Research is at the heart of all we do at the UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute. As one of the nation's foremost multidisciplinary centers devoted to the study of children from infancy to adolescence, our scientists are committed to conducting research and evaluation studies that improve children's lives, support families, and inform public policy.
Learn more about our current projects by clicking on the links below. Change the project end date to view completed projects. And to stay up to date on news and events related to our work via social media, visit our Project Digital Directory.
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The Children's Trust of South Carolina is planning to scale-up the Triple P – Positive Parenting Program system of interventions in several South Carolina communities. FPG's Implementation Capacity for Triple P (ICTP) project team, already working to support a similar statewide Triple P initiative in North Carolina, is providing active implementation support and implementation science guidance to help the South Carolina Triple P project become successful and sustainable.
Southeast Raleigh Promise (SER) seeks to answer the question: “What does it take to improve quality of early childhood programming and workforce in their participating child care centers?” The National Implementation Research Network (NIRN) within Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute will conduct an implementation study to answer this question and provide consultation supports in the use of the data collected for continuous improvement purposes.
This study compares segmental and prosody/voice features and speech intelligibility and aims to identify potential mechanisms underlying individual differences in speech intelligibility of boys with FXS, Down syndrome (DS), and typical development (TD) to determine whether individual differences in speech production relate to FXS specifically or to MR in general.
The purpose of this administrative supplement is to enhance the efficiency and completeness of the acoustic and perceptual data collection of the parent grant, Speech of Young Males with Fragile X Syndrome. The primary objective of the parent grant is to determine segmental and suprasegmental features of speech production that influence intelligibility in boys with fragile X and Down syndromes.
The primary purpose of this study is to investigate developmental pathways from infant to adolescent attachment security and to evaluate changes in attachment security in relation to social functioning and to changes in contextual factors. Central questions concern the ways in which security of attachment and working models of attachment predict the nature and quality of friendships and romantic relationships in late adolescence.
To support The Duke Endowment’s investments in evidence-based practices across the Rural Church and Child and Family Wellbeing program areas, the project team will engage in several system strengthening activities during the six-month period from January 1st, 2024 through June 30th, 2024. Within the Rural Church Summer Literacy Initiative, the project team will (1) support the refinement of the SLI practice model, (2) engage in programmatic coaching with staff at SLI grantee sites, (3) explore future tailored implementation support activities, and (4) provide design and consultation supports for bolstering data collection and monitoring across SLI grantee sites. Additionally, the project team will engage in several start-up activities for a Center of Excellence to support evidence-based programs and practices in North Carolina and South Carolina. These will include leadership engagement and system coaching, organizational development activities, and change management activities.
The purpose of this project is to gather perspectives from current Parents As Teachers families and parent educators. This is a developmental evaluation to understand how Parents as Teachers (PAT) could address race-based trauma and stressors and support the positive racial identity formation for young children.
Effective implementation capacity is essential to improving education. The SISEP Center supports education systems in creating implementation capacity for evidence‐based practices benefiting students with disabilities. Project funding is by the Office of Special Education Programs.
The North Carolina Division of Child Development and Early Education is funding a statewide Birth-5 Needs Assessment as part of an initial federal requirement of the Preschool Development Grant. The B-5 NA will be used in developing a statewide strategic plan to strengthen the early childhood system.
This project's purpose is to develop and enhance the knowledge on the practices and supports necessary to improve access and participation within STEM learning opportunities for young children with disabilities.
This project's purpose is to expand the knowledge on the practices and supports necessary to improve access and participation within STEM learning opportunities for young children with disabilities and intersecting identities.
While there are many benefits to regular engagement in physical activity, individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with intellectual disability (ID) often do not engage in healthy levels of
physical activity. This study will examine the impact of using self-management components to increase physical activity for adults with ASD and ID as well as its feasibility in home settings.
The National Implementation Research Network (NIRN) is building the knowledge and capacity of the Annie E. Casey Foundation to use the best of implementation science and related tools and resources to address implementation challenges and support quality implementation of programs, practices, and policies. A major aspect of this work is to amplify and advance equitable implementation in research and practice to achieve better results for children, families, and communities.
This project involves a systematic review of literature on evidence-based teaching practices in the K-12 education system in the United States to (1) identify practices that have demonstrated success in academic achievement for diverse students, (2) examine whether these successful teaching practices have been adopted and implemented, and (3) identify system conditions needed to adopt. The literature review will result in an open-access publication to inform the field.
This project will examine the associations between distal and proximal influences, namely economic adversity and maladaptive parent-child interactions and relationships, and children’s immunological functioning in middle childhood. Both existing data from the Family Life Project and new data collection will be used to test the proposed hypotheses.
Given the importance of basic memory skills for success in school, it is essential that we understand the development of a range of component skills that (1) affect the acquisition of knowledge and strategy use, (2) emerge in the context of the classroom, (3) are transformed over time into the study skills that are needed for progress in school, and (4) are related to measures of academic achievement.
Margaret Burchinal, FPG statistician, will collaborate with Mathematica Policy Research on a contract with ACF to design a study to provide information about partnerships between Early Head Start programs and local child care programs.
This project will provide technical assistance to the NC Preschool Exceptional Children Program in the Office of Early Learning (OEL).
Early childhood educators (ECE) work with young children with disabilities as well as children from diverse backgrounds to support learning and development. It is critical for ECEs to be adequately prepared to serve children who are linguistically, culturally, and ability-diverse. The purpose of this project is to work with early childhood community college programs in North Carolina to enhance and redesign courses to better prepare ECEs to work with children with disabilities and children from diverse backgrounds.
The FPG Autism Team will provide virtual professional development training on the Autism Program Environment Rating Scale (APERS) for nine participants who are team members of Guilford County Schools. Additionally, the team will provide training on the National Professional Development (NPDC) model.
Beginning June 2022 through September 30, 2022, the FPG Autism Team, led by Dr. Ann Sam, will provide virtual professional development training on the Autism Program Environment Rating Scale (APERS). The training will be for nine participants who are team members of Guilford County Schools (GCS). The project will include training on the FPG version of the APERS (note Brookes Publishing will publish the full updated APERS in 2022 for purchase). Training consists of virtual didactic training (8 hours), APERS practice conducted in schools by participants, interview and feedback review by trainers, virtual consensus scoring, virtual debrief and professional development planning, and virtual follow-up.
The proposed study will employ several methodologies including single-case design and qualitative methods to explore processes and drivers necessary to support early intervention (EI) providers in using online modules with embedded coaching supports to: (a) increase their own knowledge and use of evidence-based practices (EBPs) and (b) support EI providers to coach caregivers to use EBPs. The study will examine factors that lead to effective EI services empowering caregivers of toddlers with autism to embed EBPs into their everyday routines and activities. We will collaborate with EI providers and caregivers of toddlers with autism to examine the extent to which online EBP modules with ongoing implementation support:
•are perceived as useful and relevant to EI providers
•effectively support EI providers and caregivers to embed EBPs with fidelity
We also intend to:
•determine if and how provider and caregiver use of EPBs impacts child coordinated joint engagement
•explore provider and caregiver perceptions related to EBPs and implementing them
By examining perceptions and outcomes related to implementing EBPs, the study may enhance the quality of EI professional practice and improve outcomes for children with autism and their caregivers.
The National Implementation Research Network (NIRN) will support effective and quality implementation of the New Jersey Department of Children and Families' Family Success Centers' (FSC) Practice Profile across their network of providers.
This collaborative project with Michigan’s MTSS Technical Assistance Center (MiMTSS) aims to develop blended learning (pairing data captured from eLearning and/or other activities with onsite training) to support Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports (MTSS) within Michigan Public School Systems.
