The Friday Institute for Educational Innovation and the NC State College of Education have awarded four Catalyst Grants that are designed to increase research collaborations between faculty and staff at both entities and seed collaborative, high-impact research that will lead to further inquiry and support. 

“By investing in these innovative projects, we are empowering educators and researchers to strengthen teacher retention, harness emerging technologies such as generative AI, inspire student wonder and foster vibrant, civically engaged school communities across North Carolina,” said Karen Hollebrands, associate dean for research and innovation in the College of Education. 

The grant review team included Krista Glazewski, executive director of the Friday Institute and associate dean for translational research in the College of Education; Erin Krupa, associate professor of mathematics education in the College of Education and senior faculty fellow at the Friday Institute; Jamie Pearson, professor of special education; and Sarah Bausell, senior research scholar at the Friday Institute. 

See below for a list of winning proposals and researchers.

Pathways Into Teaching: Experiences of Residency Licensed Beginning Teachers

According to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s 2025 Educator Preparation Program Report, 35% of first-year teachers in 2025 came from North Carolina educator preparation programs (EPP). For every five candidates who enter a North Carolina EPP, only two complete and teach effectively in year one, while eight current teachers simultaneously leave the profession. Residency licensed teachers are filling that gap, but the employment trends for N.C. public school educators show that 14.7% left N.C. public schools in a single year. North Carolina is scaling its most critical alternative pipeline, residency teachers, without

evidence of what keeps these teachers in the profession. This project seeks to build an evidence base to educate about the current residency licensed teacher ecosystem, learn from promising practices and eventually work toward innovation to better support these beginning teachers and strengthen educator capacity. By combining statewide workforce analyses with in-depth qualitative data from teachers and district personnel, this study will provide a more comprehensive examination of residency licensed teachers’ experiences and support structures in North Carolina. 

Awarded to: Emily Thrasher, research scholar at the Friday Institute; Jamie Gillespie, senior research scholar at the Friday Institute; and Lam Pham, associate professor in the College of Education.

Generative AI in Dual Language Immersion Education: Teacher Perceptions, Uses and Support Needs

Multilingual learners (MLs) now represent 10% of students in K-12 public schools. Dual Language Immersion (DLI) is a model within this domain in which emergent bilingual students and English-proficient students engage with academic content in two languages in the same classroom. Concurrent with the rising demand and recognition for DLI programming is the growing use of AI. Generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools are becoming increasingly common for lesson planning, generating instructional materials, differentiating instruction and providing communication support. Much of the existing research on AI in education has centered on general instructional settings and often treats educators as relatively uniform users of these technologies. Less attention has been given to the distinct instructional, linguistic and cultural demands of DLI contexts, where teachers must navigate language allocation, multilingual communication, standards alignment across languages and culturally responsive pedagogy.

This project brings DLI contexts into emerging conversations about AI use in education and seeks to better understand how DLI educators perceive and use AI within the linguistic,

cultural and instructional demands of bilingual education. As districts continue to develop policies and professional learning related to AI integration, findings from this study may help identify the opportunities, tensions and support needs that DLI teachers associate with these technologies, particularly in relation to bilingualism, biliteracy and cross-cultural competence. Findings from this study may inform future research, policy discussions and professional learning efforts related to AI integration in multilingual educational settings within North Carolina and beyond.

Awarded to: Amy Walter, research scholar at the Friday Institute; Jenn Ayscue, associate professor in the College of Education; and Rachel Rana, graduate research assistant in the College of Education.

Exploring Middle School Students’ Perceptions of Awe in Science

When one thinks about science at its most amazing and wondrous state, such as seeing a giant whale, observing a solar eclipse or watching a butterfly emerge from a chrysalis, these experiences are often associated with having a sense of awe. Awe is a complex epistemic emotion theorized to impact science learning and practice. In science education, awe has the potential to motivate explanation-seeking, promote conceptual change, and instill feelings of connectedness to the natural world. With support from a Catalyst Grant, this project proposes to document students’ experiences with awe, explore the contexts of these experiences and investigate what types of awe-evoking science experiences might be leveraged as tools to capture students’ interests and motivate them to want to learn more.

Awarded to: Gail Jones, University Distinguished Professor of Science Education in the College of Education and senior faculty fellow at the Friday Institute; Marie Himes, director of the New Literacies Collaborative at the Friday Institute; Sarah Carrier, head of the Department of Teacher Education and Learning Sciences (TELS), Alumni Distinguished Graduate Professor of science education in the College of Education; and Madeline Stallard, postdoctoral research scholar at the Friday Institute.

Strengthening Civic Education Through Intergenerational Deliberation

This project extends the work of this team’s three-year federal grant to develop a professional learning experience for teachers by developing a pilot study investigating the civic potential of engaging school communities in structured intergenerational discussion. The established federal grant involves designing a year-long professional learning experience for middle school social studies and English language arts teachers aligned with North Carolina’s middle school curriculum standards in both disciplines. Developed through NC State University’s North Carolina Advancing Civic Engagement (NC ACE) hub, the program aims to deepen teacher knowledge of American history and civics, strengthen instructional practice, build sustainable professional networks and expand community engagement in civic dialogue. 

The Catalyst Grant will allow the project team to develop research tools, such as surveys, observation protocols and interview protocols, and pilot them. By increasing research capacity and collaboration within this initiative, the project will position both units to co-develop competitive grant proposals targeting funders with a demonstrated interest in civic education and research-practice partnerships. 

Awarded to: Kevin Winn, research scholar at the Friday Institute; Paula McAvoy, associate professor in the College of Education; and Christy Byrd, professor in the College of Education.

About the Friday Institute

The Friday Institute for Educational Innovation advances K-12 education through innovation in teaching, learning and leadership by bringing together students, teachers, researchers, policymakers and educational professionals to foster collaborations that improve education for all learners. The Friday Institute for Educational Innovation is part of NC State’s College of Education, one of the leading land-grant colleges of education in the nation.