Warner, Kaine announce $800K for VCU to conduct education research

U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) announced that VCU will receive $823,698 in federal funding to conduct research that aims to promote the emotional and behavioral well-being for early elementary students (children ages six through eight) in the classroom.

“We are pleased to announce funding to support Virginia Commonwealth University’s research to ensure all children have the ability to thrive in the classroom,” said the Senators. “Their work will be critical in breaking down barriers that prevent many children from achieving academic success.”

The funding was awarded under the Education Research Program of the National Center for Education Research (NCER). NCER supports rigorous research aimed at improving the quality of education for all students. NCER’s federal funding will allow VCU to test the effectiveness of a pre-existing classroom-based intervention, known as BEST in CLASS, with students in early elementary school. The BEST in CLASS intervention has demonstrated effectiveness with preschool-age children at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD), yet remains untested for early elementary school-age children at risk for EBD.

The research will occur across eight elementary schools in Virginia and eight elementary schools in Florida, and will include 576 students and families, and 192 kindergarten to second-grade teachers.