Early Childhood Education and Intervention

Research within the Early Childhood Education and Intervention Research Theme is concerned with issues of early childhood development across several domains, including cognitive, social-emotional, language, and behavioral regulation.  Researchers address issues related to typical as well as atypical development of children, including trajectories for children at risk and with special needs.

Early childhood development and services are considered within multiple interacting systems that support a child's life.  Research programs in this area are concerned with the child as s/he functions within the naturalistic contexts of homes, schools, peer groups, communities, and cultures. Interactions, connections, and relationships within and across these systems are also characteristic of research in this area.

Research within this thematic area is generally applied work that addresses early childhood education and intervention programs, child care services, family relationships and interventions, and family-caregiver (including school) partnerships.  School readiness, especially the interactions among child, family, and school contexts, is part of the research theme.  Likewise, teacher preparation and professional development are areas included in this area.

The NIH-supported project, Parent Engagement and Child Learning Birth to Five, awarded to an interdisciplinary team of researchers, is an example of a funded research grant in this area.