Impact Areas

Grand Challenges Projects

College of Education faculty are leaders in accelerating solutions to humanity’s grand challenges and shaping the future of our community, nation and world. 

Social Justice

Mizzou student protest

Anti-Black Racism Initiative 
Confronting anti-Black racism through cross-departmental faculty-student research and workshops, symposia and networking events.  

Latinx Student

Encuentros: A University-Community Partnership to Mitigate the Mental Health Crisis for Latino Immigrant Youth
Addressing mental health issues and increasing well-being among low-income Latino immigrant youth in Maryland facing impacts from racism, discrimination and trauma. 

Donald J. Bolger and Simone Gibson, principal investigators of the Maryland Initiative for Literacy and Equity

Maryland Initiative for Literacy & Equity (MILE)
Increasing literacy among marginalized populations in Maryland, through research, education, professional development and community and policy outreach. 

Racial and Social Justice Collaborative Launch

Racial and Social Justice Research-Practice Partnership Collaborative

Establishing research-practice partnerships between the University of Maryland and local school districts to address racial and social injustice in education. 

Cixin Wang teaching

An Innovative Intervention to Help Asian American Families Cope with Racism and Related Mental Health Difficulties
Implementing culturally sensitive interventions to help Asian American families talk about racism, discrimination and associated mental health issues and learn positive parenting practices and youth coping strategies.

Parent and child reading a book

How Does Statistical Learning Interact with Socioeconomic Status to Shape Literacy Development?
Determining whether explicitly teaching statistical learning (the ability to detect patterns or sequences in the environment) might reduce socioeconomic disparities in children’s literacy development. 

Ethical and Trustworthy Technology

technology assistive device

Maryland Initiative for Digital Accessibility
Ensuring that individuals with disabilities are engaged in technology design research from the beginning of the process so that digital technology–including in education, health, employment, commerce and civic engagement–is accessible to all. 

MPoweringTeachers

M-Powering Teachers: Using Machine Learning to Measure and Improve Equity in K-12 Mathematics Classrooms
Helping educators teach more equitably and reduce racial and ethnic achievement gaps in math. 

globe technology

Values-Centered Artificial Intelligence
Developing artificial intelligence tools, theories and practices that align with community needs, ethics and values such as human rights, justice and dignity. 

Threats to Democracy

VotingSummit2024

Maryland Democracy Initiative (MDI)
Striving to create a more fair and just society by amplifying research on civic engagement and voter trends, offering innovative teaching and learning opportunities for educators, and hosting events to promote democratic participation. 

Global Health/Misinformation

COVID-19classroom

Pandemic Readiness Initiative (PRI)
Integrating a broad array of social and behavioral sciences to learn from COVID-19 and other disasters to better prepare for future public health emergencies.