The Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools shared the latest results, conclusions and questions arising from research on early childhood when it hosted an April 10 summit in Lincoln, Neb.
Co-sponsored by the Buffett Early Childhood Institute and First Five Nebraska, the 2014 CYFS Summit on Research in Early Childhood featured 16 presentations that highlighted findings from a wide spectrum of recent studies related to early development, care and education.
Several rounds of discussion on applying these findings toward early childhood practice and policy took place among the approximately 175 research faculty, educators, service providers and administrators in attendance.
The third biennial summit opened with remarks from CYFS director Susan Sheridan and Samuel Meisels, executive director of the Buffett Early Childhood Institute.
“The commitment to improving Nebraska’s early care and education can be seen in the number and diversity of the partnerships that have formed around it,” Sheridan said. “These collaborations … have stemmed from the realization that accounting for multiple perspectives – perspectives honed by years of education, training and experience – offers the clearest path to helping young children achieve their potential. It is in this spirit that we created the [summit], and it is in this spirit that we, who together encompass every point on the spectrum of early childhood, have assembled here.”
The remarks preceded a keynote address from Lynne Vernon-Feagans, a William C. Friday Distinguished Professor of early childhood, intervention and literacy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Vernon-Feagans’ presentation outlined preliminary results from the Family Life Project, an ongoing decade-long study that has investigated how the challenges facing rural parents shape childrearing practices and their children’s subsequent developmental trajectories.
CYFS personnel and faculty affiliates followed by presenting research on a range of issues, from the impacts of setting and socioeconomic realities to the development of approaches aimed at improving children’s cognitive, social-emotional, behavioral and physical development.
Multiple researchers discussed efforts aimed at bolstering children’s early language, literacy and reading skills, while several others addressed professional development initiatives for child care providers and PK-3 teachers. Presentation topics also included the development of children’s moral reasoning, the economic impacts of early childhood investments, the consequences of toddlers’ sleep habits and the importance of fostering partnerships in rural communities.
Attendees heard closing remarks from Prem Paul, vice chancellor for research and economic development, and Marjorie Kostelnik, dean of the College of Education and Human Sciences. They also had the opportunity to converse with a panel of six visiting scholars from Atatürk University, a Turkey-based institution that has collaborated with the University of Nebraska since NU’s administration aided Atatürk’s founding in 1957.
The day-long summit concluded with a poster session highlighting early childhood research from 20 groups of graduate students advised by CYFS researchers and affiliates.
For access to videos and slideshows from the 2014 CYFS Summit on Research in Early Childhood, please visit cyfs.unl.edu/ecs/2014.