The findings of the Innovation Collaborative’s early phase of its K-12 Effective Practices research has been published in Roeper Review, an international journal focusing on scholarly articles related to gifted education.
 
The Innovation Collaborative’s K-12 Effective Practices research is a multi-year national project identifying effective practices that promote creative and innovative thinking at the intersections of the arts, sciences, technology, engineering, math, and humanities. This recently-published article analyzes the findings from the early phase of the K-12 research. In that phase, top lessons at these intersections from across the US were identified and the Collaborative’s metrics for effective practices were analyzed.

​This early study also was selected for presentation at the American Education Research Association 2017 annual conference.
 
The K-12 Effective Practices study is led by Innovation Collaborative researcher and founding Board member, Bess Wilson, PhD. Dr. Wilson is associate professor of education at the University of North Florida. She is Chair-Elect for the Research and Evaluation Network for the National Association for Gifted Children. She also is President-elect for the Florida Association for the Gifted and is an associate editor for the Journal of Advanced Academics. Also guiding the study is Innovation Collaborative Executive Director Lucinda Presley. Ms. Presley has been teaching and developing curriculum at these intersections for 25 years and holds a master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies. She was recently awarded the adjunct faculty of the year award at the college where she teaches.
 
More information about this K-12 study can be found here.
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The Innovation Collaborative has received an additional Art Works grant of $10,000 to continue its study of K-12 STEAM teacher professional development. This study will build on the NEA-funded teacher professional development pilot study conducted during the 2017-18 academic year. These studies will provide research-based effective practices for K-12 teacher professional development that promote creative and innovative thinking at the intersections of the arts, sciences, technology, engineering, math, and the humanities.
 
Innovation Collaborative Board Chair Lucinda Presley commented, “We continue to be exceedingly grateful to the National Endowment for the Arts for supporting this important work of the Collaborative. Through these NEA-funded studies, we are helping create a solid, research-based foundation for the growing STEAM movement.”
 
This grant is one of $80 million in grants approved by National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Jane Chu as part of the NEA’s second major funding announcement for fiscal year 2018.  The Art Works category is the NEA’s largest funding category and supports projects that focus on the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and/or the strengthening of communities through the arts. For more information on projects included in the NEA grant announcement, click here.