Conventional wisdom says that people get what they pay for – but a new study suggests that money goes only so far when it comes to finding quality child care.
The study, led by CYFS Faculty Affiliates Julia Torquati and Helen Raikes, examined whether family income, education level and other factors predicted the actual and parent-perceived quality of 359 Midwestern child care programs.
Susan Swearer, associate professor of educational psychology and CYFS faculty affiliate, participated in the White House Conference on Bullying Prevention held March 10.
Swearer was one of four national bullying experts who joined President and First Lady Obama, along with members of the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to discuss the causes, consequences and prevention of bullying. Teachers, parents and students from across the United States were also on hand to lend their perspectives.
Sandra Plata-Potter wants to help first-generation Latino parents give their preschoolers a head start on literacy – and the resources to keep pace with their peers.
The CYFS doctoral student affiliate is collaborating with Faculty Affiliates Lisa Knoche and Helen Raikes to determine whether Latino parents’ engagement in a Head Start project encourages them to become more involved in literacy-related activities with their children. The researchers are also examining whether these home-based activities bolster children’s “emergent literacy” – the knowledge and skills that serve as foundations for reading and writing.
CYFS faculty affiliate Malinda Eccarius recently received a four-year, $1.2 million U.S. Department of Education grant aimed at helping 25 K-12 instructors earn teaching endorsements in deaf education.
Eccarius’ “Mountain Prairie Upgrade Partnership-Itinerant” (MPUP-I) project will prepare instructors in regular and special education to become itinerant teachers – those qualified to assist students who are deaf and hard of hearing (D/HH) but take classes with their hearing peers.