Among mattresses lining the living room floor, a mother of two—recently evicted and living with a friend—shares her parenting story with a CYFS data collection team.
Her story is one of many that will guide an evaluation of the Superintendents’ Early Childhood Plan, launched last year by the Buffett Early Childhood Institute at the University of Nebraska to close achievement gaps for at-risk children in the Omaha metropolitan area.
Cynthia Germanotta had just buckled into a trans-Atlantic flight back from Paris when her daughter paused and looked at her.
Mom, it’s time, she said.
The 25-year-old singer, Lady Gaga, had just finished another international concert. She had just finished listening to yet more stories from young fans struggling with bullying and mental health issues. And she knew she had to do something about it.
Preschool represents many firsts in a child’s education. For parents, it is often their first interaction with a classroom teacher.
CYFS graduate assistant Amanda Moen is studying preschool teachers’ influence on these early partnerships. With dissertation grant awards from the University of Nebraska’s Buffett Early Childhood Institute and the Society for the Study of School Psychology, Moen will test a measure used to assess teachers’ confidence in promoting family-school partnerships.
CYFS joined the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in launching an early childhood research initiative with Brazil during a meeting held May 18-19 in São Paulo.
The working meeting drew 60 early childhood scholars, policymakers and educators from Brazil and UNL with the purpose of forming collaborative teams to conduct future research. UNL’s representation included 13 faculty members from CYFS and the College of Education and Human Sciences.
Robots are inspiring the middle school students who may one day engineer them, while also benefitting those who pursue other career paths, according to a new University of Nebraska-Lincoln study.
Led by CYFS faculty affiliate Brad Barker and Gwen Nugent, CYFS research professor, the study examined findings from a student robotics project developed at UNL and implemented across the country—including one site in Cuba. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the project delivered robotics and geospatial mapping curriculum to after-school clubs and summer camps. The curriculum also supported youth robotics competitions.
The Nebraska Academy for Methodology, Analytics and Psychometrics continued its Methodology Applications Series on Friday, April 15. The series is free and open to the public.
The April 15 presentation, titled “Evaluating Measurement Invariance with Cross-Cultural Sensitivity,” was led by Leslie Hawley, CYFS research assistant professor, and doctoral students Betty-Jean Usher-Tate and Sara Gonzalez.
The 2016 CYFS Summit on Research in Early Childhood highlighted the power of partnerships, both local and global. Service providers, educators, administrators and researchers converged in Lincoln, Nebraska, on April 7 to learn the latest science in early childhood—and its implications for practice and policy.
Name: Morgan Holmen
Hometown: Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Major: Speech Language Pathology in the College of Education and Human Sciences
Graduation Date: May 2016
CYFS Affiliation: Undergraduate research assistant
What is your role as a CYFS undergraduate research assistant?