Programs

Collaborative Efforts Drive Success

College of Education faculty members pioneer funded research, outreach and programmatic initiatives with impact on a wide range of critical health and education issues. Our greatest success is found in collaboration with colleagues who are also committed to building better futures for all. Below are just a few examples of recent compelling and collaborative projects.

GEAR UP Achieve

Led by efforts from the College of Education and University Outreach, Auburn University received a seven-year $18.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education in 2023 to provide greater access and opportunities to more than 6,500 Alabama middle school students.

“GEAR UP Achieve is significant for Auburn’s College of Education in a variety of ways, including being the largest grant in the college’s history. We’re focused on the impact this collaborative initiative will have on the lives of students and families. We’re ready to roll up our sleeves and get to work with our colleagues in University Outreach and partners throughout the state to impact the next generation of students, who will have greater access to higher education and be equipped to thrive in college because of GEAR UP Achieve.” — Jeffrey T. Fairbrother, College of Education dean and Wayne T. Smith Distinguished Professor

DREAM-Math

Funded by a $3.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation’s Noyce Scholarship Program, the Developing, Recruiting and Empowering Alabama Mathematics Teachers, or DREAM-Math, project provides a unique opportunity for those with a degree in a STEM discipline to earn a master’s degree and teacher certification.

DREAM-Math streamlines the process and removes roadblocks for people interested in becoming mathematics teachers, and it is a collaborative effort between Auburn University’s College of Education, College of Sciences and Mathematics, Tuskegee University and other partners throughout the state to address the critical shortage of mathematics teachers in Alabama.

“I know firsthand that there are many paths that can lead someone to become a mathematics educator. The DREAM-Math project opens the door to a meaningful, rewarding and exciting career for STEM-educated career-changers and others who may not have considered a career in teaching before now.” — Marilyn E. Strutchens, Emily R. and Gerald S. Leischuck Endowed Professor and Mildred Cheshire Fraley Distinguished Professor of Mathematics Education in the College of Education

School Counseling Integrated Program

Auburn professors in the College of Education and College of Nursing have launched a new collaborative initiative designed to increase mental health services in rural Alabama schools.

A first-year grant award of $352,526 from the U.S. Department of Education and nearly $3 million in expected total funding over five years has allowed faculty to create the School Counseling Integrated Program, or SCIP. This program brings together the distinct skills of school counselors, school nurses and English to speakers of other languages teachers to address the growing mental health needs of K-12 students.

“SCIP is an integrated and cutting-edge approach to further increase mental health services in school systems — primarily those serving rural and medically underserved children, families and communities in Eastern Alabama and surrounding counties.” — Malti Tuttle, College of Education associate professor, School Counseling program coordinator and SCIP project director

AUTeach

Professors from Auburn University’s College of Education and College of Sciences and Mathematics joined forces in 2023 to help reverse a glaring shortage of K-12 science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, teachers throughout the state of Alabama. An interdisciplinary team from both colleges will use a $3 million grant from the Alabama Commission on Higher Education to develop a UTeach program at Auburn.

“AUTeach is creating exceptional opportunities for Auburn students and offering a new way to equip classroom-ready STEM educators.” — Jeffrey T. Fairbrother, dean of the College of Education and Wayne. T. Smith Distinguished Professor

Developing C.L.E.A.R. Thinking

Jada Kohlmeier, who specializes in secondary social studies education, is the Humana Foundation-Germany-Sherman Endowed Distinguished Professor in the College of Education, and Steven Brown, the Morris Savage Endowed Chair and program director for the College of Liberal Arts’ Law and Justice program, have been awarded more than $2 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Education to conduct virtual professional development with secondary social studies teachers from across the nation.

Kohlmeier and Brown are calling their project “Developing C.L.E.A.R. Thinking” based on their goal of helping students to develop Civic, Legal, Ethical and Analogous Reasoning. Over the next three years, they will prepare teachers to help their students become better-informed citizens and to think critically about public policy, law and politics.

“The exciting thing about this for Dr. Brown and me is the chance to mentor and allow dozens of other researchers to publish out of this enormous data set. It’s going to give us mounds of data. It’s quite exciting.” — Jada Kohlmeier, the Humana Foundation-Germany-Sherman Endowed Distinguished Professor in the College of Education

Rural Health Disparities

Auburn University’s College of Education recently received an $850,000 philanthropic grant from the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation to support research into health disparities in rural communities. The funding will support a pioneering study that examines the impact of discrimination on Black people living with multiple sclerosis in rural communities. Findings from the study will help researchers develop customized support for patients—improving the disproportionate health outcomes in this population.

Evelyn Hunter, an associate professor of counseling psychology in Auburn’s College of Education and a licensed psychologist, will lead the project, collaborating with Dr. William Meador, a neurologist with the Multiple Sclerosis Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham; Marilyn Cornish, an associate professor of counseling psychology in Auburn’s College of Education; and Candice Hargons, an associate professor of counseling psychology at the University of Kentucky.

“The Black community experiences a more aggressive progression and greater incidence of disability from multiple sclerosis than other groups. Because this community is also underrepresented in research studies, scientists don’t yet know why the disease affects them differently. Our expectation is that this research and the psychological and medical insights that follow will improve the health and quality of life for those living with this disease.” — Evelyn Hunter, associate professor of counseling psychology in Auburn’s College of Education

AI Educational Program

In a collaboration between Auburn’s College of Education and the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, several Auburn University faculty members have recently been awarded a nearly $200,000 National Science Foundation Rapid Response Research Grant to initiate a career-driven AI educational program for high-school students.

Jia (Peter) Liu, assistant professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering; Melody Russell, alumni professor of science education in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching; and Chih-hsuan Wang, professor in the Department of Educational Foundations, Leadership and Technology, will work together to develop an innovative AI curriculum for high school students from underserved school districts in the State of Alabama.

“This is so important for workforce development in the state of Alabama and in our region, relative to AI. We are excited about this collaboration, which entails the development and implementation of an innovative curriculum for 50 high school students from underserved districts. This project will also provide transformative professional development for high school teachers, which is a key element for broadening participation in STEM.” — Melody Russell, alumni professor of science education in the College of Education

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