Externally-Funded Projects

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Abstracts:

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Parent Infant Interaction Project (PIIP): Field Initiated Research

US Department of Education - National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research
Start Date: 10/01/08
End Date: 9/30/11

Principal Investigator LESLIE MUNSON
Phone: (503) 725-4687
Email: munsonl@pdx.edu

Purpose: The right to marry and raise children, long recognized as a fundamental human right, is often denied to individuals with intellectual disabilities (The ARC, 2002). Even as their numbers grow, parents with intellectual disabilities continue to be an "invisible and underserved population" (Booth & Booth, 1993, p. 459). Parents with intellectual disabilities are frequently under close scrutiny and may lose custody of their child due to suspicions of abuse or neglect (The ARC, 2002). They often lack the individualized supports necessary for successful parenting. While individualized supports can enhance interaction between parents and their child and improve the child's development (i.e., attachment, social-emotional, communication, cognitive), few models and materials are available for providing these supports to parents with intellectual disabilities. The Parent-Infant Interaction Project (PIIP) will develop an evidence-based curriculum for implementation by parents with intellectual disabilities and their professional or paraprofessional coach within natural environments to enhance parent-infant interaction and child development.

Goals of PIIP include:

  1. Develop a research-based curriculum, coaching model, and training materials for use by parents with intellectual disabilities and their coach in a collaborative process to enhance the parent-infant relationship and nurture child development.
  2. Conduct single subject studies of the effects of PIIP coaching model, curriculum, and training materials, including multiple-baseline design studies across goals and the collection of additional qualitative data.
  3. Field-test and evaluate the coaching model, curriculum and training materials through a multi-method study across three different types of early childhood/parent support programs.

Method: Partners in PIIP include Early Head Start and Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education, as well as a program providing supports for parents with intellectual disabilities. PIIP responds to the long-range plan of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) to provide "interventions that will enhance participation and integration of parents with disabilities (OSERS, 2006, p. 8184)."

The PIIP Coaching Model incorporates innovative strategies and applies technology that is accessible to individuals with intellectual disabilities. Innovative strategies include a model for coaching that focuses on self-determination and empowerment of parents as advocates and decision-makers for themselves and their child. The Infant-Caregiver Interaction Scale (Munson & Odom, 2004, rev.) will provide a tool to guide collaborative observation, goal-setting, and continuous feedback for parents and their coach. Accessible technology, including a DVD of Examples of Interaction Activities with video modeling, will be developed for use in coaching parents as they learn strategies to enhance parent-infant interaction within daily play activities. Strategies for planning individualized accommodations, such as easy-reading/picture activity schedules and menus, audio prompts, social stories, and self-management systems, to address parent-child needs will be included in the PIIP Curriculum and Training Materials.

Outcomes of PIIP include the Curriculum and Training Materials in print and on-line at an accessible website; materials to prepare parents with intellectual disabilities and their coaches for implementation of PIIP; Examples of Interaction Activities DVD; single subject, multiple baseline data investigating the effects of PIIP; and field test data investigating the usefulness and feasibility of PIIP. The PIIP Website, national presentations, and refereed publications will provide dissemination. A well know publisher has expressed interest in the publication of The PIIP Curriculum and Training Materials, if these studies present evidence to support publication.

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Futures Project: Preparing Special Educators to Use Evidence-Based Practices to Support Desirable Futures for Students with Significant Disabilities

US Department of Education - Office of Special Education & Rehabilitative Services
Start Date: 9/16/08
End Date: 7/15/12

Principal Investigator RUTH FALCO
Phone: (503) 724-4486
Email: falcor@pdx.edu

Purpose: The Futures Project prepares 60 highly qualified special educators at the master's degree level, including at least 18 culturally and linguistically diverse special educators, to use research-based teaching strategies to improve progress for elementary and secondary school age children and youth with significant and multiple disabilities, including cognitive impairments (severe mental retardation), autism, orthopedic impairments, and traumatic brain injury. The Futures Project recruits diverse paraprofessionals and others who are committed to providing high quality instruction to students with significant disabilities. Mentoring of participants by Futures Project staff and cooperating professionals supports successful program completion for all.

More than sixty-five percent of grant funds will be used to support candidates to complete their Special Educator initial licensure and their master's degree. First, participants will complete PSU competencies required for all special educators, including competencies aligned with the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) Individualized General Curriculum Standards competencies and aligned with CEC Individualized Independence Curriculum Standards. Participants will also add specific competencies focused on serving students with significant and multiple disabilities, through Futures Project seminars, advanced Futures Project coursework, field experience activities, and on-the-job activities.

Full-time participants will meet Oregon and Washington requirements for highly qualified special educators and be fully licensed at the end of four terms (full-time) or seven terms (part-time). Following their licensure, participants receive support in finding employment in a position serving students with significant disabilities. During their first year of teaching, graduates of the licensure program complete their master's degree, focusing on advanced competencies to serve students with significant and multiple disabilities and completing an Action Research Project. The Action Research Project will demonstrate how the beginning teacher has applied research-based practices in serving students with significant disabilities and improved students' performance in both general and independence curriculum areas. After completing the master's degree, graduates will participate in an on-going, Futures Project Collaborative Learning Community to support research-based practices in serving children and youth with significant and multiple disabilities.

Methods: Futures Project involves collaboration with local education agencies (LEAs) who are committed to the use of research-based practices, effective instruction in core academic areas, and high quality access to all aspects of the general education curriculum for students with significant disabilities. The LEAs are located in urban, suburban, and rural communities in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Futures Project collaborates with these LEAs to provide effective field experiences and student teaching experiences, to prepare current teachers serving students with significant disabilities who are not fully qualified, and to place all graduates in positions to serve students with significant disabilities after they complete licensure. Futures Project will also collaborate with LEAs to provide extensive mentoring during participants' first year of teaching students with significant disabilities, as well as provide on-going mentoring and an on-line, Collaborative Learning Community to support graduates during their subsequent years of teaching. The Collaborative Learning Community will also provide on-going support to personnel in collaborating LEAs, in order to support their knowledge and skills in research-based practices for students with significant and multiple disabilities and, thus, maintain high quality field experiences and employment settings for Futures Project participants.

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Technology for Early Childhood Braille Literacy (TEC-BL)

US Department of Education - Office of Special Education & Rehabilitative Services
Start Date 09/01/07
End Date 08/30/09

Principal Investigator JAMES BICKFORD
Phone: (503) 725-5495

Purpose: To answer the question of how to make Braille literacy more accessible, this project will investigate the efficacy of the new electronic note takers and Braille displays in early literacy instruction, and their potential for facilitating early literacy for children who are blind.

Method: The study will compare outcomes of instruction using the traditional Braille writer and paper, with outcomes of instruction using an electronic note taker with a Braille display among emergent and early literacy students who are blind and visually impaired. At least 10 children who are legally or functionally blind between the ages of five and seven, with measured cognitive ability within normal range or above, will participate. The selected participants will receive at least one hour of individual or small group reading instruction per day, with Braille as their primary reading modality. Licensed teachers of visually impaired learners will use their preferred curriculum for instruction but must be consistent in the use of that curriculum for the period of the study (at least 6 months). This study will use a single-subject, alternating treatment design with at least 10 participants. Each child will participate for at least 24 weeks. For each week of the study, the child will be randomly assigned to literacy instruction with the Perkins Braille Writer or with an electronic note taker with a Braille display. During the course of this study, weekly curriculum-based measurement (CBM) will be made using the media instruction for that week. CBM probes will determine student fluency in producing Braille symbols and words; fluency in reading Braille symbols and words; and fluency in reading passages in text at their instructional level. For each child, data paths for each measure and for each device will be analyzed using visual analysis. Differences will also be analyzed using randomization tests

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Highly Qualified Special Educators Program Improvement Project (HI-Q SPED)

US Department of Education - Office of Special Education & Rehabilitative Services
Start Date 08/01/07
End Date 07/31/12

Principal Investigator ANN FULLERTON
Phone: (503)725-4254

Purpose: The goal of this project is to increase the number of graduates who meet standards for Highly Qualified Special Education Teachers at both the elementary and secondary levels. Program graduates will receive the Master's-level special education teaching licensure to improve outcomes for children with high-incidence disabilities.

Method: Project partners include Portland State University (PSU) Graduate School of Education (GSE), PSU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS), Portland Community College, the Oregon Department of Education, and diverse urban/suburban school districts. The project will: (a) enhance recruitment and retention of increasing numbers of undergraduate and returning students with content area and multiple subjects undergraduate majors to become Highly Qualified Special Educators; (b) collaborate with PSU and PCC content area advisors to further develop pathways to licensure though undergraduate programs that combine a major with a minor in Education/Special Education; (c) develop a system of tutors, mentors and other innovative practices to support retention and success for individuals planning careers as Special Educators; (d) integrate competencies for evidence-based strategies that improve outcomes for children with high-incidence disabilities into undergraduate content area coursework and other prerequisite coursework for the Special Educator Programs, using effective personnel preparation strategies including practica in diverse schools; (e) incorporate research-based foundations for teaching children with high-incidence disabilities from diverse cultural and language backgrounds into undergraduate content area coursework and other prerequisite coursework; (f) plan and implement improved university-school partnerships involving local public schools with high enrollments of culturally and linguistically diverse children, including schools not making Adequate Yearly Progress under NCLB for children with high-incidence disabilities; and (g) improve the Special Educator Program Assessment System to provide technically sound formative and summative evaluation of applicants, candidates, and graduates to ensure they acquire knowledge and skills necessary to assist children in achieving State learning standards, meet state and national Highly Qualified Teacher requirements, and maintain school district support for improvements after federal funding ends.

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Bilingual Special Education (Bi-SpEd)

US Department of Education - Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA)
Start Date 07/02/07
End Date 07/01/12

Principal Investigator JULIE ESPARZA-BROWN
Project Director Phone: (503) 725-4696
Email: jebrown@pdx.edu

Purpose: The Bilingual Special Education (BiSPED) project will coordinate with a consortium of school districts and local community colleges to develop and provide a high-quality, research-based program for bilingual/bicultural instructional assistants leading to initial special education licensure in high incidence disabilities and ESL/Bilingual Endorsement.

Method: The project will develop and provide a research-based licensure program leading to highly qualified special educator status and ESL/Bilingual Endorsement to 40 bilingual/bicultural instructional assistants to increase LEP student success in general education and reduce referral to special education; mentor participants during their internship and first year teaching to increase retention of special education teachers trained in culturally and linguistically responsive research-based interventions, English language development, and equitable assessment; and, provide interns, first year graduates, and a team of school professionals on-site professional development that will enable them to avoid mistaking linguistic and cultural differences for disabilities and reduce disproportionate LEP student representation in special education.

This project will also address the longstanding issue of disproportionate (over and under) representation of LEP and other minority students in special education. This issue has plagued the field of education since first identified by Dunn in 1968. "A child’s race and ethnicity significantly influence the child's probability of being misidentified, misclassified, and inappropriately placed in special education programs" (EMSTAC, nd).

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Braille, Reading, Assessment, Independent Living, Low vision, Learning Media & Educational Services for Children & Youth in Under Served Areas (Project BRAILLE-USA).

US Department of Education - Office of Special Education & Rehabilitative Services
Start Date 01/01/07
End Date 12/31/10

Principal Investigator JAMES BICKFORD
Phone: (503) 725-5495
Web: http://www.pdx.edu/sped/vil

Purpose: This project will continue and expand its national distance education program to prepare teachers of children with blindness and visual impairments, allowing individuals who do not have access to a traditional training model the opportunity to access quality training, and thus help alleviate state and national shortages of qualified staff. The project will provide students with: (a) $1,500 summer living stipend; (b) minimum $10,000 grant to each qualified student toward tuition and fees; (c) resident tuition for students residing within the 14 state Western regional Graduate Program consortium; (d) on-site faculty supervision of practicum and internship placements; (e) Oregon initial licensure as a Teacher of children with visual impairments, or an endorsement upon a current teaching license.

Method: The program begins with an eight week summer session on campus for orientation, 15 credit hours of class work, at which time students return home to their community to complete 45 credit hours of coursework via Web: based internet instruction, with practicum and internships developed locally. Project BRAILLE - USA focuses upon accepting students from any US state or territory where access to a traditional university program is not available, although priority is given to students within the Western Regional Graduate Program consortium. Through a specific collaborative partnership with the state of Idaho, matching funds from the Idaho state Department of Education will be used to provide supplementary support and training for Idaho residents in the program. The program is designed to meet all CEC Common Core and Visual Impairment standards and to meet NCLB standards for 'highly qualified'.

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Inclusive Elementary Educators Project (IE2P)

US Department of Education - Office of Special Education & Rehabilitative Services
Start Date 01/01/07
End Date 12/31/10

Principal Investigator PAULA STANOVICH
Phone: (503) 725-4637
Email: pjstano@pdx.edu

Purpose: Portland State University will provide advanced Master's level training to educators working with students with high-incidence disabilities.

Method: The project will: (a) develop cohorts of highly qualified dual-licensed educators in Oregon and Washington who are prepared to serve students with high incidence disabilities; (b) improve the quality of the teacher preparation program through an intensive two-year master's degree program founded in research-based best practice with a focus on assessment and remediation, effective instruction, and teaming/collaborating for effective instruction; (c) improve educator quality by developing teachers whose training is grounded in standards-based reform and who are prepared to be educational change agents and leaders; and (d) disseminate information about the project model, regionally and nationally.

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Pathways to Preparing Culturally Responsive Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Educators (Pathways)

US Department of Education - Office of Special Education & Rehabilitative Services
Start Date 01/01/07
End Date 12/31/10

Principal Investigator LESLIE MUNSON
Phone: (503) 725-4687
Email: munsonl@pdx.edu

Purpose: This project will recruit for application to the program instructional assistants who are bilingual and/or bicultural or who wish to work with culturally/linguistically diverse (CLD) children and become licensed early intervention/early childhood special education (EI/SE) teachers.

Method: Specifically, the project will: (a) recruit, admit, and retain instructional assistants for completion of a three-year program leading to licensure in EI/SE; (b) provide an integrated (EI/SE) linguistic and cultural competency-based preservice program to participants; (c) monitor the instructional effectiveness of Pathways' graduates' for progress towards IFSP/IEP goals and objectives for young children with special needs; and (d) promote retention in the field by providing mentors and networking for graduates.

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Teachers of Children with Visual Impairments for Underserved

US Department of Education - Office of Special Education & Rehabilitative Services
Start Date 09/16/02
End Date 09/15/09

Principal Investigator JAMES BICKFORD
Phone: (503) 725-5495
Web: http://www.pdx.edu/sped/vil

Purpose: The critical shortage of teachers of students with visual impairments (TVIs) is well-documented and has been a chronic problem for school systems, especially in rural areas of the country. In response to the documented critical national shortage, Portland State University will shift its delivery services to a distance-learning model, in order to provide states without teacher preparation programs and individuals without access to a local program the ability to access quality training, thus alleviating shortages of qualified staff.

Method: Portland State University's distance learning model consists of a required eight-week summer session on campus, Web-based and CD- ROM instruction, shared Web: resources with other university programs, and on-site supervision and mentoring in the students' home communities.

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Early Childhood Outcomes Measurement Project (ECOMP)

US Department of Education - Office of Special Education & Rehabilitative Services

Start Date 01/01/06
End Date 12/31/07

Principal Investigator JOEL ARICK
Phone: (503) 725-4251
Email: arickj@pdx.edu

Purpose: The EC Outcomes Measurement Project (ECOMP) will support the enhancement of Part C outcome indicators and methods to collect and analyze Part C state outcome indicator data.

Method: The project will revise a recently pilot-tested assessment system, the EC Assessment System (ECAS). This will include revising and expanding the ECAS child outcome indicator items for children birth to 3 through a comprehensive literature review and by aligning them with 3-5 standards, school-age standards, and the 3 OSEP outcome indicators required for Part C monitoring (positive social-emotional skills; acquisition and use of knowledge and skills; and use of appropriate behaviors). A statewide field test of ECAS will be conducted to determine its feasibility, using a random sample of 500 children enrolled in Part C programs in Oregon and a random sample of 500 children in child care programs. The results of the field test will be used to conduct reliability and validity studies of the ECAS outcome indicators and data collection methods. A final version of ECAS will then be produced.

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Bilingual Teacher Pathway Program (BTP)

US Department of Education - Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA)

Start Date 09/30/02

End Date 09/29/08

Principal Investigator JULIE ESPARZA-BROWN
Project Director Phone: (503) 725-4696
Email: jebrown@pdx.edu
Web: http://btp.pdx.edu/

Purpose: The Bilingual Teacher Pathway (BTP) is a teacher preparation program designed to fill critical shortages of bilingual/bicultural teachers in the Portland and Southwest Washington regions. Working with district partners, we recruit and prepare bilingual/bicultural instructional assistants for initial teacher licensure along with an ESL/Bilingual Endorsement. Our Students seek to integrate their cultural wisdom with an academic knowledge base to enhance their skills and services in the instruction of all students but particularly those with diverse cultural, linguistic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Through a strong foundation in the social and cultural bases of learning, students learn to apply their unique perspectives for student, family, community and cultural advocacy and effective service delivery.

Method: The Project will recruit 25 bilingual/bicultural paraprofessionals per year into BTP's teacher licensure program; support and retain BTP students through to initial teacher licensure with an ESL/Bilingual Endorsement through individualized advising, assessment, student services, financial support, mentors and community building; Coordinate a seamless program of course work and field experiences for bilingual/bicultural paraprofessionals in the Portland Metro and Southwest Washington regions among community colleges, Portland State University and local school districts; Provide a research-based program of coursework to prepare bilingual/bicultural pre-service teachers to effectively teach all students, especially those with limited English proficiency; and, Provide specialized field-work for BTP students.

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Collaborative Professional Education Project (CPEP)

US Department of Education - Office of Special Education & Rehabilitative Services
Start Date 09/16/01
End Date 09/15/08

Principal Investigator RUTH FALCO
Phone: (503) 724-4486
Email: falcor@pdx.edu
Web: http://www.pdx.edu/sped/cpep

Purpose: The Collaborative Professional Education Project (CPEP) will provide an innovative approach to collaborative team education for approximately 175 preservice professionals. The program will provide advanced training and prepare professionals at the master's level, to improve outcomes for students with significant cognitive, physical, and sensory disabilities.

Method: Participants will be trained to be special educators, communication disorder specialists, vision specialists, occupational therapists, and physical therapists. The program will incorporate research-based curriculum and practices for serving children with significant and multiple disabilities, addressing special needs of children from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds through field experiences in settings provided by collaboration with state and local education agencies.

 

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Developing a Statewide Content Area Teacher Network through Communities of Practice

US Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education
Academic Improvement and Teacher Quality Programs: Title IIA, University/School Partnership (USP) Program
Start Date 12/01/06
End Date 06/30/08

Principal Investigator SUSAN J. LENSKI
Telephone: (503) 725-5403
Email: sjlenski@pdx.edu
Web: www.teachers.ed.pdx.edu
Research Team
Micki M. Caskey
Swapna Mukhopadhyay
Ron Narode

Purpose: The focus of the Content Area Teacher Network will be to develop communities of practice that include teacher candidates, inservice teachers, administrators, and university faculty who have an interest in incorporating reading and writing in science, mathematics, social sciences, language arts, and other subjects in order to improve student achievement in literacy and the content areas. The Content Area Teacher Network will be an actual and virtual meeting place for teachers to share effective practices.

Method: Teams of teachers in high-needs schools will meet as communities of practice to (a) identify the texts that students read in order to learn the subject, (b) work with consultants to identify discipline-specific reading strategies, (c) develop instructional materials, and (d) conduct classroom research to determine the effectiveness of the instructional materials. The teachers will be supported through on-site consultant visits, video or audio conferencing, a face-to-face meeting at a literacy symposium, and a website entitled, Content Area Teachers Network. In addition to the website, information about the project will be disseminated at national and regional conferences.

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Redesigning the Preparation of Science and Math Teacher Candidates to Promote Adolescent Reading Comprehension

Carnegie Corporation of New York, Adolescent Literacy Preservice Initiative: Reading Texts to Learn Content

Start Date 10/01/06
End Date 06/30/08

Principal Investigator SUSAN J. LENSKI
Telephone: (503) 725-5403
Email: sjlenski@pdx.edu
Research Team
Micki M. Caskey
Swapna Mukhopadhyay
Ron Narode

Purpose: The focus of this project will be the redesign of math and science teacher preparation to emphasize and integrate literacy strategies. The project will include four strategic objectives: (1) to redesign the preparation of math and science teachers to include a strong emphasis on incorporating literacy strategies to learn content; (2) to increase the rigor of the teacher as researcher component of the teacher preparation program in order to prepare a cadre of new teacher researchers, (3) to develop a network that connects teacher candidates with inservice content area teachers who are committed to improving adolescent literacy, and (4) to involve interested stakeholders, such as the Graduate School of Education, the College of Liberal Arts and Science, the Oregon Department of Education, and Portland Public Schools in the preparation of math and science teachers.

Method: The project will (a) convene a Collaborative Design Team of Curriculum and Instruction faculty, Arts and Science faculty, scientists, mathematicians, and cooperating teachers from Portland Public Schools to develop innovative instructional materials; (b) organize an Advisory Council of interested stakeholders to provide input into the preparation of math and science teachers; (c) to develop innovative instructional materials (i.e., exemplary math and/or science lessons) to share with teacher candidates; (d) to revise the syllabi in the Graduate Teacher Education Program (GTEP) for the following courses: content area literacy, science/math methods, and advanced science/math methods; (e) to develop a cadre of adolescent literacy researchers by redesigning the existing Teacher as Researcher course, strengthening the data collection, and analysis components, and embedding the course work in clinical practice; (f) to develop an advanced content area literacy course for teacher candidates and inservice teachers; (g) to develop a Content Area Teacher Network consisting of university faculty, teacher candidates, and inservice teachers who are committed to adolescent literacy; and (h) to develop website, Content Area Teachers Network,that includes innovative instructional materials, revised syllabi, and teacher candidate research papers. Information about the project will be disseminated at national and regional conferences as well as in manuscripts for publication.