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University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning

Lawrence, Kansas, 66049

Last updated on April 8, 2025

Grant awarded by
Library of Congress
Region
East
Organization Type
College/University
Congressional District(s)
1
Fiscal Year Of First Grant
FY 2024 [10/01/23 - 09/30/24]
Contributing Organization(s)
PBS Newshour
Organization description

The University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning (KUCRL) is a multidisciplinary research team whose overarching goal is to create solutions to educational challenges. KUCRL is dedicated to development and research of educational programs and practices that improve outcomes for all learners, including those with learning differences or disabilities. These interventions and practices address higher-order reasoning skills, adolescent literacy, adult literacy, language and reading comprehension strategies, written expression strategies, math skills and strategies, social emotional learning skills, and explicit instruction and routines that respond to diversity in today’s schools.

Project description

This project is a partnership between The University of Kansas and PBS NewsHour’s existing Library of Congress TPS project, Journalism in Action (JIA): Civic Engagement and Primary Sources through Key Moments in History. It focuses on improving the usability of JIA’s primary sources to increase civic participation and media literacy for students with learning disabilities (SWDs), and creating and improving resources to address the needs of SWDs and their teachers. The JIA site guides upper elementary through high school students to understand the role of journalism through historic examples of civic engagement by the public through interactive analysis of primary sources from the Library of Congress. The project will address a growing gap between SWDs and their peers without disabilities in reading, writing, and civics by (1) conducting qualitative research to determine students’ current needs in using the JIA site and its primary sources; (2) designing and publishing resources to address the needs of SWDs and their teachers; (3) increasing LOC primary source connections to local issues by launching a new “Civic Journalism” strand on JIA, and (4) disseminating and providing professional learning on new JIA resources so that SWDs experience improvements in comprehension and engagement with LOC’s primary sources. Currently, JIA  has more than 550 primary sources from the Library’s databases including newspaper articles, TV broadcasts, and political cartoons on topics like the American Revolution, Civil War and women’s suffrage. The project aims to build, test, and refine accessibility features for our target audience of SWDs and teachers.



TPS project focus
  • Curriculum
  • Teaching Materials
Content focus
  • Access
  • Civics
  • English Language Arts
  • History
  • Information Literacy
  • Journalism
  • Library/Media Studies
  • Literacy
Audience
  • Classroom teachers
  • Students
Level(s)
  • 6 - 8
  • 9 - 12
  • Adult learning
Population focus
  • Learners with disabilities
Organization Contact