Research Grant

Seokhee Cho, Ph.D., Chair and Professor, Department of Administration and Instructional Leadership, and the principal investigator of Project Bridge, was awarded a $1.9 million research grant from the US Department of Education. The funded proposal is entitled “Developing Academic Competency of Young Gifted English Learners with Advanced Mathematics Program and Language Scaffolding.” The project director is John Spiridakis, Ph.D., Professor of TESOL, Department of Education Specialties. James Reed Campbell, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Administration and Instructional Leadership, and Judith Mangione, Ph.D., are serving as key members of the research team. Other collaborators include M. Katherine Gavin, Ph.D., University of Connecticut; Nancy Hertzog, Ph.D., University of Washington; and Diane Rodriguez, Ph.D., Fordham University. 

Project Bridge will serve potentially gifted English learners for three years from kindergarten through second grade after school for 100 hours each year. The math and English language proficiency of participating students will improve, along with teachers’ expertise in scaffolding instruction. Schools will be provided with enrichment resources. Evidence-based practices for Project Bridge will build upon Dr. Gavin’s Project M², a grant program funded by the National Science Foundation from 2008–2013, and Dr. Cho’s Project Hope, funded by the United States Department of Education from 2009–2014. Mentoring Young Mathematicians (M²) was based upon gifted pedagogy and demonstrated a positive impact on math achievement and reasoning of students in kindergarten through second grade. Project Hope language scaffolding strategies were found to contribute to increased math achievement, creative problem solving, and English proficiency for promising English language learners in grades three through five.

Currently, the team is working to identify school sites at which Project Bridge will operate. For more information, please contact Seokhee Cho, Ph.D., at 718-990-1303; chos1@stjohns.edu.