David Purpura

The purpose of this study is to develop, refine, and evaluate a new math language intervention, Reading and Playing with Math (RP-Math). Math language is the specific content language (e.g., words and concepts such as more, fewer, a lot, many) that has distinct meanings when used in math contexts. It is one of the strongest predictors of growth in numeracy skills, and it underlies acquisition of numeracy skills. Yet there are currently no empirically supported tools for providing instruction...

The researchers will test the initial efficacy of Early Learning Matters (ELM) for promoting school readiness. In recent years, the need for a research-informed, comprehensive curriculum for early care and education (ECE) settings has become evident. Critically, the existing comprehensive curricula that are most commonly used (e.g., Creative Curriculum, High Scope) either (1) have not been studied rigorously; (2) are expensive, making access a challenge for programs with few resources (e.g.,...

The purpose of this research is to explore whether exposure to perceptual cues, referred to as perceptual scaffolding, in mathematics notation (e.g., using color to highlight key terms such as the inverse operators in an expression) may disrupt in-the-moment fluency, lead learners to pause and notice structural patterns, then ultimately practice more flexible and efficient problem solving. This project will yield evidence on how, when, and for whom perceptual scaffolding works to inform clas...

Development of a Responsive Computerized-Adaptive Assessment System for Pre-K Mathematics

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Postdoctoral Research Training Program in Mathematics Education trained five fellows on mathematics learning, mathematical measurement, quasi-experimental and experimental design, and analysis of large-scale evaluations.

The Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR) established the Predoctoral Interdisciplinary Training Program (PIRT) in education science.