David Purpura, a post-doctoral fellow in Curriculum and Instruction, was honored by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) with the 2011 Outstanding IES Predoctoral Fellow Award. IES is the arm of the U.S. Department of Education that is dedicated to fostering rigorous education research.

Each of the 18 IES-supported predoctoral research training programs nominates one fellow for the award and a committee selects one nominee to win the award.

The award, given in recognition for outstanding educational research, has been bestowed annually since 2008. The award was presented to Purpura by IES director Dr. John Easton at the Society for Research in Educational Effectiveness' spring meeting in March.

In an email to Purpura that notified him he had been selected to win the prestigious award, IES' Associate Commissioner for Teaching and Learning Liz Albro stated, "The members of the selection committee were very impressed with the work you have accomplished during your graduate program and believe that you have the potential to make substantial contributions to education research."

Purpura said that receiving the award was "quite an honor. I’ve had the opportunity to interact with many of the IES predoctoral fellows from other universities and they’re all extremely talented."

Purpura was recognized for his research at Florida State University where he was a doctoral candidate in Clinical Psychology. His research focused on the intersection of behavioral problems and academic development—particularly ADHD and mathematics. He was funded through one of the IES predoctoral training grants that was awarded to his graduate adviser, Christopher Lonigan, associate director of the Florida Center for Reading Research.

Here at the College of Education, Purpura works with Arthur Baroody, professor emeritus in Curriculum and Instruction. Purpura's work has primarily focused on understanding the development of early mathematics skills and how best to assess those skills in a reliable and efficient manner.