Nine projects were selected in February to receive awards through AERA’s Education Research Service Projects (ERSP) initiative. ERSP is designed to encourage education researchers to offer their pro bono expertise to educational organizations, institutions, or other community groups that have identified and expressed a need for such assistance. The selected awardees receive small grants ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 to defray direct costs involved in these projects.
“As part of an invited symposium poster session at the 2014 AERA Annual Meeting, we learned about the results of several of the ERSP projects funded in 2013 and saw evidence of the positive impact of those projects for the educational entities being served,” said AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine. “Through the ERSP projects funded in 2014, the skills and expertise of education researchers will similarly enhance the education-related activities of nine educational entities, while simultaneously promoting a culture of education research service.”
The vision for the ERSP initiative was brought to AERA’s Council by then President Arnetha Ball, who saw the initiative as a way to reinforce the value of pro bono service in the field of education research and help shape a commitment among AERA members to serving the public good. The concept was embraced by Council and unanimously approved in April 2012 for an initial three-year period. Last year, the inaugural call for proposals resulted in the selection of 12 projects to receive awards.
In response to this year’s call for proposals, AERA received a large number of high-quality submissions that embraced the spirit of service that is central to the ERSP initiative. The ERSP selection committee, a subcommittee of AERA Council, chose the following nine projects to receive awards in 2014:
Examining the Effectiveness of a Parent Leadership Support Training (PLST) in Special Education Principal Investigator: Meghan M. Burke (University of Illinois at Chicago) Educational Entity: Family Resource Center on Disabilities (FRCD)
Building Data-Driven Capacity in OST Programs: NYU and CHCF Research Partnership Principal Investigators: Edward Fergus and Mellie Torres (New York University) Educational Entity: Committee for Hispanic Children and Families, Inc.
Immigrant Families and Educational Access in a Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Faith Community Principal Investigators: María Paula Ghiso (Teachers College, Columbia University) and H. Gerald Campano (University of Pennsylvania) Educational Entity: Aquinas Center
Supporting Community Integration in a New Immigrant Destination: A Research and Service Partnership Between the Pennsylvania State University and the Hazleton Integration Project Principal Investigator: Megan Hopkins (The Pennsylvania State University) Educational Entity: The Hazleton Integration Project
The Role of Mexican Culture and Spanish Language Maintenance in the Educational Needs and Advancement of Mexican 1.5- and Second-Generation Youth in the Netherlands Principal Investigator: Martha Montero-Sieburth (University of Amsterdam) Educational Entity: Association of Mexicans and Friends of Mexico in the Netherlands
The Collecting Asian American Refugee Stories (CARS) Project Principal Investigator: Samuel D. Museus (University of Denver) Educational Entity: Asian Pacific Development Center
Journey Home: The Influence of an Oral History and Community Assessment Project on the Lived Experience of Vietnamese Youth as Political Actors. Principal Investigator: Rand Quinn (University of Pennsylvania) Educational Entity: Boat People SOS, Delaware Valley Regional Branch
Ensuring Early Literacy Opportunities for At-Risk Preschoolers: Evaluating Multiple Pathways of the Impact in Salt Lake City Public Library’s Outreach Storytime Principal Investigator: Claire Seung-Hee Son (University of Utah) Educational Entity: Salt Lake City Public Library (SLCPL)
A Guiding Light for Students in the Shadows: A Qualitative Project for Providing College Counseling to Undocumented Students Principal Investigator: Michael J. Trivette (University of Georgia) Educational Entity: Freedom University
Brief abstracts of all ERSP projects funded in 2013 and 2014 are available on the AERA website. Results and findings of these ERSP projects will continue to be disseminated at the AERA Annual Meeting and through the AERA website.
The call for proposals for the next ERSP submission and review cycle will come out later this year, with a January 2015 deadline.