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$1.1M grant to launch UNL concussion management program

With concussion awareness at an all-time high, school personnel are increasingly responsible for supporting students’ recovery.

Scott Napolitano, assistant professor of practice in educational psychology, has been awarded a $1.1 million grant to develop evidence-based training that will help schools diagnose and manage cases of concussion and mild traumatic brain injury in students. Full Article

Team supports 4-H program evaluation

CYFS methodologists with the MAP Academy are helping 4H enhance a set of survey instruments. The team includes, from left, Jarrod Stevens, Natalie Koziol, Lorey Wheeler, Ann Arthur, Michelle Howell Smith and Leslie Hawley.

A CYFS team is traveling nationwide to help 4-H assess its impact—one that extends to nearly six million youth through school and community programs, clubs and camps.

The team is working to enhance the 4-H Common Measures, a collection of multiple survey instruments that assess youth development outcomes. The team’s revisions began last year with input from a national advisory board. They are now heading into the field to get perspectives from the survey’s intended demographic—4-H youth and leaders. Full Article

Sept. 19 Interdisciplinary Translational Science Retreat open to UNL faculty, students

National experts in translational science will present at UNL’s Nebraska Union on Sept. 19 as part of the 2016 Interdisciplinary Translational Science Retreat.

Hosted by CYFS and five UNL colleges and organizations, the all-day retreat will focus on translational science for social, behavioral and educational research fields. Speakers include Diana Fishbein, Penn State University; Elaine Wethington, Cornell University; and Richard Spoth, Iowa State University. Full Article

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.

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.

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

Davis leads evaluation of early childhood project

Lori Chleborad, CYFS project coordinator, and Dawn Davis, CYFS project manager, prepare materials for families participating in an evaluation of the Superintendents’ Early Childhood Plan. Davis is leading an evaluation of home visitations for children birth to age 3.

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. Full Article

Bullying Prevention Conference draws early childhood educators, researchers

Cynthia Germanotta, co-founder of the Born This Way Foundation, addresses a crowd of more than 150 during the June 13 Bullying Prevention Conference at UNL. Conference participants included early childhood educators, teachers, administrators, parents and researchers.

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. Full Article