Faculty and Staff Grants From July 2022

Doug Clements, Julie Sarama and Denis Dumas, faculty at the Marsico Institute for Early Learning at Morgridge College of Education

• Grant from Department of Education and Institute of Education Sciences
• Project abstract: Most young children and their teachers do not have access to research-based early childhood math resources. The pandemic further limited such access, especially for underserved children. Building on our successful research projects, we propose developing and evaluating an innovative, integrated, intelligent and interactive system of technologies based on empirically validated learning trajectories that will provide the best of personal and digital tools for assessing and supporting children’s learning.

E. Paige Lloyd, assistant professor of psychology at the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

• Grant from National Institutes of Health
• Project abstract: Pain is a prevalent and consequential health concern. However, pain care is not equally distributed across race. Although there is consistent evidence of pain care disparities, there is no work integrating models of race perception or experimentally examining the contribution of these processes to pain care decisions. The overall objective of this research is to identify treatment biases, examine the underlying psychological processes of pain treatment decisions and attenuate biases in such psychological processes.

Alissa Rausch, assistant professor at Morgridge College of Education

• Grant from Early Milestones Colorado (subaward Administration for Children and Families)
• Project abstract: In most communities in Colorado, children with disabilities are served in the public preschool setting. Some families of children diagnosed with disabilities are forced to find multiple arrangements for care or they decline services from the school district entirely due to challenges in finding full-day care (National Center for Education Statistics, 2020). The mixed service delivery model associated with Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) creates more opportunities for children diagnosed with disabilities to attend and receive services in childcare if their families choose that option. This project aims to build the capacity of childcare programs to serve children with disabilities with quality care and inclusive learning opportunities.

Kristin Klopfenstein, director of the Colorado Evaluation and Action Lab

• Grant from Imagination Library (subaward Colorado Department of Education)
• Project abstract: The purpose of this project is to provide for a high-quality independent evaluation assessing the impact of the Colorado Imagination Library Program on kindergarten readiness.

Meredith Silverstein, Megan Keniston and Shaina Swain, staff at Graduate School of Social Work

• Grant from Mile High Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse (subaward Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)
• Project abstract: There is an urgent need for support for community-based overdose prevention programs and services. The Butler Institute will provide evaluation support to Mile High Behavioral Healthcare’s Harm Reduction Program Grant serving Colorado's LGBTQ+, transgender and gender-expansive communities. Butler will provide an outcome and process evaluation, including data collection, analysis and required reporting.

Cullen Hendrix, faculty at Josef Korbel School of International Studies

• Grant from International Studies Association
• Project abstract: This project supports the duties of the International Studies Association program chair. These duties include program development, hiring and supervision of a program assistant, travel to the conference, and provides funds for supporting ISA-related research and activities.

Meredith Silverstein, staff at Graduate School of Social Work

• Grant from Mile High Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse
• Project abstract: Mile High Behavioral Healthcare (MHBH) was awarded a grant from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment in support of the MHBH Transgender Center of the Rockies. The Butler Institute for Families at the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work will conduct a comprehensive program evaluation. Butler will, in collaboration with MHBHC staff and social media campaign consultants, produce two microvideos designed to increase awareness and destigmatize perceptions of prevention and regular testing for sexually transmitted infections (STI), HIV and viral hepatitis (VH).

Rachel Forbes, assistant professor at Graduate School of Social Work

• Grant from Council on Social Work Education
• There is an increasing need to bring global perspectives into the U.S. classroom especially within the context of climate change. Social work educators need continued support and access to resources to address climate change in the classroom with a focus on global perspectives. This project will create knowledge pathways for social work educators and students by providing firsthand stories of the climate crisis from professionals, community members and activists outside of the U.S. Our goal is to create a transferable volume of curricular resources on climate justice and global environmental change.

Kristin Klopfenstein and Elysia Clemens, director and deputy director of Colorado Evaluation and Action Lab

• Grant from Pew Charitable Trusts
• Project abstract: Restricted

Sarah Watamura and Ariel Julian, faculty and staff at the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

• Grant from Early Milestones Colorado (subaward Colorado Department of Human Services)
• Project abstract: Restricted