CEW Annual Reports:

2001-2002 Annual Report to Dean Charles Read

Developing and advancing knowledge about effective practices for learning and career development in multiple contexts--such as school, family, and workplaces-is the heart of the Center's mission. The ultimate goal of the Center's research is to identify what works in terms of enhanced student outcomes and to disseminate those findings to educators and other professionals who can utilize them to make a difference. The use of technology and its application for doing web-based surveys and interactive project web sites for federal, state and local agencies is a new area of expertise the Center has been successfully developing. Numerous competitive proposals have been developed for a variety of public agencies and private foundations. Professor James Rosenbaum, a leading scholar in educational sociology from Northwestern, conducted a series of seminars at the Center in May that focusing on his recently published study documenting the new Amerian premise that all youth need to succeed in college.

A couple of recently funded national studies illustrate the range of critical questions being explored at the Center currently.

In this 2-year study, we are examining established charter high schools that prepare students for successful lives as adults through strategies that place learning in a real-world context. Field research is being conducted in seven schools around the nation, including the Henry Ford Academy (Dearborn, Michigan) and the Center for Advanced Research Technology (CART) in Fresno, California-schools were students make extensive use of instructional technologies while completing internships, community service projects, and action research studies in and for various community groups, cultural institutions, and selected businesses. The results from this project will provide evidence on the quality and impact of authentic teaching and learning in highly innovative, de-regulated educational settings

Does the significant investment being made in services and support for disabled college students have a payoff? In January, the Center launched a multiple year project with funding from the U.S. Department of Education to examine the post-college outcomes of 625 former university graduates with disabilities from five states. The possible influences upon these outcomes, including academic performance and support services received while in college will be examined in a longitudinal study.