UH Mānoa College of Education Department of Special Education (SPED) Assistant Professor Sarah King and Associate Professor Sara Cook are part of a $14 million Scalability, Capacity, and Learning Engagement with Underserved Populations (SCALE UP) project with Southern Methodist University (SMU). Under the direction of King with support from Cook, they will investigate the effectiveness of the Fraction Face-Off, a What Works Clearinghouse mathematics intervention.
“The Department of Special Education is honored to be part of Project SCALE UP,” SPED Chair Rhonda Black said. “It is essential that our programs not only enhance teaching practices but also contribute to addressing the ongoing challenge of teacher retention in our state. By investing in the professional development of teachers, this project is laying the foundation for a brighter future for both educators and students in Hawaiʻi.”
Over the next five years, SCALE UP aims to improve mathematics outcomes for fourth and fifth-grade students experiencing mathematics difficulties by equipping teachers with the skills and knowledge needed to deliver high-quality instruction on fractions. Through ongoing, targeted professional development and coaching, SCALE UP aims to build educator capacity to implement Fraction Face-Off effectively with a particular focus on supporting teachers and students in rural schools and community-based afterschool settings.
The research team will be responsible for developing professional development materials, recruiting Hawaiʻi Department of Education teachers, and working with teachers and schools to ensure intervention implementation. They will monitor teacher and student progress, provide coaching, manage intervention materials, and support with data collection.
“This grant represents so much more than just the opportunity to conduct rigorous research–it is an opportunity to potentially change the trajectory of students who have struggled with mathematics,” King said. “As someone with a learning disability in mathematics, I know all too well the feelings of frustration and self-doubt as well as the negative long-term implications associated with underachievement in mathematics. And, as a former special education teacher, I know firsthand how challenging it is to provide effective differentiated mathematics instruction to students with a wide range of needs.”
SCALE UP is a collaborative research project led by Principal Investigator (PI) Leanne Ketterlin-Geller of Southern Methodist University, Co-PIs Erica Lembke of University of Missouri and Sarah Powell of the University of Texas at Austin, as well as collaborative partners across four other universities, including UH Mānoa, University of Virginia, Georgia State University, and the University of California, Riverside.
