CEED Co-Director Amy Susman-Stillman was quoted in a piece on Minnesota Public Radio highlighting the early childhood work of the Children's Theatre Company (CTC). Susman-Stillman, who has been consulting with CTC on their early childhood initiative for the past few years, emphasized the developmental appropriateness of preschool theatre arts practices and the overlap between them and high quality early childhood practices. Listen or read the article on the Minnesota Public Radio website.
Recently posted in Center for Early Education and Development
Elizabeth Carlson, research associate at the Institute of Child Development, and director of the Harris Training Program and Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Certificate Program, has been awarded the 2013 Outstanding Service Award by the Minnesota Association for Children's Mental Health (MACMH). The annual award recognizes individuals who have shown extraordinary achievement and/or leadership in the field of children's mental health.
In recognizing Carlson's achievements, MACMH states:
"At the heart of her work is child development: understanding how children grow and learn and adapt. . . Her work serves as a bridge between community organizations and the University . . .making "research to practice" a reality. Elizabeth's work continues to have an impact on the well-being of children, not only in Minnesota, but nationally and internationally."
The recipients of this year's award will be honored at MACMH's Annual Silent Auction and Awards Gala on February 8. You may read more about the award and the recipients here.
Michele Mazzocco, professor at the Institute of Child Development and research director of the Center for Early Education and Development, discusses "Why Mental Arithmetic Counts: Brain Activation during Single Digit Arithmetic Predicts High School Math Scores" in the January 2, 2013, issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. Mazzocco and colleagues Gavin Price and Daniel Ansari address the question: Do individual differences in the brain mechanisms for arithmetic underlie variability in high school mathematical competence?
You may view the article here: http://www.jneurosci.org/content/33/1/156.full
The Institute of Child Development and the Minnesota Children's Museum, with a shared goal of making a positive impact on children's development, have announced the formation of a Research Advisory Council to build and sustain an ongoing institutional connection.
The council will guide the museum in applying and disseminating research that can improve children's learning and parenting practices. It also will give museum leadership feedback on important decisions about the museum exhibits, programs, and outreach and flag relevant findings on social, economic, and other trends that are likely to influence children and families the museum serves.
"Minnesota Children's Museum is honored to work with this distinguished group of scholars and early childhood experts," said Dianne Krizan, museum president. "This powerful partnership will influence how the museum achieves its mission of sparking children's learning through play and will benefit scholars in translating research into action that will benefit our community."
The partnership began earlier this year when the museum commissioned a research summary on the role of play in early learning and development. The research validated the importance of playful learning for a child's cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development and identified new opportunities for discovery in the early childhood field.
"The value of play in child development is clear," said Megan Gunnar, Regents Professor, director of the Institute of Child Development, and chair of the council. "We are excited by the opportunity to partner with a respected early childhood organization like Minnesota Children's Museum to learn more about this important element of childhood and to help parents effectively support their children's development."
CEED's Christopher Watson, Scott McConnell, Tracy Bradfield, Alisha Wackerle-Hollman, and Naomi Rahn, along with fellow collaborators and co-authors, presented October 28-30 at the Annual International Division of Early Childhood (DEC) Conference held this year in Minneapolis. See the CEED Staff Presentations web page for presentation handouts. Presentations included:
- Early childhood in Promise Neighborhoods: Northside Achievement Zone's Early Childhood Action Team. (McConnell, S. R., Seiwert, M., Wackerle-Hollman, A., & Bradfield, T. A.)
- Measuring a response to intervention model in early childhood: Examining assessments for identification, decision making and progress monitoring. (Wackerle-Hollman, A., Bradfield, T., McConnell, S., & Spencer, T.)
- Practice effects in a preschool picture naming task. (Rahn, N. L., & McConnell, S. R.)
- Statewide scale-up of the pyramid for social emotional development: Successes and lessons. (Johnson, L., Watson, C., Bedor, M., & Krick Oborn, K.)
- Thirty years later: Early childhood special education from MECCA to now. (McConnell, S. R., Strain, P. S., Goldstein, H., Kohler, F., Odom, S. L., & Sainato, D. M.)
The Center for Early Education and Development is a partner on a grant awarded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services to the Minnesota Children's Museum to promote early childhood education and literacy development in children from families facing financial barriers. The Children's Museum, along with the St. Paul Promise Neighborhood, the Hennepin County Library System, the Northside Achievement Zone, and CEED will work to increase school readiness among under-resourced families in diverse communities.
CEED is excited to present the Fall issue of the Early Report: Coordinating Our Systems of Care to Promote the Healthy Development of Young Children.
This Early Report builds on our partnership with the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare (CASCW) and the McEvoy Lecture held in May of 2012. The report examines the need for improved coordination across Minnesota's systems of care and explores some of the challenges and successes that Minnesota faces in this effort.
Terrie Rose, founder and CEO of Baby's Space and CEHD alumna (Ph.D. '92), presented Educational Stability: What Does it Mean for Young Children? on November 8, 2012, North Star Ballroom, St. Paul Student Center, 12:30 pm to 4:30 pm.
The lecture addressed the question of how can our systems, including early care, education, early intervention, child welfare, and the courts, best support social workers, early care and education providers, families and ultimately children to get the stability of care they need to develop a healthy, secure attachment. And how can programs or systems develop policies that integrate services to best meet the needs of highly mobile children? The lecture also included small group discussions and a panel discussion by practitioners and policymakers focused on these issues.
The McEvoy Lecture was co-sponsored by the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare and funded by the Minnesota Department of Human Services..
Michele Mazzocco, professor in Institute of Child Development and research director of the Center for Early Education and Development, presented at the first Cambridge Conference on Developmental Dyscalculia, held September 13-14 at St. John's College, University of Cambridge, England.
St. John's Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, sponsored the conference and invited a small group of scientists who study developmental dyscalculia (DD) to discuss the etiology of DD, its trajectory and possible interventions. DD refers to persistent mathematical learning difficulties of childhood related to difficulty processing numbers, and which occur despite adequate learning opportunities (and are not simply the outcome of poor or absent instruction).
Alisha Wackerle-Hollman, educational psychologist and research associate at CEED@UROC, is cited in an article in the September 16, 2012 Star Tribune, Too 'young' for school?. The article addresses some of the latest research on the issue of "academic redshirting"--delaying a child's entry into school based on physical, academic, and emotional considerations.