Projects
Current Projects
Mathematics and Science Teacher Education Graduates in Ohio: An Inquiry into Causes of Pre-service Attrition
Data collected and maintained by the Ohio Board of Regents and the Ohio Department of Education indicates that Ohio experiences a significant rate of attrition in mathematics and science teacher education graduates from the time of successful graduation from a mathematics and/or science teacher education program to securing an initial professional position. Less than half of all these teacher education graduates become teachers in Ohio's school systems. In response to this trend, The Ohio Board of Regents (OBR) requested that The Ohio Collaborative develop and administer a state-wide survey of mathematics and science teacher education graduates of the 2004 and 2005 cohorts. The primary goal of this survey was to determine what factors are contributing to the loss of these potential teachers.
Step Up to Quality: State Expansion Evaluation and Continued Research
Step Up To Quality (SUTQ) is a voluntary three-star quality rating system for early childhood programs licensed by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS). Designed to promote school readiness by improving the quality of licensed early care and education programs in Ohio, it was also created to provide parents with an easy-to-use tool in selecting early childhood programs. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services has engaged The Ohio Collaborative to conduct a study in connection with the state wide expansion of the SUTQ Initiative.
Safe Schools Policy Analysis
The Ohio Department of Education has engaged the Ohio Collaborative to conduct a policy analysis that includes a review of expert opinions and other state policies that promote both physical and psychological safety for school staff and students. In addition, the analysis includes a review of both current Ohio Revised Code and state board adopted policies that address physical and psychological safety and identify policy gaps between national expertise and current state policy.
STARS Review
The Ohio Collaborative is assisting the Ohio Board of Regents in a comprehensive review of its Student Achievement in Research and Scholarship Program.
Reducing college drinking: The Pragmatics Project
The Pragmatics Project is part of a three-year research project funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) under its Rapid Response to College Drinking funding mechanism. The project is based on research conducted by Cynthia Buettner and on the long-term recommendations of the OSU Taskforce on Celebratory Riots that was chaired by David Andrews, Dean of the College of Education and Human Ecology.
The first purpose of the project is the evaluation of the impact of a student engagement intervention model (The Pragmatics Project) on reducing high risk drinking and mixed-issue campus disturbances. Small problem-solving groups of students use a pragmatic approach to studying, proposing, implementing, and evaluating limited projects designed to result in targeted changes in the environment. The environmental targets for change are factors that are correlates of high risk drinking and associated behaviors among college students. The second purpose of the research project is to empirically evaluate the relationship between high risk drinking rates and the incidence of off-campus student disturbances (or the precursors to these relatively rare events).
Articulation and Transfer Study
Under the direction of the Ohio Board of Regents, the Ohio Collaborative is collecting baseline data on the impact of the state's articulation and transfer practices on student experiences in transferring between Ohio institutions.
Kid Corps
The mission of OSU Kid Corps is to help preschoolers develop the skills needed for school success and to enhance the development of citizenship and community service among young adults. Kid Corps accomplishes this mission by engaging university students in providing direct services to young children and their families, to childcare providers, and to service organizations that work with this population. OSU Kid Corps is supported by funding from AmeriCorps, Fifth Third Bank, and The Ohio State University.
Columbus Public Schools Performance Data Protocol Project
The Ohio Collaborative is working with Columbus Public School administrators to develop a dynamic data a protocol system that will allow teachers, administration, and school board members to track performance on strategic goals.
Family Impact Seminars
The Ohio Collaborative is working to establish the University of Wisconsin model for working with legislators to identify areas where research findings might impact legislative decisions and to identify research and content experts that can speak to the area of interest for state legislators.
Completed Projects
Ohio Teacher Vacancy Survey
In an effort to track changes in the workforce of teachers in Ohio, the Ohio Department of Education created a vacancy survey as a mechanism to monitor shifts in the vacant and filled positions in schools. A part of the Conditions of Teaching report, this survey was designed to capture details on vacancies, as districts do not report this type of information through EMIS.
In conjunction with the Ohio Department of Education, The Ohio Collaborative developed the first Ohio Teacher Vacancy Survey in 2003. Revised and improved in 2004-2005 and again 2005-2006, the original vacancy survey collected data about teaching vacancies at the district level. The 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 vacancy surveys, however, targeted school level administrators as district personnel had expressed difficulty with reporting vacancy information in sufficient detail.
Step Up to Quality: State Pilot Evaluation and Benchmark Research
Step Up To Quality (SUTQ) is a voluntary three-star quality rating system for early childhood programs licensed by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS). Designed to promote school readiness by improving the quality of licensed early care and education programs in Ohio, it was also created to provide parents with an easy-to-use tool in selecting early childhood programs. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services engaged The Ohio Collaborative to conduct a study in connection with the pilot of the SUTQ Initiative. The study explored the relationship between SUTQ ratings and other standardized measures of quality environments, the effectiveness of the SUTQ benchmarks in establishing clear quality rating levels, and the success of the pilot program in terms of the satisfaction of center administrators and their stakeholders and in obtaining “buy in” to improving center quality.