Featured Awards – September 2013

Eden Kyse and Rebecca Swann-Jackson (Center for Research and Evaluation on Education and Human Services, CEHS) were awarded $33,231 for “Evaluation of the NJ GEAR UP Program.”  GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) is a federally-funded program implemented in New Jersey by New Jersey Higher Education. The program, centered in urban areas of the state, aims to prepare and increase the number of low-income students—many of whom are first generation, aspiring college students—to enroll and be successful in postsecondary education.

Aihua Li (Department of Mathematical Sciences, CSAM) received $5,804 from National Security Agency for the second year of “Garden State Undergraduate Mathematics Conference 2013-2014” in support of the 2014 conference and a one-day regional workshop for about 50 faculty members from the Greater New York/New Jersey area. GSUCM is an annual all-day mathematics conference in New Jersey for approximately 150 students and 35 schools from throughout the region. The workshop will be the first faculty workshop in New Jersey that focuses on undergraduate research issues. It will provide opportunities for faculty members to share their experiences in directing undergraduate research and out-of-classroom activities in mathematics.

Robert McCormick (Center for Child Advocacy, CHSS) received a subaward from Rutgers University/NJ Department of Children and Families for $1,000,000 for the “New Jersey Child Welfare Training Program” for 2013-2014. The Center provides training for Area Directors, Assistant Directors, Local Office Managers, and Case Work Supervisors employed by the New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services in Essex, Union, Hudson, Bergen and Passaic Counties. The objective of this training program is to manage and coordinate a competency-based, family-centered, culturally relevant statewide workforce development program for the child welfare/child protection agency in New Jersey.
Dr. McCormick also received $116,624 from the N.J. Department of Children and Families for “Post BA Certificate in Adolescent Advocacy” for 2013–2014. It is being developed initially for Division of Youth and Family Services workers and Department of Children and Families workers who wish to further their expertise in working with adolescents in the public welfare system.

Robert Reid and Pauline Garcia-Reid (Family and Child Studies, CEHS) received $125,000–the first year of a five-year $625,000 award–from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) for “Paterson Coalition Against Substance Abuse (P-CASA).” The proposed project seeks to develop the infrastructure of an anti-drug coalition targeting at-risk racial and ethnic minority adolescents in Paterson’s 1st Ward. As a collaborative effort between Montclair State University and a diverse group of community stakeholders, P-CASA will introduce evidence-based environmental prevention strategies to meet the goals of the Drug Free Communities Grant Program, which are to increase community collaboration and reduce substance use among youth aged 12–17.

Alina Reznitskaya (Educational Foundations, CEHS) was awarded $175,587 for the second year of a three-year subaward from the US Department of Education/University of Ohio for “Dialogic Teaching: Professional Development in Classroom Discussion to Improve Students’ Argument Literacy.”  The project’s objective is to produce a professional development program in dialogic teaching that will help foster teachers’ knowledge, skills, and expertise in how to conduct classroom discussions about text to promote students’ argument literacy.

The U.S. Department of Education awarded Jennifer Robinson (Center for Pedagogy, CEHS) $860,289 for the fifth and final year of “Teacher Quality Partnership.” The project involves one hundred new teachers who serve as “resident teachers” by participating in full-time, paid clinical apprenticeships with highly qualified mentor teachers. Simultaneously, residents are engaging in rigorous coursework and will receive a master’s degree and teacher certification in mathematics, science, early childhood/elementary, and special education. Upon completion of the master’s degree, residents will be hired by Newark Public Schools and will receive induction support through the project, which will also be made available to all new teachers in Newark Public Schools.

Meiyin Wu (Passaic River Institute, CSAM), Robert Prezant (Dean, CSAM), and Joshua Galster and Clement Alo (Earth & Environmental Studies, CSAM) received a subaward for $67,672 from Rutgers University/NJ Department of Environmental Protection for “Strategies for Flood Risk Reduction for Vulnerable Coastal Populations along Hackensack River at Moonachie and Little Ferry and along Hudson River at Hoboken and Jersey City.” These communities are at risk from flooding due to their location and physical setting. During Super Storm Sandy, both Moonachie and Little Ferry were severely inundated after the eight-and-half-foot high storm surge overtopped the five-foot low berm at multiple locations. This project will identify and evaluate alternatives for flooding risk reduction for the vulnerable coastal populations.