Highlights from NCSER (Archive)

Two NCSER-funded investigators, Lynn Fuchs and Steve Graham of Vanderbilt University, were recently selected as American Educational Research Association (AERA) Fellows in recognition of their contributions to the field of education research through exceptional scientific research.

• Lynn Fuchs is the Nicholas Hobbs Professor of Special Education and Human Development, where she also co-directs the Kennedy Center Reading Clinic. She is a highly prolific investigator, conducting research on assessment methods for enhancing instructional planning and on instructional methods for improving reading and math outcomes for students with learning disabilities. With NCSER funds, she has been developing a dynamic assessment for early mathematics in both English and Spanish versions. This type of assessment captures a student's ability to learn rather than what the student already knows. Fuchs is examining the contribution of this dynamic assessment, beyond static screening, for predicting students' mathematics outcomes in first grade. For more information, see the project abstract. Fuchs is also one of the principal researchers on NCSER's National Research and Development Center on Improving Mathematics Instruction for Students with Mathematics Difficulties. She directs the intervention development research that is examining methods for enhancing at-risk fourth-graders' understanding of fraction magnitudes. For more information, see the project abstract.


• Steve Graham is the Currey Ingram Professor of Special Education and Literacy. His research includes learning disabilities, writing instruction and writing development, and the development of self-regulation. Graham is a co-principal investigator on a recently funded NCSER project aimed at adapting an intervention, Strategic and Interactive Writing Instruction, that has shown promise for improving writing outcomes for deaf students in middle school for use with deaf students in grades 3 to 5. For more information, see the project abstract. Graham is also the co-principal investigator for a NCER-funded award, Creating Compositions Using a Technology-Based Writing Tool: Supporting Students With Universal Design for Learning. In this project, the investigators are developing and evaluating the Composition Builder, a web-based, guided-process writing tool that supports students in grades 6-8 in writing persuasive and expository compositions. For more information, see the project abstract.