School of Education

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Our urban setting puts research into practice and service

Get hands-on practice in research and direct services through the school’s five research labs and eight centers and institutes. With many supported with federal and state grant funding that contributes to our school’s $147 million in current research, these labs and centers also provide avenues for faculty research and outreach.

Our interdisciplinary centers and institutes:

  • Center for Innovation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Education (CISTEME):

    • Cultivates a lifelong STEM passion among K-12 students in Central Virginia, with a mission to construct a brighter, more equitable world where opportunities are boundless.

  • Center for Teacher Leadership (CTL):

    • Empowers learners at every level through the development, coaching, and ongoing support of effective, equity-minded educators through three key programs – the Metropolitan Educational Training Alliance, RTR Teacher Residency, and Virginia Adult Literacy Resource Center.

  • Child Development Center (CDC):

    • Offers full-day, inclusive high-quality care and education for young children, in addition to serving as a learning lab for students, faculty research, and community outreach and education. 

  • Family & Community Empowerment Center (FCEC):

    • Provides mental health support through the provision of counseling, development of psycho-educational resources, and collaborative action with a goal to develop well-being and peace of mind, particularly with community members historically marginalized by society.

  • Institute for Collaborative Research and Evaluation (ICRE):

    • Provides research and evaluation support for nonprofits, schools, government agencies, and higher education, using mixed-method approaches to inform decisions, enhance impact, and advance equity across diverse projects and sectors.

  • International Educational Studies Center (IESC):

    • Supports research, practice and professional development through focused global partnerships and commitment to local and global communities, while encouraging dynamic intellectual dialogues among all stakeholders in educating individuals of all backgrounds.

  • Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium
    • In partnership with Richmond-area school divisions, MERC leads research on enduring and emerging issues in PK-12 education to inform policy, build the knowledge and skills of key stakeholders, contribute to scholarship, and ultimately impact outcomes relevant to students, schools and communities. MERC is part of the ICRE.
  • Partnership for People with Disabilities (PPD):

    • Improves the lives of people with developmental disabilities by providing culturally competent and engaged research, education, direct services, and information sharing to ensure they and their families can live, learn, work and play together in their community.

  • Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC):

    • Advances knowledge, resources, and outcomes in transition, post-secondary education, and employment for youth and adults with disabilities through research, training, technical assistance, and direct service.

Our research labs:

  • BEST in CLASS:

    • Provides intervention for PK-3 children who demonstrate challenging classroom behaviors, which places them at risk of developing social-emotional learning difficulties.

  • Centroid Lab 
    • The mission of Centroid Applied Machine Learning Lab is to advance the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence in the social sciences in a responsible and ethical manner. We believe that machine learning can play a vital role in improving our understanding of human behavior and societal trends, but only if it is used with care and caution.
  • Discourse & Learning:

    • Examines how individual differences influence the classroom learning process, addressing topics such as language and social development in early children and motivation, engagement and learning in science.  

  • Early Science Education:

    • Advances STEM education and public policy by understanding early motivation, interest and educational experiences that influence scientific literacy, science achievement and persistence in science-related career fields, with a focus on underrepresented groups.

  • Family and Relationship Stress and Health (FReSH):

    • Promotes health equity by understanding the influence of “how we love” on “those we love,” with an emphasis on mentorship as a key value.

  • Motivation in Context:

    • Explores motivation, context and their interactions from elementary school through adulthood.

  • Multilingual Learners in School:

    • Studies literacy and language demands and opportunities in learning content areas for multilingual learners and teacher preparation.

  • Research on Academic eMpowerment of Students:

    • Researches learning and development of academically diverse learners, including students at-risk, students with disabilities, and students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

  • Socially Transformative Applied Research (STAR Labs):

    • Conducts socially transformative applied research that enhances the well-being and flourishing of historically underserved and marginalized communities through innovative, applied research.

  • The Arts in Computer Education (ACE) Lab:

    • Members of the lab conduct educational research on combining computer science and the arts. We create and implement innovative curriculum combining these fields and conduct rigorous research to understand the impact of these activities on K12, college, and adult learners.