Alisha Wackerle-Hollman, assistant research professor in the Department of Educational Psychology’s school psychology program and co-director of IGDILab, has been awarded a four-year, $2 million Institute of Education Sciences (IES) National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) grant for early intervention and early learning for her project, “Computer Adaptive Storybook Assessment (CASA).” One hundred percent of this effort will be funded by IES.

Dr. Wackerle-Hollman, principal investigator on the project, and her team plan to develop a new tablet-based measure in English and Spanish to monitor language and literacy progress in preschoolers with disabilities or at risk for later language difficulties. CASA is one of only 22 projects nationwide awarded this funding.

Michael Rodriguez, dean of the College of Education and Human Development, Campbell Leadership Chair in Education and Human Development, and professor in the Department of Educational Psychology’s quantitative methods in education (QME) program, will serve as co-principal investigator on the project. The CASA team also includes Carlos Chavez and Alejandra Miranda, doctoral students in the QME program, and Dr. Lillian Duran, alumni of the Department of Educational Psychology, now associate dean for academic affairs and an associate professor at the University of Oregon.

Dr. Wackerle-Hollman shared her hopes for the CASA project.

“We are excited to receive funding to work on this important project that will support preschoolers in Spanish and English in ways that are contextually relevant, culturally attuned, and promote and empower bilingualism as an asset in early development.”