A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

The National Institute on Early Childhood Development and Education awarded seven grants totaling over $1.26 million. Recipients included a hospital and a health center, universities and research organization. The topics to be studied include studying instructional procedures as they relate to the developmental needs of young children with disabilities; examining the role of families and schools in promoting positive developmental outcomes for young children growing up in violent neighborhoods; developing a culturally and developmentally appropriate pre-kindergarten math curriculum; an intergenerational literacy project which will develop literacy portfolios at home and at school; and addressing parenting and readiness of preschool children with a focus on home visiting strategies.

The Role of Family and School in Promoting Positive Developmental Outcomes for Young Children

This project will study African-American Head Start children and families to examine the effects of exposure to community violence on the children’s cognitive, motor, and socio-emotional development. Eight Head Start teachers will implement a research-based intervention aimed at reducing the effects of violence and substituting positive behaviors in place of behavior problems that may result from the exposure to violence.

Project Directors: Suzanne Randolph and Sally Koblinsky
University of Maryland/College Park
Family Studies
College Park, MD 20742
Phone: 301-405-3672
Email: Suzanne Randolph - SR22@umail.umd.edu and/or Sally Koblinsky - SR38@umail.umd.edu
Year 1 Funding: $71,729; Year 2 Funding: $81,033
Project Period: 3 Years

Supporting Young Children’s Readiness for School Mathematics Through a Pre-Kindergarten Classroom and Family Math Curriculum

This project will develop a culturally and developmentally appropriate pre-kindergarten math curriculum to evaluate instructional approaches parents and preschool teachers can use to teach the curriculum. The curriculum will comprise eight topical units, each with a range of informal math activities and accompanied by concrete materials.

Project Directors: Prentice Starkey and Alice Klien
University of California/Berkeley
336 Sproul Hall #5940
Berkeley, CA 94720
Phone: 510-642-3376
Email: Prentice Starkey - PStarkey@uclinkII.berkeley.edu and/or Alice Klien - ASKlien@uclinkII.berkeley.edu
Year 1 Funding: $196,245; Year 2 Funding: $202,660
Project Period: 3 Years

The Early Childhood Education Home-School Portfolio Project

This project will address the need to teach parents and teachers strategies for systematically collaborating with each other to support the learning of children pre-K through second grade. The project is a collaboration between an early childhood education program and an intergenerational literacy project, both of which are components of the Boston University/Chelsea, Massachusetts partnership.

Project Director: Jeanne Paratore
Boston University
881 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215
Phone: 617-353-3285
Year 1 Funding: $207,152; Year 2 Funding: $204,004
Project Period: 3 Years

Field-Initiated Research Project

One of the major reasons why young children with disabilities have difficulty being included is that they have behavior problems. Furthermore, their families and teachers lack skills and information for reducing those behaviors. This project proposes to study the effectiveness of a social competence curriculum, the Assessment of Peer Relations, with 25 Connecticut toddlers with disabilities. The curriculum will be embedded in the children’s individualized early intervention services. The 24-42 month-old children will be included in "regular" community child care programs for 2-4 days per week.

Project Director: Mary Beth Bruder
University of Connecticut Health Center/Farmington
263 Farmington Avenue
Farmington, CT 06030
Phone: 860-679-4632
Year 1 Funding: $241,746; Year 2 Funding: $254,515
Project Period: 3 Years

Improving Educational Readiness Through Theory-Based Interventions Focused On enhancing Resilience in Our Youngest At-risk Children

The main purpose of this study will be to design and implement a resiliency theory model, which includes community-based collaborative services and proven home visiting strategies, and test the effectiveness of the model in four of seven sites throughout Utah. The intervention model will be strengths-based and culturally sensitive. It will focus on facilitating positive future academic and behavioral development.

Project Director: Mark Innocenti
Utah State University/Logan
Old Main, Room #112
Logan, UT 84322
Phone: 801-797-2006
Year 1 Funding: $233,872; Year 2 Funding: $247,416
Project Period: 3 Years

Assessing the Effectiveness of Early Parenting Education and Support Through Home Visiting for Families with Young Children

This project will examine the early impact of the Parents as Teachers (PAT) Program in assisting low-income parents in urban areas to enhance the development of their children from birth through the children’s second birthdays. The study is the first stage of a larger research effort to assess the short-and long-term child and family impacts of PAT.

Project Directors: Mary Wagner and Donna Spiker
SRI International - Menlo Park, California
333 Ravenswood Avenue
Menlo Park, CA 94025
Phone: 415-859-2867
Year 1 Funding: $182,051; Year 2 Funding: $240,617
Project Period: 3 Years

Individualizing Developmentally Appropriate Practices for Preschool Children with Disabilities

This project will provide in-service training to assist preschool teachers to individualize their Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) curricula using either Early Childhood Special Education or modified DAP procedures and collect data on the experience of children with disabilities in these alternative DAP classrooms.

Project Director: Gerald Mahoney
Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron
One Perkins Square
Akron, OH 44308
Phone: 330-633-2055
Year 1 Funding: $201,497; Year 2 Funding: $202,860
Project Period: 3 Years

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