Project Description:
Burke, M. (PI), Boon, R. (PI), & Bowman-Perrott, L. (PI) (2021-2026). BU: Davis, T. (Co-PI), Gerow, S. (Co-PI), & Sulak, T. (Co-PI). TAMU: Tong, F. (Co-PI), Eslami, Z. (Co-PI). UTSA: Ewoldt, K. (Co-PI), Huang, B. (Co-PI), Neely, L. (Co-PI). Project DIVERSE: Doctoral Scholars Implementing Socially Valid Evidence-Based Practices and Research for Improving the Language, Literacy, and Social-Emotional Outcomes of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Learners. U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. Consortium Doctoral Leadership grant. (Funded, Total award $3,766,943).
Project DIVERSE Summary
Project DIVERSE will prepare 15 doctoral scholars focused on developing expertise in evidence- based practices (EBPs) focused on academic language, assessment, and social, emotional, and behavioral support for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) Learners with disabilities. Project DIVERSE focuses on a "needs based" language and disability inclusive approach to special education that (a) cuts across disability areas, (b) emphases individualized intervention of learning and/or behavior difficulties within a prevention science framework, and (c) focuses on evidence-based practices to improve special education services for CLD learners with disabilities. Project DIVERSE represents an interdisciplinary collaboration between (1) Department of Educational Psychology at Baylor University (BU), (2) Department of Educational Psychology (Bilingual/ESL and Special Education Divisions) at Texas A&M University (TAMU), and (3) Departments of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching and Department of Bilingual-Bicultural Studies at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA).
Existing doctoral programs at the three participating universities will be leveraged to prepare fifteen doctoral scholars (five per university) to assume leadership positions at institutions of higher education with preparation in evidence-based interventions and advanced research methods focused on high need CLD learners with disabilities. Project DIVERSE scholars will participate in a rigorous, research-intensive, competency-based doctoral program that combines coursework in foundational and advanced research methods and active research participation with in-depth training in evidence-based practices. These doctoral scholars will be prepared to conduct socially valid educational and behavioral research that will contribute success, wellbeing, and flourishing of this population of learners.
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We now have all five of our doctoral scholars at TAMU. One is a second year student in the SPED Emphasis Area program and one is a first year student in the BESL Emphasis Area program. There will be three additional scholars starting in Fall 2024: two in the SPED Emphasis Area program and one in the BESL Emphasis Area program. (As a note, UTSA has four of their five slots filled, and Baylor has two or three.)
I've continued working with the lead PI, and other co-PI at UTSA on getting students set up with their pre-scholarship agreements, recruiting, and possible collaborative efforts for our doctoral scholars and students at a university in Ecuador. We have planned a virtual Project DIVERSE welcome/orientation for all of our doctoral scholars across the three universities for next month (August 2023).
One of our Project DIVERSE doctoral scholars, Eboni Bailey-Bonaiti, was awarded the Texas A&M University-Educational Psychology Outstanding Graduate Student Service Award for serving as the doctoral student on the Special Education Tenure Track Faculty Search Committee in Spring 2023. She was also a presenter at the Texas A&M University Student Research Week Presenter, and was the Second-Placed Winner at this event. She was co-presenter on the topic: Do you think Individualized Educational Plans (IEP) are culturally and linguistically responsive? Let's Talk about it in April 2023.
Our Project DIVERSE doctoral scholar Dulce Freitas has been an integral part of two scoping review research teams. One is focused on bullying among students with emotional disturbance (ED; served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), and the other is focused on children and youth with ED who have co-occurring speech/language difficulties.
