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Faculty provide training, outreach to support international Zika study

Natalie Williams (right), assistant professor of child, youth and family studies, visits with mother in Recife, Brazil. Williams recently traveled to Recife as part of an international collaboration studying how families are affected by Congenital Zika Virus Syndrome.
Natalie Williams (right), assistant professor of child, youth and family studies, visits with a mother in Recife, Brazil. Williams is part of an international research collaboration studying how to help families affected by Congenital Zika Virus Syndrome. View photo gallery.

Recife is the capital city of Pernambuco, a northeastern state in Brazil — and one of the regions most affected by the Zika virus outbreak.

Natalie Williams, assistant professor of child, youth and family studies, and Christine Marvin, professor of special education and communication disorders, recently traveled to Recife, Brazil, as part of a joint study with Brazilian researchers at the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco. Full Article

Researchers fine-tune global measurement standards for early childhood learning 

Natalie Koziol, CYFS research assistant professor, and Abbie Raikes, associate professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center
Natalie Koziol and Abbie Raikes

Implementing standard measurements of early childhood development and learning worldwide has its challenges. But University of Nebraska researchers are working with the United Nations and other international organizations to ensure global measurement tools are not restrained by borders. Full Article

Family partnership program addresses early childhood obesity

Lorey Wheeler, co-investigator, and Brandy Clarke, principal investigator
Lorey Wheeler, co-investigator, and Brandy Clarke, principal investigator

A family partnership program developed by University of Nebraska researchers shows promise for addressing challenges related to early childhood obesity.

With an interdisciplinary team representing three Nebraska campuses, Brandy Clarke, assistant professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, led a pilot study for the program: Partners in Health: In it Together (PHIT). Full Article

Bhatia receives Buffett dissertation fellowship

Sonya Bhatia
Sonya Bhatia

Sonya Bhatia, doctoral student in school psychology, has received the 2017-18 Buffett Early Childhood Institute Graduate Scholars fellowship. The $24,980 fellowship will fund Bhatia’s dissertation project, “An Examination of Conjoint Behavioral Consultation’s Effects on Teacher-Student Interactions.” Full Article

White receives dissertation award to study early childhood self-regulation

Andrew White
Andrew White

Andrew White, CYFS graduate assistant and doctoral student in school psychology, recently received a dissertation award from the Society for the Study of School Psychology. His thesis is titled “Using Self-Regulation to Predict Preschoolers’ Disruptive Behavior Disorders.” Full Article

Study aims to support Brazilian early childhood development

Leslie Hawley and Natalie Koziol
Leslie Hawley and Natalie Koziol

Identifying what is developmentally normal for young children—and what is not—can lead to earlier interventions and better outcomes. Two Nebraska researchers are addressing this need for the world’s fifth most-populated country: Brazil.

Leslie Hawley, CYFS research assistant professor, and Natalie Koziol, CYFS postdoctoral scholar, are creating a screening tool to detect developmental delays in Brazilian children. They are collaborating with Denise Ruschel Bandeira, a professor at Brazil’s Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, as part of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln/Brazil Early Childhood Initiative. Full Article

CYFS hosts ‘Getting Ready’ training for special education providers

Lisa Knoche presents during the June 6 Getting Ready training in Lincoln, Nebraska. CYFS faculty and staff are training Nebraska special education providers in the Getting Ready approach, which focuses on strengthening relationships between parents and children, and parents and early education professionals.
Lisa Knoche presents during the June 6 Getting Ready training in Lincoln, Nebraska. View photo gallery. For more information, visit the Getting Ready website.

CYFS faculty and staff hosted ‘Getting Ready’ training sessions June 6-9 in Lincoln, Nebraska, for early childhood special education providers, service coordinators and supervisors across the state.

Developed by CYFS faculty and affiliates, Getting Ready is a research-based program that enhances school readiness for children birth to age five. It focuses on strengthening relationships between parents and their children, as well as parents and early childhood professionals. Full Article