CYFS | Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools

Program creates pathways to graduation

Michael Scheel, right, with graduate students from the Building Bridges Program.

Donning black gowns and caps, they joined their peers among Lincoln Northeast High School’s 2014 graduating class. They waited patiently to cross the stage, grasp their diploma and finally, after four years, flip the tassel.

They are 37 of the 41 Lincoln Northeast students who, in ninth grade, joined the Building Bridges program — a dropout prevention initiative led by CYFS affiliate Michael Scheel and Gina Kunz, CYFS research associate professor. The program is designed to help freshmen transition to high school and navigate a four-year path to graduation. Full Article

CYFS examining intervention’s effects on early obesity

A family-school partnership program shown to improve children’s behavior, academics and social skills will now take a seat at the table of another early childhood challenge.

CYFS researchers recently earned two grants to study whether obesity among children ages 3-5 can be curbed by a collaborative intervention known as Teachers and Parents as Partners, or TAPP. Full Article

Journal of School Psychology names CYFS article best of 2013

A peer-reviewed paper from the Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools has been selected as 2013 Article of the Year by the Journal of School Psychology.

Lead author and CYFS director Susan Sheridan will accept the award from the Society for the Study of School Psychology on Aug. 8 in Washington, D.C., site of the 2014 American Psychological Association Convention. Full Article

Tyler using technology to study substance use among homeless

The mercurial nature of homelessness has kept researchers from pinpointing which factors limit substance use – and how others trigger it – among the nearly 3 million American youth living on the streets.

With a new $400,000 grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, CYFS affiliate Kimberly Tyler will use technology to address this sociological challenge for the sake of confronting the societal one. Full Article

Sheridan authors guide to help teachers partner with parents

CYFS director Susan Sheridan has authored a newly published practice guide designed to help teachers and school professionals engage parents in partnerships that support children’s learning.

Available from Pacific Northwest Publishers, “The Tough Kid: Teachers and Parents as Partners” takes its name from a family-school intervention approach developed and extensively researched by Sheridan. Full Article

Crockett leads study of contextual impacts on temperament, teen outcomes

A challenging 10-year-old responds to neglectful parents by acting out at home. At school, an attentive fourth-grade teacher tries to reach the child by listening, observing and encouraging him.

Can the child’s classroom experience curb the difficult temperament being compounded at home? How will the resulting short-term impacts shape his long-term development? Full Article

CYFS unveils website commemorating 10th anniversary

The Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools has commemorated its 10th anniversary with the release of a website encapsulating the center’s history and influence across the past decade.

The website features a dynamic timeline of CYFS milestones, a section summarizing the center’s major strands of research, an infographic-filled overview of its impact, and a chapter outlining the collaborations that have made its research possible. Full Article

CYFS partnership model featured in Lincoln Journal Star

The Lincoln Journal Star illustrated the application and impacts of a CYFS family-school partnership model in a May 2 feature.

The story includes interviews with the mother and teacher of a third-grade student who participated in the Teachers and Parents as Partners intervention. Formerly known as Conjoint Behavioral Consultation, the intervention approach was developed by CYFS director Susan Sheridan and has been employed by urban, suburban and rural communities throughout Nebraska. Full Article