Completed Research Projects
Promoting Grit in Elementary School Students Through Culturally-Proficient Practices: Intervention and Evaluation
This study aimed to encourage culturally relevant teaching practices and help close the achievement gap through teacher training and consultation. Consultation focused on integrating grit promotion and cultural responsiveness into teachers’ Student Learning Objectives (SLOs). SLO’s involved the teachers identifying goals, developing individual interventions, and progress monitoring for individual students in need of improvement. The study had three parts: focus group, training, and consultation.
The project was initiated by a request from school administrators after receiving the results of our previous study in their school; they wanted to immediately follow up with an intervention. The project was developed in close collaboration with school staff, administrative leadership, and the school county’s Equity Initiatives Unit to ensure that it focused on the issues of greatest importance to the school and county as a whole.
Refugee Intervention Study
As a Fulbright Scholar, Coleen O’Neal completed a refugee teacher training and consultation intervention study in Malaysia. The goal of the study was to improve refugee teacher classroom management of refugee student behavior, attention, and emotions, and to promote healthy stress management. This study was done in collaboration with Fulbright alumni, NGO's, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Malaysia. Emphasizing classroom management and self-care, the project used a train-the-trainer model with the goal that the 124 participating teachers will train peers in their local schools. Find out more by viewing the Resilient Refugees Blog or by watching a short video on the project here.
Undocumented Latino/a Study
Dr. Michelle Espino and Dr. O'Neal studied emotions, stress, and academic functioning in addition to institutional supports among undocumented students taking advantage of the Maryland Dream Act, which permit them to pay in-state tuition rates at University of Maryland campuses. Check out the Dream Act Study Blog.
Early Head Start
Dr. O'Neal and her collaborators recently completed analyzing data on mother-child interactions within the Early Head Start program.