Maher awarded Grant

OU Research team, headed by Sociology's Dr. Erin Maher,  was awarded $801,745 from the Oklahoma Department of Human Services in partnership with the Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness. Drs. Maher , along with co-PIs David McLeod (Social Work), and Diane Horm (Early Childhood Education Institute), were awarded a two-year contract to evaluate the strategies within a federal grant of 12 million dollars to the state of Oklahoma—the Preschool Development Renewal Grant. This builds on the contributions of Drs. Maher and Horm who previously worked with the Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness on the Preschool Development Planning Grant. The research team includes co-investigators – Drs. Dan Wang (Sociology), December Maxwell (Social Work), Courtney Dewhirst (Education), and Amber Beisly (Education),  as well researchers from the OU Educational Training, Evaluation, Assessment, and Measurement group (E-TEAM) with Dr. Sarah Connelly (OU Sociology PhD 2023) and Lisa White managing the project. The team will conduct a multi-component evaluation of the implementation of grant activities to improve access to early childhood education in Oklahoma.