Texas A&M Receives $12 Million Grant For Study Of Middle Schools In Texas

The College of Education and Human Development at Texas A&M University has received a $12 million grant to conduct research at the middle school level in rural, urban and suburban school districts across Texas.

The research grant from the U. S. Department of Education’s Office of Investing in Innovation (i3) will fund the program titled the “Literacy-Infused Science Using Technology Opportunity (LISTO): A Five-Year Validation Project.”

Project LISTO will be implemented and validated across 70 rural, urban and suburban schools in Texas, with approximately 11,200 students and 560 teachers expected to be involved.

Features of Project LISTO include innovations at both the teacher and student levels, standards-aligned science curriculum, virtual professional development as well as mentoring and pedagogical observations and Scientists as Role Models and Mentors (SRM2) which connects university students to grade-level students.

During past national i3 competitions, Texas A&M was the only university in the nation selected and recommended for funding at the validation level. In 2012, the same team of researchers received $15 million to validate similar work at the elementary school level.

“It is exciting that the work our faculty are doing will continue to have a positive impact on the education of students throughout Texas. Through collaboration between departments within the college, this research also has the power to transform education across the country,” said Dr. Joyce Alexander, dean of Texas A&M’s College of Education and Human Development.

The study is a collaboration between the Center for Research and Development in Dual Language and Literacy Acquisition (CRDLLA), Department of Educational Psychology, Department of Educational Administration and Human Resource Development and the Education Leadership Research Center. It is focused on best practices in literacy-infused science for English learners and economically challenged students in the middle school, grades 5-8, in rural, suburban, and urban school districts in Texas.

“Our research is nationally recognized and is impacting students, teachers and administrators not only across Texas, but also the nation and beyond,” said Dr. Rafael Lara-Alecio, director of CRDLLA and Principal Investigator for Project LISTO. “I truly thank Texas A&M and the i3 sponsoring agency for supporting our efforts. This socially responsible project is the continuation of over 70 combined years of work developing, implementing and validating curriculum, psychometric instruments, and technology to better equip the new generation of English learners, economically challenged students, teachers, administrators and parents.”