News and Updates: Program Evaluation and Education Research (PEER) Group

Education researchers at the Friday Institute were tasked with evaluating the advanced teaching roles pilot program, which policymakers are now working to expand across North Carolina public schools.

A recently funded three-year, NSF grant will allow Callie Edwards, acting director of the Program Evaluation and Education Research (PEER) Group at the Friday Institute, to help investigate strategies aimed at improving the outcomes of undergraduate Black or African American men in entry-level mathematics courses in an effort to grow and diversify the STEM workforce.

The Friday Institute for Educational Innovation and the NC State College of Education have awarded three Catalyst Grants that are designed to increase research collaborations between faculty and staff at both entities and seed collaborative, high-impact research that will lead to further inquiry and support. 

This fall, the Friday Institute hosted Oak Foundation’s Learning Differences Programme Convening, held Sept. 13-15.

Through funding from Oak Foundation, researchers from the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation conducted an exploratory qualitative study, “Insight into Contemporary Professional Growth Needs for North Carolina Educators,” to better understand the classroom-, school- and district-level challenges North Carolina educators were facing one year into the pandemic. 

A new one-year, $349,286 grant from the U.S. Department of Education will allow a team at the Friday Institute to create and develop a sustainable community of elementary teachers to support ongoing integration of computer science (CS) concepts into core content areas.

The Friday Institute hosted local high school students to learn about education careers, practice interview skills and gain insight into some of the Friday Institute’s projects as part of WakeEd Partnership's Career Accelerator Program.

The Friday Institute’s Program Evaluation and Education Research Group, in partnership with the Social Science Research Institute (SSRI) at Duke University, has begun a qualitative research study of summer programs designed to mitigate the impacts of COVID on at-risk students.

The LASER Institute, a professional development program for early and mid-career researchers, held its first in-person weeklong summer workshop July 11-15 at the Friday Institute to support its scholars in their professional development throughout the year. 

Researchers from the Friday Institute are supporting the development of a through-grade assessment system the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction is piloting, the North Carolina Personalized Assessment Tool (NCPAT).