UofL’s overall grade . This is based on high scores for athletics (A+), student life, party scene, location and campus food (A) and diversity and professors (A-). UofL also scored a B+ for value, campus and safety.听

Five schools scored a B+ average, including the University of Kentucky, Centre College, Berea, Transylvania and Bellarmine.听

Niche.com pulls scores from eight sources of data, including a proprietary survey of college students and recent alumni, as well as information pulled directly from colleges. According to a press release, the rankings attempt “to provide a realistic view of the student experience at a specific school.”听

Niche.com is a website that uses data sets to provide analysis and rankings of U.S. colleges, schools, neighborhoods and companies.听

Project PURPLE (Preparing Urban and Rural Personnel as Leaders in 成人直播), a joint effort between the UofL College of 成人直播 and Human Development and the UK College of 成人直播, will fund five doctoral-level scholars from each institution beginning in the fall 2020 semester.

It is funded by the U.S. Department of 成人直播 Office of Special 成人直播 Programs.

Ginevra Courtade, UofL associate professor and chair of the Department of Special 成人直播, is co-director of the project.

鈥淲e look forward to using our partnership to recruit and support a diverse group of scholars and to implement a comprehensive program focused on evidence-based practices for students with disabilities in urban and rural high-need schools,鈥� she said.

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Participants will work with nationally recognized faculty from both institutions.

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鈥淭he current special education faculty is aging, and projections indicate that retirements will continue to increase by as much as 50%. Without special education faculty, institutions of higher education cannot prepare adequate numbers of special education teachers, an area that has a critical shortage in Kentucky and nationwide,鈥� said Melinda Ault, the project鈥檚 director and an associate professor of special education in the UK College of 成人直播 Department of Early Childhood, Special 成人直播, and Rehabilitation Counseling.

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鈥淭he project takes advantage of the strengths of the faculties at both UK and UofL,鈥� said Kera Ackerman, the project鈥檚 co-director at UK and an assistant professor in the UK College of 成人直播 Department of Early Childhood, Special 成人直播, and Rehabilitation Counseling.

The program, called 鈥淎ll in for Algebra,鈥� was established with an MSP (Mathematics and Science Partnerships) grant from the U.S. Department of 成人直播. The Carroll County School District, in partnership with UofL, was awarded the $400,000 grant from the Kentucky Department of 成人直播.听

MSP grants are designed to improve the content knowledge and teaching skills of math, science, technology and engineering teachers. All in for Algebra was one of only nine funded projects through this grant.听

Williams and Hill submitted the grant application in May of 2015 and it was approved in August. Their project includes lesson plans, course content throughout the year and a summer institute program. Hill wrote the program and is in charge of the lesson plans and has been implementing content for the summer program.

鈥淚t has been especially enjoyable for me to work closely with Carroll County teachers who are part of the grant. I’ve seen up close their hard work and dedication to their students and it has been fun to work on substantive mathematics that is closely connected to the curriculum they use in their classrooms.鈥� Hill said.

Williams added that the project is focused on improving teacher content knowledge, confidence and teaching expertise, as well as increasing an administrator understanding of effective teaching.听She emphasizes the importance of this project because it benefits the entire district.

鈥淢any schools have tried lesson study (urban and rural) and can鈥檛 sustain it, and yet it is one of the few forms of teacher learning that has a lot of evidence that it impacts student learning,鈥� she said.

Williams and Hill plan to bring the project into other schools.