Six UC Davis School of Education faculty members have received a total of more than $5 million in grants from the Institute of Education Sciences, the statistics, research and evaluation arm of the U.S. Department of Education.

Each grant is for about $1.7 million. Here are the projects and grant recipients:

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  Learning opportunities for early elementary students with autism spectrum disorder in general education classrooms — Principal investigator Nicole Sparapani, assistant professor, and co-PIs Peter Mundy, professor, and Nancy Tseng, lecturer and supervisor in the Multiple Subject Credential Program, will examine teacher-student interactions in the context of mathematics and literacy instruction and how they relate to the students’ developmental and academic outcomes. Four-year project is expected to contribute to the improvement of educational outcomes for school-age children with ASD. Sparapani and Mundy are faculty in the School of Education and the MIND Institute.

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  Dual enrollment in high school and community college for career and technical education — In this three-year project, principal investigator Michal Kurlaender, professor and department chair, and co-PI Paco Martorell, associate professor, will assess California’s College and Career Access Pathways program, established under Assembly Bill 288 of 2015, whereby high schools and community colleges may partner to offer dual enrollment courses that count toward both a high school diploma and an associate degree. Using data from California’s nearly 116 community colleges and 3,000 public high schools, the research team will explore course offerings and student participation, and the relationship between course-taking and post-secondary outcomes.

• Professional development for online instruction at the community college level — Cassandra Hart, associate professor of education policy, and co-principal investigators from outside UC Davis will explore possible connections among faculty participation in professional development that targets online instruction, improved delivery of online instruction, and improved community college student outcomes; and investigate whether changes in particular online instructional practices correlate with student outcomes and whether particular professional development content correlates with changes in student outcomes. Four-year project will inform improved professional development for postsecondary faculty to help ensure student success in online courses in broad-access institutions.