyed and interviewed current students and alumni about how well the reading program has addressed equity issues and prepared them to engage in anti-bias/anti-racist literacy instruction. Faculty are in the process of interviewing principals to get their insight on how best to prepare teachers for the challenges and opportunities they will encounter in schools. They are also planning a focus group with adjunct professors to understand their perspectives and determine the professional development that is needed for instructors to engage in this work.

Recent faculty research residency projects include: 

2021-2022

• Re-Envisioning the Reading Program through an Equity Lens
  Sophie Degener, Mary Hoch, Ryan McCarty, Ruth Quiroa, Tina Curry, and Gloria McDaniel - Hall 

• Stakeholder Informed Program Evaluation
  Elizabeth Minor, Christine Nelson, Carla Sparks, and Sherell Wilson

• Strategies to Create a Pipeline of Black Male and Latinx School Leaders to Address Equity, Anti-Racist, and Culturally Relevant Practices in School
  Harrington Gibson and Cheryl Watkins

• Teacher Candidates’ Learning on Feedback: An Evaluative Study of PBT-Guided Teacher  Preparation Design and Impact.
  Xiuwen Wu, Diane Salmon, Kate Zilla, and Kathleen Kotel

2020-2021

• The Changing Face of Teaching and Learning: Adaptive Changes in the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic
  Angela Elkordy, Jack Denny, Ayn Keneman, and Donna Wakefield

• A Follow-Up Study of Recent Graduates' Perceptions of Special Education High Leverage Practices (HLPs) and Practice of Feedback
  Xiuwen Wu, Kate Zilla, Kathleen Kotel, Diane Salmon

To read about past research residencies, click here.