Focus Areas

The UERC creates reliable, usable knowledge in seven core areas. Click on the tiles to learn more about specific areas of our work or scroll down to the bottom to see a full list of our projects.
Adult Learners
Career Pathways
Essential Skills/SEL
K-12 Education
Postsecondary Education
STEM Education
Teachers Work
Search Active Projects

Below is a list of our active projects, studies, and more.  If you are interested in viewing our archived projects, click here.

Authentic Intellectual Work Initiative Study

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of the Authentic Intellectual Work (AIW) initiative on student engagement, student achievement and teaching practice.

Focus Areas: Teachers Work, Essential Skills/SEL

Year: 2015-Present

Educators of Color in Kansas City

This series of studies examines the preparation, recruitment and retention patterns of teachers of color in the Kansas City metro area.

Focus Areas: Teachers Work, Career Pathways, Postsecondary Education

Year: 2020-2021

Essential Skills Study

This study explores where young professionals learn the skills they deem “essential” for workplace success.

Focus Areas: Essential Skills/SEL, Career Pathways, Postsecondary Education

Year: 2020-2021

Evaluation of Johnson County Community College S-STEM

This evaluation examined the impact of monetary (scholarship) and non-monetary (mentoring, tutoring and STEM enrichment activities) on the academic engagement postsecondary success of STEM aspirational students with strong financial need.

Focus Areas: STEM Education, Postsecondary Education

Year: 2023-Present

Evaluation of Startland Education

This utilization-focused evaluation is examining the implementation and impact of Startland’s educational programming for students and teachers in the Kansas City metro area.

Focus Areas: Teachers Work, Career Pathways, STEM Education

Year: 2021-2024

Evaluation of the MINDDRIVE Program

This evaluation examines the impact of a unique experiential learning program on students’ essential skill development and assesses key program strengths and areas of growth opportunity.

Focus Areas: Essential Skills/SEL, Career Pathways, STEM Education

Year: 2021-2024

Junior Achievement Program Evaluation

This evaluation examines the impact and implementation of the Junior Achievement of Greater Kansas City’s programming, which includes multiple touchpoints to engage K-12 students in learning about financial literacy, community-level economics, work and career readiness, and business management.

Focus Areas: Essential Skills/SEL, K-12 Education

Year: 2022-Present

Missouri Project Lead the Way Longitudinal Study

This project links K-12 and postsecondary state data to examine the impact of a national STEM curriculum called Project Lead the Way.

Focus Areas: STEM Education, Postsecondary Education, K-12 Education

Year: 2020-Present

ProX Summer Program Evaluation

This evaluation examines the implementation and impact of a paid summer internship program for Kansas City students.

Focus Areas: Career Pathways, K-12 Education

Year: 2022-2024

Teacher Instructional Time Use Study (TITUS)

The survey developed for this study will provide a fine-grained portrait of teachers’ work, how they feel about their work and how their work context affects what they do and how they feel.

Focus Areas: Teachers Work

Year: 2019-2022

Wayside Waifs No More Bullying Program Evaluation

This evaluation examines the impact of a unique elementary school bullying and violence prevention program that integrates the animal and human perspective on students’ empathy, self-awareness, and self-management skills.

Focus Areas: Teachers Work, Essential Skills/SEL

Year: 2021-Present

UMKC School of Education

Urban Education Research Center