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Category: Grant Related

Project trains rural educators, encourages sustainability

CYFS project manager Amanda Witte and Rural Futures Institute director Chuck Schroeder. The Rural Futures Institute is funding a new project that is training rural Nebraska school personnel to facilitate TAPP, a family-school partnership model.
CYFS project manager Amanda Witte and Rural Futures Institute director Chuck Schroeder. The Rural Futures Institute is funding a new project that trains rural Nebraska school personnel to facilitate TAPP, a family-school partnership model. View photo gallery. For more information, visit the TAPP website.

As the school year begins at North Bend Elementary School, preschool teacher Morgan Root is supporting students of all grade levels with an evidence-based model developed by CYFS researchers.

Root is learning to facilitate the model, Teachers and Parents as Partners, as part of a new project focused on training rural school personnel. TAPP supports collaborative relationships between parents and teachers to improve students’ social, behavioral and academic outcomes. It also features a facilitator who guides the problem-solving process. Full Article

CYFS team earns $3.5M grant to support Latino students

A CYFS team has earned a federal grant to support Latino K-5 students in schools across Nebraska, including Everett Elementary School in Lincoln. The team includes, from left, Lorey Wheeler, Brandy Clarke (UNMC), Susan Sheridan and Kristen Derr.
A CYFS team has earned a federal grant to support Latino K-5 students in schools across Nebraska, including Everett Elementary School in Lincoln. The team includes, from left, Lorey Wheeler, Brandy Clarke (UNMC), Susan Sheridan and Kristen Derr.

Though nearly one of every four U.S. students identifies as Latino, the country’s fastest-growing minority demographic faces many disparities in education outcomes.

The Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools has earned a $3.5 million grant to explore how to better support Latino students by connecting their experiences at home and school. Full Article

Moen earns dissertation grant to study partnerships

Amanda Moen
Amanda Moen

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. Full Article

Webinar shares results of rural CBC study

Amanda Witte, project manager, and Susan Sheridan, CYFS director, discuss findings and future directions in their recent Rural CBC webinar.
Amanda Witte, project manager, and Susan Sheridan, CYFS director, discuss findings and future directions in the rural CBC webinar. The webinar was open to teachers, administrators, parents and consultants who participated in the study. View webinar.

CYFS director Susan Sheridan and Amanda Witte, project manager, led a December 2015 webinar to share results from their study of conjoint behavioral consultation (CBC) in rural communities. Developed by Sheridan, CBC (also known as Teachers and Parents as Partners) is a structured parent-teacher partnership model that promotes positive academic and social outcomes for students. Full Article

CYFS earns $6.5 million for early childhood studies, national leadership

CYFS has earned federal funding to study Nebraska early childhood education, and was also chosen to lead the project's national research network. The team includes (back row, from left) Greg Welch, Mark DeKraai, Jim Bovaird, (front row, from left) Lisa Knoche, Iheoma Iruka and Susan Sheridan. (Craig Chandler/University Communications)
CYFS has earned federal funding to study Nebraska early childhood education, and was also chosen to lead the project’s national research network. The team includes (back row, from left) Greg Welch, Mark DeKraai, Jim Bovaird, (front row, from left) Lisa Knoche, Iheoma Iruka and Susan Sheridan. (Craig Chandler/University Communications). View video.

The Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools has earned $6.5 million to shape Nebraska early childhood practices and policies, while leading a national network committed to improving children’s outcomes.

The project is part of the multi-institutional Early Learning Network, a $26 million research initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences. Full Article

CYFS awarded $2.5 million to advance early childhood development

The Getting Ready 0-3 research team, from left: Lisa Knoche, Susan Sheridan, Helen Raikes, Christine Marvin and Leslie Hawley.
CYFS researchers have received $2.5 million in funding to advance early childhood development with the Getting Ready research intervention. Lisa Knoche (left) leads the study, along with Susan Sheridan, Helen Raikes, Christine Marvin and Leslie Hawley.

With $2.5 million in federal funding, a CYFS research team is exploring the power of partnerships to benefit Nebraska’s youngest children.

Led by Lisa Knoche, CYFS research associate professor, the team aims to improve developmental outcomes—specifically language and social-emotional skills—for infants and toddlers. Their project is one of four national studies funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families. Together, research findings will inform local and national Early Head Start programs, which provide early childhood services for low-income families. Full Article

Welch, NU team awarded childcare evaluation grant

151117-ThresholdsII
Greg Welch, CYFS research associate professor, far right, is leading a recently funded project to evaluate childcare quality. The research team includes, from left, Iheoma Iruka, director of research and evaluation at the Buffett Early Childhood Institute, and Helen Raikes and Julia Torquati, UNL professors of child, youth and family studies.

While childcare shapes the trajectory of future generations, evaluating its impact is far from child’s play.

Led by Greg Welch, CYFS research associate professor, a multi-campus University of Nebraska team has received funding to evaluate and inform childcare quality. The CYFS-housed project, funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families, will pinpoint the minimum thresholds of childcare quality needed to promote positive development and prevent negative outcomes for children birth to age five. Full Article

Niehaus earns grants to study student engagement

Elizabeth Niehaus
Elizabeth Niehaus

Elizabeth Niehaus, assistant professor in educational administration, has been awarded two grants to study Caribbean student engagement in higher education. The American College Personnel Association Foundation awarded a $2,500 grant and the NASPA (Student Affairs Administrators In Higher Education) Foundation awarded $4,650—both projects are housed in CYFS. Full Article